Jenna Lee-James
|
Age: 31
Hometown: Lee-James was brought up in Glasgow and still speaks with a distinctive Scottish lilt. But she now lives in North London, where she’s been for just over a year. “Before that I was in a little village called Flitwick in Bedfordshire, but I was doing the commute down the MI every day and the roadworks got a bit too much.”
Currently: Playing the Narrator in the hit West End production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Adelphi Theatre, which has come to after a long stint of five and a half years in We Will Rock You. “I’m known as this rock chick singer who can belt, but that was all people knew I could do. It’s been difficult to break into traditional musical theater as a result, and to now be doing an Andrew Lloyd Webber is therefore a big achievement, because he is Mr. Musical Theater!”
Rockin’ in We Will Rock You: The performer started in the original company of the Queen musical as part of the ensemble. “After about two years, I took over as Meatloaf, and then took over as Scaramouche, too”, says Lee-James. But she says she never got bored. “I never did the same contract from year to year; my roles kept changing. And it bought me two houses—I can’t argue with that! I have great memories of it and had such a great time doing it.” But it was finally time to leave: “I had to put myself out of work to find work again,” she says.
Gimme a Break: But first, she forced herself to take a break. “Because I’d been in the show for so long, I took the week after I left it off for complete vocal rest—I was literally walking around with a notepad! I needed to rest up in every way and get my mind together to focus on what I wanted to achieve with my life and career.” She spent some time with family and friends and began having a normal life, but soon Queen beckoned again. “I did a Scandinavian tour with Another Kind of Magic, which we performed in 10,000-seat arenas there.” Before she left, she auditioned for
Joseph and got the part. “I landed the job on the day of the first gig in Scandinavia. So after I came back from there, I had 10 days off, then started rehearsing again for this.” Lee-James had not seen the show before she got the call to audition, so she went to take it in: “And I really liked it. I could see myself doing it. There’s no room to be rocky, so it’s a big challenge—and I really fancied doing it.”
Settling In: “I have to say that it’s great fun to be part of this show. I thought Lee [Mead] was phenomenal. He deserved to get it, “ she says of the winner of the reality TV show
Any Dream Will Do that is playing the title role. “He’s a great performer; he has no airs and graces at all. He’s a normal, down-to-earth guy.” Lee-James is also a regular sort of a lassie, as they would say in her native Scotland: “I didn’t train at all,” she admits. “I started singing in working mens’ clubs when I was 12; it was hard graft, but it has paid off, because it gave me more stamina.” She’s toured a lot in shows: “I’ve been around the country a few times. It’s fun, but I made a decision about six or seven years ago that I wanted to be in one place! Touring is great but it does get tiring.” She’s also done panto and summer seasons, but in 2005, she changed gears and was the runner-up in the Voice of Musical Theater competition held that year in Cardiff. “I did it not because I wanted to win or had my sights set on it, but because I wanted to be accepted into musical theater in a more traditional way and get new contacts and break into a new side of the business. That’s paid off, too”. Now she’s loving doing
Joseph: “I get excited going on every night, and working with the kids, which I dreaded, is great, too. There are 36 of them every night, and they’re very well behaved!”