If Elaine Paige’s younger sister and Elizabeth Gilbert collaborated on a musical it would more than likely result in something akin to London-Paris-Rome. While there is little praying, there is much eating and enough love to make the Paris setting worthy of every cliché. Writer and performer Sarah Tullamore was in Cape Town on a fleeting tour with her auto-biographical musical at the Alexander Theatre and she chatted to Tracey Saunders during her brief visit:
What are your earliest memories of performing and singing?
I think I was born singing! My earliest memories are actually of singing at home when I was very young. Firstly with my Mum, prancing around the living room to any record she would put on. A bit later on my brother and I would put on music and magic shows for anyone who “came round for tea”. And my Dad also played the guitar so I’d often sing with him whilst he played. This was all when I was quite young, before I started singing in the choir at school.
Did you always know that it what a career that you wanted to pursue?
To be honest, no. I did a lot of good amateur shows and tours when I was at secondary school (and had singing lessons too) but I always felt a more “serious job” was expected of me as I was a good student at school. It was while I was living and working in Japan in my very early 20s and seeing so many “Western artists” working out there that I realised I just had to give it a go because the pull inside was too strong to ignore. So I started singing with lots of different groups and it just took off from there.
How many countries have you performed in?
Official contracts: England, Scotland, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Japan and now South Africa! But to be honest, wherever I am in the world people always ask me to sing informally at their parties/events!
What is the major difference, if any, between audiences in the different countries you have performed in?
I don’t know if I could categorise audiences … audiences are very polite in Japan, obviously; I was surprised at how reserved some Edinburgh Scots were in my Edinburgh Festival shows last summer; and of course my Cape Town audience at my first ever show in South Africa last night was fabulous! Not afraid to react and totally “in” the show right from the start which is fabulous for a solo performer!
London, Paris, Tokyo – why Cape Town?
Very simply because I met some South African artists (Esté and Lourens Rabé of The Bottomless Coffee Band and the singer Niel Rademan) who came to see my show quite by chance at the Edinburgh Festival last summer. They loved it and said it would go down well in Cape Town and if I wanted to come and perform they would help me perform here. And the rest is history!
What musical would you most like to perform in?
There are too many to mention but Victor Victoria is one that is close to my heart! I recently fulfilled a dream of performing in Sweeney Todd. I played the role of the Beggar Woman at the Opéra de Toulon in the south of France.
What is your first theatrical memory?
It’s hazy but I think it’s going to the ballet at the Royal Festival Hall in London to see Swan Lake. I was obsessed with ballet when I was little. I really wanted to be a ballet dancer but then I got too tall (for the times) and also discovered my love of singing. But when I was little my paternal grandmother used to take me to the ballet all the time. I think the first one was Swan Lake.
Sandwich or salad?
Hmmm I love both. But if push comes to shove – a sandwich !
WS
