ROSE-MARIE
In Concert
Palace Theatre, Southend-on-Sea
on
Sunday 14th February 2016
In Concert
Palace Theatre, Southend-on-Sea
on
Sunday 14th February 2016
Celebrating her special birthday and 30 years in show business plus brand new album
'My Gift Of Love For You'
'My Gift Of Love For You'
There’s a secret that Rose-Marie has been trying to keep away from us for quite some time now. In fact, Rose-Marie tells me that it’s the most frequently asked question by her fans, after they’ve seen her in concert; but let’s not divulge that information for now - it’s not something that Rose-Marie cares to broadcast to the world in a hurry.
Rose-Marie, with her flaming red hair, powerful voice and burning love for the stage has produced over 19 albums, all of which have gone gold and platinum in the UK and Worldwide. Born in Newry, Northern Ireland, she grew up on a farm with her parents and siblings and knew from an early age that she wanted to be a singer. The cows she milked on the farm were a captive audience for Rose-Marie and despite her parents wanting her to get a ‘proper job’ she decided to pack up and take her chances in London. Once there, she appeared on ITV’s ‘Search for a Star’ from which her big break came, especially when producers saw that she could not only sing but also had a wicked sense of humour and from thereon in, it would seem that she has never stopped working, selling millions of records.
I catch up with Rose-Marie as she embarks on her tour which celebrates her 30 year career in show business and I ask her whether, looking back, if there would be anything that she would change in that time. She replies in that wonderful throaty Northern Irish accent, “No I wouldn’t really because my career’s been very successful and I’ve had great health and so I’ve no regrets at all. I think you’re blessed if you have good health.” She continues, “I’ve gotten to do everything in my career - acting, musicals, concerts, so I feel very lucky and I’ve got amazing energy!” This energy, she tells me comes from power walking every day and the occasional trip to the gym.
I wonder how it was for the young Rose-Marie, just starting out her career, in a business which in those days was ultimately dominated by men and she tells me, “I worked with Frank Carson, Les Dawson, Cannon and Ball - all the greats. I did my very first pantomime with Frank and he taught me a lot - he used to tell me to never look down to the audience, to always look up; because I’d been doing the clubs a lot which are all on one level and I wasn’t used to theatres at that time but he said ‘you’ve got to remember to look up’. But, you know, he was so helpful to me and, oh, I miss him terribly - I really do.”
Rose-Marie also did panto with Les Dawson and she cracks up when she remembers, “He used to say to the audience, “We’ve got a singer coming on now - she’s got a voice that could warn shipping in the Solent!” she giggles, “he'd say, 'Her voice is so powerful it could strip the paint at the back of the theatre walls' and that’s how he used to introduce me! It was great fun and they were real old pros. I used to just stand at the stage and watch them in awe and learn, I think that’s the best way to be.”
I suggest that it must have been a fabulous apprenticeship for her at the time, especially as they seemed happy to take her under their wings and she agrees. “Very much so, very much so. I also used to see how they were with their fans and you know all the great pros, the bigger they were, the nicer they were. I used to love Les because he would give a lot of time to his fans and so would Frank. It was ridiculous walking down the street with him because he’d end up doing his full act to his fans as he was so recognisable.” She chuckles, “There used to be a joke going around that said, “What’s the difference between the M1 and Frank Carson? You can turn off the M1.”
Rose-Marie has also trod the musical theatre boards after auditioning for the coveted role of Mrs Johnstone in Bill Kenwright’s 'Blood Brothers' although she confides that it was one of the hardest things she has ever done. “I auditioned for the part and I didn’t hear anything for a week and then, despite being in the middle of doing a tv show in Ireland, I got the call from my agent to say would I come over to London straight away, Bill Kenwright wanted to see me. He said, would I be able to pull this off in 6 days? I mean we’re talking about 15/16 songs, dance routines all the learning lines as well. It’s a very tough role to play, a lot to remember. But I did it, I pulled it off and I absolutely loved it.” In fact, her opening night was at the Cliffs Pavilion in Southend-on-Sea and she then went on to tour with it for 5 or 6 months. Unfortunately, she didn’t get to play in the West End but, she says, “It was a role I always wanted to play. It’s got everything in it. It’s funny as well but it’s very emotional once she gives one of her children away; and oh God you could see grown men in the audience crying.”
She also performed in the Eva Cassidy Musical playing Eva’s mother, Barbara, and again as her best friend, Mary Ann Redmond. “Mary's still going strong now actually. Eva Cassidy was very, very shy whereas her best friend was pretty well established so it wasn’t too taxing to play because it’s a little bit the way I am.”
Such was the acting bug that Rose-Marie decided to go over to the States for 5 years where she enrolled in the Ivana Chubbuck School of Acting which boasts such alumni as Halle Berry and Brad Pitt. It was whilst in LA that Rose-Marie befriended film idol, John Travolta. “Oooh yes!” she exclaims with delight. “John came to see one of my shows in LA and he loved the Irish humour that I put in to the show. He was just so lovely. It was so nice of him to just to come to the concert but then he set me up with a couple of agents out there. I did quite a few auditions and I did get a small part in one sitcom. He was very kind like that.” The sitcom was called ‘All My Days’ and despite being just a cameo appearance, Rose-Marie says it was a great experience.
She then got the call to do her concerts in Las Vegas. I ask her if she’d always wanted to work in America. “I’d done bits and bobs in America but I really wanted to live there for a while and just get a feel of what it was like to live in the California sunshine - but Vegas was too hot. It’s good to go to for a holiday and see some shows but to live there - I didn’t like it. But LA I loved.”
Despite the heat, Rose-Marie got to perform with some amazing acts. “Sheena Easton was out there and I had a radio show in Vegas and so we did a little stint on my radio show together. I also got to meet Tony Curtis and all the big names and of course Engelbert Humperdinck - we did some concerts together.”
“You know Engelbert and myself and my agent - after his show, we'd all go back to his dressing room and we'd have sing songs and champagne and it was great and then we’d all be around the piano singing away.”
“And of course I had the great pleasure of working with Johnny Cash - he was the most amazing man I’ve ever met in my life, he was just fantastic and Tammy Wynette - all the greats like that.” she tells me, dropping in a few more names!
Rose-Marie, with her flaming red hair, powerful voice and burning love for the stage has produced over 19 albums, all of which have gone gold and platinum in the UK and Worldwide. Born in Newry, Northern Ireland, she grew up on a farm with her parents and siblings and knew from an early age that she wanted to be a singer. The cows she milked on the farm were a captive audience for Rose-Marie and despite her parents wanting her to get a ‘proper job’ she decided to pack up and take her chances in London. Once there, she appeared on ITV’s ‘Search for a Star’ from which her big break came, especially when producers saw that she could not only sing but also had a wicked sense of humour and from thereon in, it would seem that she has never stopped working, selling millions of records.
I catch up with Rose-Marie as she embarks on her tour which celebrates her 30 year career in show business and I ask her whether, looking back, if there would be anything that she would change in that time. She replies in that wonderful throaty Northern Irish accent, “No I wouldn’t really because my career’s been very successful and I’ve had great health and so I’ve no regrets at all. I think you’re blessed if you have good health.” She continues, “I’ve gotten to do everything in my career - acting, musicals, concerts, so I feel very lucky and I’ve got amazing energy!” This energy, she tells me comes from power walking every day and the occasional trip to the gym.
I wonder how it was for the young Rose-Marie, just starting out her career, in a business which in those days was ultimately dominated by men and she tells me, “I worked with Frank Carson, Les Dawson, Cannon and Ball - all the greats. I did my very first pantomime with Frank and he taught me a lot - he used to tell me to never look down to the audience, to always look up; because I’d been doing the clubs a lot which are all on one level and I wasn’t used to theatres at that time but he said ‘you’ve got to remember to look up’. But, you know, he was so helpful to me and, oh, I miss him terribly - I really do.”
Rose-Marie also did panto with Les Dawson and she cracks up when she remembers, “He used to say to the audience, “We’ve got a singer coming on now - she’s got a voice that could warn shipping in the Solent!” she giggles, “he'd say, 'Her voice is so powerful it could strip the paint at the back of the theatre walls' and that’s how he used to introduce me! It was great fun and they were real old pros. I used to just stand at the stage and watch them in awe and learn, I think that’s the best way to be.”
I suggest that it must have been a fabulous apprenticeship for her at the time, especially as they seemed happy to take her under their wings and she agrees. “Very much so, very much so. I also used to see how they were with their fans and you know all the great pros, the bigger they were, the nicer they were. I used to love Les because he would give a lot of time to his fans and so would Frank. It was ridiculous walking down the street with him because he’d end up doing his full act to his fans as he was so recognisable.” She chuckles, “There used to be a joke going around that said, “What’s the difference between the M1 and Frank Carson? You can turn off the M1.”
Rose-Marie has also trod the musical theatre boards after auditioning for the coveted role of Mrs Johnstone in Bill Kenwright’s 'Blood Brothers' although she confides that it was one of the hardest things she has ever done. “I auditioned for the part and I didn’t hear anything for a week and then, despite being in the middle of doing a tv show in Ireland, I got the call from my agent to say would I come over to London straight away, Bill Kenwright wanted to see me. He said, would I be able to pull this off in 6 days? I mean we’re talking about 15/16 songs, dance routines all the learning lines as well. It’s a very tough role to play, a lot to remember. But I did it, I pulled it off and I absolutely loved it.” In fact, her opening night was at the Cliffs Pavilion in Southend-on-Sea and she then went on to tour with it for 5 or 6 months. Unfortunately, she didn’t get to play in the West End but, she says, “It was a role I always wanted to play. It’s got everything in it. It’s funny as well but it’s very emotional once she gives one of her children away; and oh God you could see grown men in the audience crying.”
She also performed in the Eva Cassidy Musical playing Eva’s mother, Barbara, and again as her best friend, Mary Ann Redmond. “Mary's still going strong now actually. Eva Cassidy was very, very shy whereas her best friend was pretty well established so it wasn’t too taxing to play because it’s a little bit the way I am.”
Such was the acting bug that Rose-Marie decided to go over to the States for 5 years where she enrolled in the Ivana Chubbuck School of Acting which boasts such alumni as Halle Berry and Brad Pitt. It was whilst in LA that Rose-Marie befriended film idol, John Travolta. “Oooh yes!” she exclaims with delight. “John came to see one of my shows in LA and he loved the Irish humour that I put in to the show. He was just so lovely. It was so nice of him to just to come to the concert but then he set me up with a couple of agents out there. I did quite a few auditions and I did get a small part in one sitcom. He was very kind like that.” The sitcom was called ‘All My Days’ and despite being just a cameo appearance, Rose-Marie says it was a great experience.
She then got the call to do her concerts in Las Vegas. I ask her if she’d always wanted to work in America. “I’d done bits and bobs in America but I really wanted to live there for a while and just get a feel of what it was like to live in the California sunshine - but Vegas was too hot. It’s good to go to for a holiday and see some shows but to live there - I didn’t like it. But LA I loved.”
Despite the heat, Rose-Marie got to perform with some amazing acts. “Sheena Easton was out there and I had a radio show in Vegas and so we did a little stint on my radio show together. I also got to meet Tony Curtis and all the big names and of course Engelbert Humperdinck - we did some concerts together.”
“You know Engelbert and myself and my agent - after his show, we'd all go back to his dressing room and we'd have sing songs and champagne and it was great and then we’d all be around the piano singing away.”
“And of course I had the great pleasure of working with Johnny Cash - he was the most amazing man I’ve ever met in my life, he was just fantastic and Tammy Wynette - all the greats like that.” she tells me, dropping in a few more names!
So what brought her back to the UK? “America is a very big place to find fame in and I didn’t want to stay away too long - that was never my intention; but I wanted to learn my craft and just learn more about the business and I certainly did that. Britain is where my fan base is, so I came back to London and now I divide my time between London and Blackpool, because Blackpool was where my career started.”
Knowing that she’d gone to America and had great success must have been a satisfying feeling. “Well, you know, it’s hard work out there and although I loved it, my father took ill and I needed to come home. I took a year out to help my mother look after my father, who has since passed, and, you know, America's just a long way, away. I thought to myself, ‘I’ve got it out of my system’ - it was time to come home.”
Now back in Blighty and gearing up for her 30th Anniversary Tour, I ask Rose-Marie what her fans can expect at her concerts. “I was just putting the running order together yesterday. It’ll be one or two songs off the new album probably the Sam Smith number and ‘Halfway to Paradise’ but I won’t be taking out any of my old hits like ‘When I Leave the World Behind’. There’ll be lots of audience participation, lots of laughing and joking along the way. I’ll be getting among the audience and just generally giving them a really good time.”
I wonder how she goes about picking the songs for her albums and she confesses, “With great difficulty. I have to tell you though, it’s a great thing with social media now in that I just have to ask people on my Facebook page and Twitter for ideas - even for the title of the album - and I write them all down. I wanted to do something from a couple of new artists like Sam Smith and Adele but without losing some of the tracks that my audience know me for, you know, and so that’s why I did sort of a mixture. I had hundreds of songs and it was really difficult trying to decide which ones to use but I hope I got the mix right.”
Does she do all her Facebook and Twitter updates herself? “I think it’s important to keep in touch with your fans. I would never have anybody do it for me because I have a lot of sayings that I use that my fans know and so I like to do it personally. It can be time consuming sometimes but I think it’s worth it.
And so, back to that secret. I inadvertently suggest that 30 years in show business isn’t all that Rose-Marie will be celebrating this year as she has a big birthday coming up soon too. When I say that I can’t believe she’s actually going to be 60 years old on the 7th February, she laughs, before saying, “Oh no, did you have to say that swear word! I feel like this interview is going to be the ‘coming out’ with my age because we haven’t really been putting the ‘Six O’ into any of the publicity - but you’ve said it now,” and then as an afterthought, “I hope you run a nice picture of me!”
I really don’t think that Rose-Marie needs to worry - she looks absolutely stunning and despite the fact that she is celebrating 30 years in show biz, says that she’s still extremely ambitious. “You know, I’m still as ambitious now as I was when I first started out. I’m still looking at trying to sing different songs and trying to perfect my act.”
She also tells me that she would love to do more acting. “I’d love to get on a soap - that’s my ambition. I had quite a big part in the tv series ‘Doctors’ and Bobby Knutt (who’s in 'Benidorm') played my husband. I love 'Benidorm' - I’d love to get a spot on that, especially with the comedy element of it. It’s very popular.”
I'm sure that Rose-Marie would be perfect casting for 'Benidorm' but in the meantime, we very much look forward to seeing her at The Palace Theatre, Southend-on-Sea this coming Valentine’s Day, for which Rose-Marie openly admits that she hopes to be sent some red roses. “Well, I’m actually in Dartford singing on the night of my birthday and I’m sure the celebrations will be going on until I’m at Southend. That’s one of my favourite places, The Palace Theatre, I love it. It’s been a couple of years now since I played there and I do have my favourite theatres and that’s one of them. Southend audiences are always fantastic. You know Valentine's is a perfect time for me to be doing a concert because I sing a lot of romantic, sentimental songs and it’s a good thing that people come out for the night and want to be romantic with me!”
It’s been so lovely chatting to Rose-Marie and as I thank her for her time, she leaves me with a “Thank you dear heart. Bless your heart, all the best to you, take care of yourself.” What a gal! She’s definitely my new favourite person.
If you’d like to get all romantic with Rose-Marie as well as having what promises to be a truly fun night out you can book to see her concert at www.southendtheatres.org.uk or call the box office on 01702 351135.
Knowing that she’d gone to America and had great success must have been a satisfying feeling. “Well, you know, it’s hard work out there and although I loved it, my father took ill and I needed to come home. I took a year out to help my mother look after my father, who has since passed, and, you know, America's just a long way, away. I thought to myself, ‘I’ve got it out of my system’ - it was time to come home.”
Now back in Blighty and gearing up for her 30th Anniversary Tour, I ask Rose-Marie what her fans can expect at her concerts. “I was just putting the running order together yesterday. It’ll be one or two songs off the new album probably the Sam Smith number and ‘Halfway to Paradise’ but I won’t be taking out any of my old hits like ‘When I Leave the World Behind’. There’ll be lots of audience participation, lots of laughing and joking along the way. I’ll be getting among the audience and just generally giving them a really good time.”
I wonder how she goes about picking the songs for her albums and she confesses, “With great difficulty. I have to tell you though, it’s a great thing with social media now in that I just have to ask people on my Facebook page and Twitter for ideas - even for the title of the album - and I write them all down. I wanted to do something from a couple of new artists like Sam Smith and Adele but without losing some of the tracks that my audience know me for, you know, and so that’s why I did sort of a mixture. I had hundreds of songs and it was really difficult trying to decide which ones to use but I hope I got the mix right.”
Does she do all her Facebook and Twitter updates herself? “I think it’s important to keep in touch with your fans. I would never have anybody do it for me because I have a lot of sayings that I use that my fans know and so I like to do it personally. It can be time consuming sometimes but I think it’s worth it.
And so, back to that secret. I inadvertently suggest that 30 years in show business isn’t all that Rose-Marie will be celebrating this year as she has a big birthday coming up soon too. When I say that I can’t believe she’s actually going to be 60 years old on the 7th February, she laughs, before saying, “Oh no, did you have to say that swear word! I feel like this interview is going to be the ‘coming out’ with my age because we haven’t really been putting the ‘Six O’ into any of the publicity - but you’ve said it now,” and then as an afterthought, “I hope you run a nice picture of me!”
I really don’t think that Rose-Marie needs to worry - she looks absolutely stunning and despite the fact that she is celebrating 30 years in show biz, says that she’s still extremely ambitious. “You know, I’m still as ambitious now as I was when I first started out. I’m still looking at trying to sing different songs and trying to perfect my act.”
She also tells me that she would love to do more acting. “I’d love to get on a soap - that’s my ambition. I had quite a big part in the tv series ‘Doctors’ and Bobby Knutt (who’s in 'Benidorm') played my husband. I love 'Benidorm' - I’d love to get a spot on that, especially with the comedy element of it. It’s very popular.”
I'm sure that Rose-Marie would be perfect casting for 'Benidorm' but in the meantime, we very much look forward to seeing her at The Palace Theatre, Southend-on-Sea this coming Valentine’s Day, for which Rose-Marie openly admits that she hopes to be sent some red roses. “Well, I’m actually in Dartford singing on the night of my birthday and I’m sure the celebrations will be going on until I’m at Southend. That’s one of my favourite places, The Palace Theatre, I love it. It’s been a couple of years now since I played there and I do have my favourite theatres and that’s one of them. Southend audiences are always fantastic. You know Valentine's is a perfect time for me to be doing a concert because I sing a lot of romantic, sentimental songs and it’s a good thing that people come out for the night and want to be romantic with me!”
It’s been so lovely chatting to Rose-Marie and as I thank her for her time, she leaves me with a “Thank you dear heart. Bless your heart, all the best to you, take care of yourself.” What a gal! She’s definitely my new favourite person.
If you’d like to get all romantic with Rose-Marie as well as having what promises to be a truly fun night out you can book to see her concert at www.southendtheatres.org.uk or call the box office on 01702 351135.
Doors Open – 7.00pm / Stage – 7.30pm
For more information on ROSE-MARIE, check out the following website / social media links:
Website - http://www.rose-marie.tv/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/rosemarie.singer.actress?fref=ts
Twitter – https://twitter.com/RoseMarieSinger
Website - http://www.rose-marie.tv/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/rosemarie.singer.actress?fref=ts
Twitter – https://twitter.com/RoseMarieSinger