Fraserburgh actor Elly Jay’s stage career has certainly been eventful recently.
Two years ago she made headlines after making her debut on London’s West End as Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman and then followed on to debut the supporting lead, Kit De Luca, with only a few hours notice.
A few weeks ago the same thing happened again when performing in Burlesque in Manchester, where it could be argued the stakes were even higher.
But more on that later…
Even when she played the lead in Pretty Woman when it arrived in Aberdeen, the production was hit by a snowstorm.
Despite Fraserburgh farmers helping to plough the roads in and around the Aberdeenshire town, the show was cancelled for two nights.
Elly said: “It was a horrible time because it was my hometown, and I was looking forward to that week for so long.”
However, Elly is hoping her return this week to His Majesty’s Theatre for A Night at the Musicals will be smoother sailing.
She joked: “Let’s hope there’s no snowstorms this time, and that all goes ahead.”
Elly then added: “I’m excited for it, I’m learning some new songs.
“We’ve got a variety of West End musical songs, it’s going to be a great night out and it’s going to be a barrel of laughs.
“We’re just trying to do a one-night-only, fun night for people to get out of the house and come along. If they love musical theatre all the better.”
A Night at the Musicals Aberdeen
Elly will be performing with a host of other Scottish performers.
Donna Hazelton from Chicago and Girls Night Oot, Jacqueline Hughes, who is best known for her portrayal of Elphaba in Wicked, and Neil Thomas from My Left Right Foot will all be hitting HMT’s stage.
And the content is in the name. However, Elly said there will be the added bonus of Scottish banter and it’s not just musical fans who will enjoy it.
She said: “It’s a guaranteed great night out, a variety show of musicals. Even if people don’t necessarily live in the musical theatre world, it’s from musicals that they will know of and they’ll also get to hear some new ones as well.”
While she could not reveal any specific songs or musicals, the actors will be drawing from their performances to bring some well-loved classics to the stage.
The Pretty Woman actress added: “We’ll be encouraging everyone to be singing along.”
Elly had less than 24 hours to take on the lead in Burlesque the Musical
It seems the performance will mark a nice interlude after a “hectic” tour with Burlesque the Musical, inspired by the 2010 film featuring Cher and Christina Aguilera.
While Elly’s main role was as a swing and first cover for Cher’s character Tess, disaster in the form of a winter bug struck.
After three actresses were off with illness, Elly said: “The last Thursday matinee in Manchester on the day of Halloween, they had an emergency situation and they asked me to go on for the lead as Ali, which is the Christina Aguilera part.
“They asked me the day before so I had less than 24 hours, but I think it was more 12 hours by the time I actually did everything.”
Powered by only two hours of sleep and a couple of grapes, Elly performed the next day and was commended by Todrick Hall (Sean) and Jackie Burns (Tess) in front of the audience at the end of the show.
When asked if that was exactly what happened with playing Kit De Luca in Pretty Woman on the West End, Elly replied with a quick “yes”.
“To be honest, I knew I had it in me because I’ve already done it,” she said.
“But this time for Ali, it was 13 songs and pretty much every scene bar a few so it was a lot I was taking on. I knew I could do it, it was just whether or not we could get it done in time.”
What’s next?
Since it has happened to Elly twice, it seems she is getting a name for herself.
A friend who was on Pretty Woman with Elly had one of her fellow cast members of Guys and Dolls say to her: “‘Did you hear someone had to go on for the lead in Burlesque, with literally a day to learn it.’
Elly said: “And my friend said ‘By any chance was it Elly Jay?'”
“It’s always a good reputation to have.
“It was hectic, it was stressful but there’s literally no other situation of stress that I would rather be in.
“Strangely I really enjoyed it. There were moments when I was in my element.”
Unfortunately, Elly will not have long to visit family and friends in Fraserburgh this time around before she’s flung into panto season in Basingstoke.
The actor is playing Sleeping Beauty at the Anvil Arts until early January but she admitted the months after are unclear.
“For the foreseeable, I’m unsure of what the future holds.
“Next year I would love to be a lead in something.”
A Night at the Musicals is at His Majesty’s Theatre in Aberdeen on November 16.
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