Brian Beacom

LAUREN Ellis-Steele has a big booming voice and a big performing talent.

Right now Bearsden-born Lauren is set to appear at the King’s Theatre in musical Girls Night Oot, a show which is fairly well described by its title.

But she admits that a decade ago being a big girl would have limited her chances of musical theatre success.

“However, it’s all changed now,” she says, smiling of the evolution in the business.

“Theatre producers are looking for all shapes and sizes to reflect the diversity out there.

“The attitude has had to adapt you see because the world has adapted.”

The twenty-five year-old adds; “The old school musicals will still look for the leggy, skinny blondes. But now there is so much new stuff being written which reflects how women have changed.

“And as a result, the producers want a bigger, brassier character. It’s the same on television as well.”

It’s true. One of River City’s most successful additions in recent years has been Gayle Telfer Stevens.

“Gayle is amazing,” says Lauren. “And people can relate to her. “It’s the same with Leah MacRae.”

Lauren believes the diversity of size and shape in the casting of Girls Night Oot really strikes a chord with audiences.

“You will hear people in the stalls looking up at the stage and saying ‘She’s just like my pal.’ And others will say ‘You’re me up there!’”

But does this mean Lauren and the larger ladies are effectively barred from the traditional musicals?

“Not necessarily,” she says. “Just recently you had Rebel Wilson come to the West End to play Miss Adelaide in Guys N’ Dolls. It can happen.”

Girl’s Night Oot, not surprisingly, features a range of female-friendly songs.

“We do the likes of Hot Stuff, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, You’re So Vain, I’m Every Woman, it’s a very song-driven show.”

The story? Well Lauren (the character) is on her hen night, set to marry the man of her dreams, and the show begins with the girls going out to a club.

Audiences however can expect the evening to be as raucous as the real thing; toilet seats wrapped around necks and lots of toilet humour.

“It’s an 18 plus certificate,” says the actress, grinning. “It’s a bit risqué but all great fun and we’ve had great response from audiences on tour in the likes of Dundee.

Lauren, it seems, was destined to perform.

“I’ve been studying singing, dancing and acting since I was really young,” she offers. “It was my way of escaping from reality.”

What was the reality she was escaping from?

“Boredom,” she says, laughing. “Plus, I was really shy as a youngster and this was a way of bringing me out of my shell.”

Lauren studied at Gamta until she was sixteen and after theatre college was signed by a London agent.

“I was going to see West End shows in London when I was fifteen. I knew this what I wanted to do.”

Television success followed, working on BBC drama Six Degrees for three years.

Lauren went on to join the UK tour of Wicked, which she says was “great fun.”

“I’ve been really lucky,” she maintains. “I love what I do. In between times I’ve worked in admin and as a receptionist but I was totally miserable.

“Planning is hard in this life. Yet, every day is different. I’m not going to the same office, opening the same door, sitting on the same seat.

“I also teach musical theatre around the area and do workshops for kids. I’m always busy.”

And she can hope to land some of the big theatre roles. She’d love to play the Lady of the Lake in Spamalot, Madame T in Les Mis. And Nancy in Oliver!

But what of her personal life? Lauren has a boyfriend. Could she see herself out on her own hen night with the girls?

“Maybe in a few years,” she says with a wry smile.

Will she wear a sash with VIRGIN written across it?

“Not anytime soon,” she says, laughing.

*Girls Night Oot, The King’s Theatre, February 3, also stars Donna Hazelton, Natalie Tulloch and Alison Rona Cleland.