AN OPEN BOOK

Actress Carrie Hope Fletcher talks about new chapters ahead of her debut solo tour…

For Carrie Hope Fletcher, 2022 was destined to be one to remember – she was leading the cast in the title role of a West End show, was living with her long-term boyfriend, and was going to turn 30.

Little did she expect it to turn out to be quite such a landmark in her life. Or did she? As the musical theatre actress, vlogger and author says, 22 is her lucky number…

But it didn’t get off to the best start, with the show she was starring in, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella having a Covid-enforced eight-week stop, and the end of a four-year relationship. Carrie might have been forgiven for rethinking her lucky charm.

However, come the end of the year, and it was a different story: Carrie had happily turned 30, found a new, true love – and got engaged, impressed critics with her debut in a Bertolt Brecht play, did her first pantomime, and had announced her first solo concert tour An Open Book. In the past, Carrie has spoken ‘openly’ about her fear of concert performances, so what changed her mind this time?

“Nothing. I’m still petrified!” she admits. “You know what it is, I don’t feel like I’m very good at being myself. I love being an actress, hiding behind a character, which I find interesting and fun getting into the mindset of other people and telling stories, using their emotions.”

With a CV featuring roles as diverse as Eponine and Fantine in Les Misérables, Veronica Sawyer in Heathers, Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family and Truly Scrumptious in

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Carrie’s certainly gotten to grips with a range of characters over the years. “But on stage as myself, it feels a bit boring by comparison. I haven’t got the same to offer as Veronica, or Wednesday, or Fantine…

“In concert, if people don’t like what you’re saying and singing, it’s very much you. People can say I hated how you played Veronica Sawyer, and I can put her in the way and blame the character. But a concert, it’s very personal and everything you’re feeling is very much yourself; your feelings, your stories and your voice.

“That is terrifying. I’m a people pleaser. I like people to like me so it’s scary to put myself into that place where they potentially won’t.” Fans will get to hear Carrie sing numbers from some of her previous roles, as well as new songs in the concert – which will also see her sharing stories about her life.

“I’m getting around hating being myself by writing it like a show, creating a script and character for myself to feel more comfortable,” she explains. “It feels very much like I’m creating a little show for myself.

“Every time I’ve done a concert, I feel like it’s always been I Dreamed A Dream from Les Mis, or Pulled from The Addams Family – it’s always songs I’ve done in shows.

“This time, there will be songs I’ve never got to sing. Things from roles I’ve not had chance to play, roles I probably will never play – which is a dream to be able to do. But they will all have messages or be something that I want to say.” n

One of the great treats that come with brighter days and lighter nights is the ability to dine alfresco with friends and family. This spring has been an especially soggy and cold one and even as I write, the garden furniture remains under the protective covers, untouched since last September.