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Take That musical is big new challenge for Brookside's Philip
Philip Olivier has been well and truly dragged out of his comfort zone - and he couldn't be happier.
The Take That musical Never Forget, which brings him to Southampton's Mayflower Theatre from January 26-30, is his first-ever stage role.
Eight months down the line, it's opening up vast new possibilities in his flourishing career.
Philip, best known as Tim O'Leary in Channel 4's Brookside, has been in the musical since April and he jokes that it probably took him until June to get it right - but now he's in his element and keen for more.
"It was totally new for me, something I never ever thought I would do, and it has now opened so many new doors for me. I never had any training for stage or for dancing or singing.
"I started on TV when I was very young. So doing this was like taking a crash course in musicals. I was totally out of my comfort zone. I am having to do a different accent. I am playing someone totally unlike myself.
"But when the first few reviews came in and we were getting the acceptance of the audience, it does give you a lot of confidence - and inspires you to want to go on to do other things."
And now the door to doing other musicals, as far as Philip is concerned, is most definitely open: "We will have to wait and see what happens, but I would be keen."
The gratifying thing is that it isn't something Philip had even contemplated seeking. He was approached. The producers tested him to see if he could hold a tune - and the rest is history: "But to be quite honest, I was happy in the circle that I was in.
"But now I have pushed the boundaries, others theatre work is definitely on the cards", says Philip who most recently won the reality TV series The Games and was also runner-up in the hit TV show Celebrity Come Dine With Me
Never Forget is based around the early songs of Take That. It is not - as Philip is keen to point out and as some people have mistakenly believed - a show about Take That.
It's a show about a Take That tribute band and all that happens to them, five extremely diverse guys among whom is Philip's character Dirty Harry, a stripper.
"He's not the brightest tool in the box", says Philip - who admits that Harry's comparative dimness was actually a help while he was still finding his way with the part in the early days.
Philip was also helped, as he says, by the fact that the show is first and foremost a comedy - a feel-good romcom about triumph over adversity as Ash and his mates take a rollercoaster journey of fame, fortune and friendship on the way to realising their dreams.
Along the way, you'll hear classic Take That songs, including the smash hits A Million Love Songs, Could It Be Magic, It Only Takes A Minute, Do What You Like, Love Ain't Here Anymore, Relight My Fire, Pray, Back For Good, Babe and Never Forget.
The show features a cast of 21 actors/singers/dancers, a live band and a 20-strong children's chorus drawn from each community it plays. Spectacular special effects keep the action pumping with the largest rain curtain ever created for the stage as well as magical water animation.
As Philip says, audiences just go wild for the rain curtain: "We're quite envious of that one!"
Tickets on 02380 711811, online at mayflower.org.uk or in person from the Mayflower ticket south shop in The Mall (Marlands), Southampton.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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