BWW INTERVIEWS: Belinda Carlisle, Pop Legend And HAIRSPRAY's New Velma Von Tussle

Hi, Belinda, and welcome to BWW:UK. How are you enjoying Hairspray?

I'm having a great time. It's a lot of fun - it's challenging, exciting, with fantastic energy.

You're known as a pop singer - was musical theatre something you always wanted to do?

I was always interested in it and thought it was something I could do. I saw Hairspray in New York, loved it, and auditioned for Velma there. I got the part, but the economic situation being what it was, the show closed so it didn't work out. Then I realised it would make much more sense for me to do the show in the West End, because I live in France, and I was offered that instead!

That explains why there have been so many rumours for the past few cast changes that you'd be taking the part...

Yeah, I don't know how people find out this stuff!

How are you finding it working with the other cast members?

It's such a nice, supportive atmosphere. It's great for someone like me - and I'm sure Phill [Phill Jupitus, the new Edna Turnblad] would say the same - to do something entirely new in a safe environment!

And Velma isn't a very nice character - are you having fun with it?

She's such fun to play. She's not boring, she's camp, she's awful, she's funny, she's desperate, she's seen better days. She's just hysterical.

You did Dancing With The Stars - did that help at all with learning the routines to the musical numbers?

No, it didn't. That was a terrible experience, actually. I liked the rehearsals, I liked dancing, but it was incredibly stressful. I have a new-found respect for any celebrity who does well on those shows - I just didn't do well under pressure. It was great learning the dances, and I had a wonderful partner [Jonathan Roberts], but I hated being judged in front of 37 million people. I learned a lot. I'm still a fan of it, though, it's an amazing show!

Do you have plans for when you finish Hairspray?

I'm in India quite a bit, I'm there for six weeks, then I've got dates in Australia and Japan, and then my memoirs are coming out in May. I've been working on those for three years so that's a big thing for me.

And do you plan to do more musical theatre at some stage?

I'd love to do some other stuff! I love the lifestyle. I was worried I wouldn't because I'm a real early bird, but I'm getting into the rhythm of eating dinner at 11pm and being out till 1am! It's fun - it's totally foreign - but it's exciting and new.