Tracie Bennett

Tracie Bennett shows off her Olivier Award for Hairspray

Tracie Bennett has the golden touch when it comes to scooping an Olivier Award. The gifted actress/singer nabbed one 13 years ago for her Ilona in the Scott Ellis-directed revival of She Loves Me, opposite fellow Olivier winners Ruthie Henshall and John Gordon Sinclair. And she was two for two this season, garnering a second trophy for her Velma Von Tussle, a comic harridan of a mother at once delirious and determined, in the West End premiere of Hairspray, which is continuing happily at the Shaftesbury Theatre. That’s particularly good going, given that Bennett has only done three West End gigs in all—a takeover in Les Miserables as Mme. Thenardier being the third. Instead of jumping from one London stint to another, Bennett has followed the work, appearing in regional playhouses up and down the country, not least the north of England, where she is from (the Bolton/Manchester region, to be precise). An effusive winner on Olivier night, Bennett was no less forthcoming one late-May afternoon, as she spoke to Broadway.com about her apparent talent for garnering awards, the shows that await her (Gypsy, watch out!), and playing Velma her way, not Michelle Pfeiffer’s.

It’s now been several months since that winter’s night when you added to your trophy cabinet and Hairspray itself swept the top categories, as well. How does that whole evening feel in retrospect?
Oh, it feels great. It’s nice always not so much to be recognized for your work, I suppose, but just acknowledged. But as I think I said on the evening, I hate this competitive subliminal element to it all: without dissing that it’s fantastic, my category was men-inclusive and that’s kind of, I mean, you’d never play tennis opposite a man, would you? I don’t think people should think they’re better just because they have awards, but it’s great for the show and for the marketing people, so that’s all good. That’s how I look at it: at the end of the day. If I saw that a movie had 10 Oscars, I might have a look: it’s good for the film and good for our show to have that recognition. I just read that Hairspray has got 27 awards worldwide, and at some point, you’ve got to think, The show must be OK because 27 panels and bodies [giving awards] can’t be wrong.

Where do you keep your Oliviers?
They’re in my dressing room now because I had to take them into town for a TV thing, and I’m looking at them now going, “What does that mean?” I used to watch those [awards] programs when I was little and then to find that you’ve done it yourself, you think, well, I’m not that good, and if I can do it, everybody can do it. The thing is, I was brought up to do my chores, so I feel very uncomfortable with all this within my family where it’s not a measure of success. With them, it’s about who you are as a person; they’re all very thrilled, but it’s still like, “Have you got the roof sorted on your flat yet?”

Well, I suppose one thing it means is that Hairspray is having a proper run at a theater, the Shaftesbury, that had seemed doomed.
It’s great for the theater as well because it has had a few closures, though I’ve seen productions here and they’ve been fantastic. The thing with this is that everybody says it’s a great production but you can never see it because you’re in it and then when you have a holiday—unless you’re obsessed—you don’t come and watch your own show. I don’t know what I’m in, really; I’ve just been told that it’s fantastic. I guess it’s just timing—Hairspray captures the imagination and it’s an up show, and the music’s great.

Rachael Wooding and Tracie Bennett in Hairspray

Did you know about the show before you went up for it?
Well, I was getting married to this American record producer [Steven Rinkoff] through She Loves Me and though we didn’t end up doing that, we’re still the best of friends. He’s a fantastic bloke—I love him dearly. He rang me six years ago it’s got to be and he said, “Tracie, I’ve just seen this opening night of a show with a great part for you, Hairspray, it’s the musical of the film,” and of course I’d seen the John Waters film. And he said, “Yeah, they’ve done this musical and there’s this part for you, Velma.” Of course then I get the gig and I just thought one day in rehearsals, “Oh my God, I’m in that show that Stephen said,” so I called him and said, “You know that piece you said I’d be good for, well I’m in it,” and he said, “I knew it!”

What did you make of Michelle Pfeiffer in the recent film?
When I got the gig, the team were very strict about me not seeing the movie because they said Michelle’s playing it one way, and we want you to play it another way. I guess I will see it now. I gather she’s playing it sexy—I’ve seen a bit on YouTube, though it’s shit quality and you can’t really tell. But I said, “Even if I do see the movie, I’m not that stupid to just copy it,” but they said, “Well, we don’t want you to be swayed,” so I said, “OK, I’ll do what I’m told.”

I’ve certainly never seen anyone get so much out of “Miss Baltimore Crabs,” your first-act showstopper.
They’ve cut it in the London version; you don’t really get to know Velma and you don’t really get that she’s a massive slapper, that she sleeps around a lot: that kind of hasn’t been said, so you have to really listen and work out the metaphor with the crab. This is all so economical; the audience doesn’t realize that she’s an ex-beauty queen who is living a fading life through her daughter, maybe, and the black thing is coming closer and closer and she’s losing control. She’s pre-menopausal. The America she wants and idealizes is falling to bits. They’ve edited and edited it and edited it, and I have to fill in the holes. The focus is on the big lead girl changing the world; it’s not Velma’s piece.