Brian Beacom

DANIELLE Hope is set to star in the iconic role of Sandy in the touring production of Grease.

But what audiences won’t be aware that Grease in fact changed the course of Danielle’s life.

The actress from Cheshire, who won the BBC’s talent contest Over the Rainbow in 2010, reveals that aged ten she was asked to appear in a school’s production.

And it was to be the making of her.

“I was fairly shy at that point,” Danielle recalls, smiling, during a break from rehearsals in London.

“I would perform sometimes with a little group of my friends. Yet, there was no way I would go out there on a public stage and sing and dance.

“But then one of the drama teachers in our school cast me as Rizzo in Grease. And it’s fair to say that moment changed my life.”

Suddenly, playing Rizzo, the cheeky character with the snappy one-liners brought with her a whole new world of possibility.

“At that point if anyone had asked me what I wanted to be I would say I didn’t have a clue,” says Danielle.

“But I now realised if I became an actress I could become all sorts of different people. I could be a dancer or a teacher or an air hostess, whatever.”

She adds, with a soft note in her voice; “What dawned on me was I loved the idea of being someone else. And if I could make a career of that, then fantastic.”

With the dream in her mind, Danielle did her utmost to break into showbiz. She studied singing, took dance lessons six nights a week.

While still at school, Danielle made the cut from over 9,000 girls to perform live on the BBC’s Over The Rainbow and its search for a West End Dorothy.

But the show was tough. Her ratings would go up and down from week to week. On several occasions she looked like she was on her way back to Knutsford.

How did she deal with the criticism she had to endure from the judges each week?

Andrew Lloyd Webber, for example, suggested that she needed to learn how to disguise the break in her voice, and Charlotte Church said her top notes could get “a little bit shouty”.

“Yes, and I was just seventeen at the time.

“But I didn’t take it personally. I knew what was happening, even though it is hard to be judged every week on a live show.”

Danielle adds, smiling; “I did shed a few tears, but that was when friends were leaving. I was crying because we had become so close.”

Danielle went on to win the chance to play Dorothy and her success led to a succession of great roles, starring in with Michael Crawford and as Eponine in Les Mis in the West End in 2012.

She has since starred as Snow White in and as Maria in the Sound of Music.

Now, she’s starring as Sandy, the role played by Olivia Newton John in the 1978 film.

“I just love the character. She goes through this great transformation, from nice girl into vamp and Grease is such a great story.

“It’s not just a love story between two people, it’s the story of what teenagers of the period went through.

“It’s set in a time when there were really just children and adults. And then along came this new category, which were called teenagers.

“It was all set in a time of a new rebellion. When teenagers suddenly had a voice.”

Was Danielle a rebellious teenager? “Absolutely,” she says, laughing.

“Isn’t that what being a teenager is about?”

And did she have her own Danny Zuko boyfriend?

“Oh yes! I was always hanging around the music room and I was a sucker for any guy who played an instrument, especially a guitar.”

She adds, grinning; “The leather jacket was a bonus.”

Now, Danielle gets to sing a clutch of great songs such as Hopelessly Devoted To You and You’re the One That I want, alongside Tom Parker as Danny Zuko.

“He’s a great performer,” says Danielle of her leading man .”He’s fantastic.”

It’s just as well because you have to snog the face off him every night?

“Twice a night, and double that with matinees,” she says, grinning. “But it’s not hard to do at all.”

What’s as easy to detect as the Brylcreem used on the Greaser’s hairstyles is that Danielle Hope is hopelessly in love with not only the idea of returning to Grease after fourteen years but in love with the business.

“I especially love touring theatre,” she says.

“I love the idea of bringing a great show to a town and seeing the reaction of the audience.

“And I know Glasgow will be great, having played there with Sound of Music.”

But she won’t let the success go to her brunette head (Sandy requires a couple of blonde wigs for the transformation).

“No, I’ve had great help along the way, not just from people in the business such as Michael Crawford in, but my school drama teacher Miss Mayne who encouraged me from the beginning.

“She’s like part of the family and while you don’t want to worry parents with every professional concern you have it’s been great to contact someone like Miss Mayne knowing she’s always there to offer help.”

Danielle adds, smiling; “She’s been Batman to my Robin. I couldn’t have done it without her.”

These days reality shows get some bad press, and some heavy crit from performers who’ve found their way into the West End the hard way.

But Danielle won’t hear of it.

“You only have to look at the talent they produce. In fact one of the girls I was up against for Dorothy has gone on to play Sandy.

“It’s a great way to discover what people are capable of.”

• Grease, the King’s Theatre, May 9-20.