Ray Quinn in Grease
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The unstoppable revival of
Grease has a new star attraction to reckon with: Ray Quinn. The 19-year-old sensation from ITV's
X-Factor has stepped into the part of Doody for a five-month run through November at the Piccadilly Theatre. For Quinn, the irrepressible Doody allows the correspondingly cheerful fresh-faced performer to bring into the theater admirers not just of his eye-catching appearance on
X Factor, where he went head to head with Leona Lewis in the quest to become champ, but also those who might have heard his platinum-selling album, "Doing It My Way," or caught him on the ever-popular U.K. soap opera,
Brookside. Broadway.com caught up with Quinn a week into his West End stage debut to quiz him on the rigors of theater, why he didn't become a carpet fitter and—the inevitable topic—his hair.
You've been in the show a week now. How does it feel?
It's fabulous, you know? It's everything I expected, and more—I love it. I couldn't have wished for anything else. This was always a thing I wanted to achieve in life: Grease was one of my all-time favorite shows. I'd been for all kinds of auditions for things in the past, but this was the one where I went the furthest. I got the phone call telling me I had the job the same afternoon, after three auditions!
Well, if you'll allow me to say so, your hair is made for the part.
[Laughs.] It's extra long, like, now—really big and humongous, but the bigger the better, I say. I like the long hair. It's really nice.
Is it heavy?
It's like an afro, my hair, but I've had it really long before, even longer—sort of four inches all over. I'm a bit of an old soul in that way, really. I like the old-fashioned Elvis look and stuff like that.
It's certainly given you a signature look, ever since X-Factor. How long ago was that by now?
It's been two years, amazingly, but it's gone really fast, and I've been working nonstop. It's been amazing: every week has been fantastic, and for me to be living my dream like this has been unreal. I couldn't have asked for anything more.
So, what do you think of Doody? Is he a good fit for Ray Quinn?
He's sort of like the fun-lovin', cheeky chappie kinda guy: being a t-bird, that's his life; that's his main priority, to be in this little gang. He's like the chirpy one in the group, always looking up to the oldest guys.
Ray Quinn as Doody in Grease
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It's fascinating, I think, for Americans like myself the enduring appeal of Grease and Saturday Night Fever and Fame and shows like that on the West End.
Well, I think especially Grease, which really is legendary and has left a stamp on things. It has songs everybody knows—I don't know one person who doesn't know the music. It's been around so long that the musical has a lot to live up to with regard to the movie, which I think it does tremendously. You know the songs; you get to know each and every character as a person in a way that you don't always in the film, where sometimes you don't really notice [some of the characters].
Is it hard, then, to figure out how to pitch it in performance?
No. Once you get to a certain point, you've got to be consistent. You've just got to keep the energy going. I mean, you know yourself when you've done a good show.
I gather dancing for you really is second nature.
Oh God, yeah [laughs], I've been dancing since I was three. It's just one of those things that has become my life. It feels like home for me, so when you put dancing, singing and acting together, it's like magic.
Do you ever feel, then, that you're somewhat out of time, between Grease and the Elvis thing you have going on?
I don't know. My dad is, like, 60 now, and my mum nearly 60, and they've always listened to that type of music. My nan [grandmother] is 80 now, and she has a lot of fond memories of that period, and sometimes I do feel that it would have been really fun to be there and appreciate Elvis when he was first happening. I'd love to have been a part of it, but by doing Grease, I do feel a part of it.
But you're the first in your family to go this particular showbiz route, aren't you?
None of my family was into ballroom or Latin dancing or any kind of entertainment. What happened was that my mum sent me for some lessons, and I really enjoyed it; it just became a natural thing for me. My dad had always said, "Find something you love, and get paid for it," which made sense to me [laughs]. My dad is a carpet fitter and my two brothers are carpet fitters.
So that was the family business.
[Laughs] Until I broke the mould.
Did you feel brave striking out in your own direction?
No, not really. I knew I never wanted to be a carpet fitter and that I wanted to do something different. I love a challenge.
Which X-Factor certainly was. Do you ever see Simon Cowell these days?
I haven't spoken to him for a while. He's really busy, if you know what I mean [laughs]. At this moment in time, I'm concentrating on what I've got.
Are there other shows you'd like to do?
Saturday Night Fever: I'd love to play Tony Manero. Maybe Footloose—there are plenty of ones out there. But I don't think I'd do a TV soap again. I really enjoyed that but I 've been there and done that.
How much rehearsal did they give you for this takeover?
Four to five weeks, which I suppose isn't too bad. The hardest bit was the dance moves, or getting the dance moves together with the words: the hand jive, that was the hardest. Apart from that, it all fitted together. I could do it all day—10 times a day, 20 times a day easy.
How's the American accent going?
I'm getting all right with the accents—although you'd probably think I was rubbish.