The Stage

Prenger gets ready for Nancy with Les Mis stint

Published Wednesday 20 August 2008 at 15:45 by Alistair Smith

Exclusive: I’d Do Anything winner Jodie Prenger will make her West End debut in Les Miserables, in a bid to gain extra stage experience before she takes on the role of Nancy in Cameron Mackintosh’s forthcoming production of Oliver!.

Prenger, who was chosen by the public to play Nancy in the revival of the Lionel Bart musical, had been expected to make her first West End appearance when the show opens at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane later this year. However, Mackintosh - who is the producer of Les Miserables, as well as Oliver! - has taken the decision to draft her into the ensemble of the world’s longest-running musical in order to help her gain some experience of performing a full week in a major London show.

While - like previous TV talent show winner Lee Mead - she did not complete her graduation from drama school, Prenger is a tested performer. She has previously worked for Disney on a cruise ship and on the light entertainment circuit in her home town of Blackpool.

However, unlike Mead, who had been understudying Raoul in Phantom of the Opera when he applied for Any Dream Will Do, she does not have experience of working in Theatreland.

A spokesman for Mackintosh confirmed that Prenger was currently in rehearsals for Les Miserables, which is running at the Queen’s Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue. She will perform for three or four weeks from August 26, taking on a variety of small roles in the ensemble.

He added: “It’s something that we’ve consciously decided not to announce. We want her to keep a low profile and build up on the training that she underwent on the programme. We thought it would be useful for her to experience what it will be like performing regularly in the West End in that musical environment. We thought that it would be good to learn what it is like to be a company member.”

Unlike on previous TV talent searches How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? and Any Dream Will Do, where the winners were scheduled to go almost immediately into rehearsals for the ensuing show, there has been a period of around six months between Prenger winning I’d Do Anything at the end of May and Oliver! beginning previews in December. During this period, she has continued her theatre training.

This summer she attended the RADA summer school and her appearance in Les Miserables will mark the next stage in her preparations for Oliver!.

The BBC’s TV talent shows were originally greeted with resistance by much of the acting community when How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? was launched in 2006, with Equity complaining that the shows would encourage non-professionals to compete for jobs in the West End.

However, all three of the winners of the shows have undertaken various levels of drama training, while Mead and Prenger had both worked professionally before landing their respective parts.