An Interview With Rhiannon Chesterman – The Wedding Singer’s Leading Lady!
Rhiannon Chesterman is one of the UK’s most prolific and talented musical theatre performers, having starred in a variety of productions both in the West End, and in and around the country. Her latest role is the lead, Julia Sullivan, in Kevin’s current stage hit, The Wedding Singer!
Kevin and Rhiannon took time out from their hectic performing schedule to chat about how Rhiannon got started, how she creates her characters, what life’s like as a stage performer, and what keeps her motivated. It’s a fascinating insight behind the stage curtain, and essential listening for aspiring performers and theatre-fans alike
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The Wedding Singer is proving to be a joyful experience, due to the fact the company are all kind, generous and considerate. It’s rare for a company to bond and perform so well, and these atmospheres are greatly creative to work in. This is Rhiannon’s first large-scale musical lead part. She’s played in many shows before, but has never been so heavily featured. It’s daunting, but incredible. It’s sometimes easy, when playing a part already established by other actors, to simply do an impression of their prior performance. Both Kevin and Rhiannon were keen not to impersonate Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler. They simply reflected the spirit and tone of the original film. Rhiannon’s approach to portraying a character is to first find out who the character is, and then add her own touches by drawing upon similar memories in her own life. This makes it easier to leave a character at work each night. Critics are useful in marketing a play, but it’s useless to try and please all of them. The most important people to please are the audiences each night. It was seeing a West End performance of Cats that made Rhiannon decide to take up a career on the stage. She devoted herself to bettering her voice through choir work, and slowly developed her vocals and her confidence. Rejection early on in Rhiannon’s career didn’t deter her from her aim of being a performer. She credits the support of her family during this period, as well as using each rejection to drive her forward. Every shot at a role might be the break you’ve been searching for. Actors spend so much time rehearsing, and in some cases, investing their own money, into preparing for auditions. It’s a costly, exhausting, and sometimes heart-breaking process. But it’s all part of being an actor.BEST MOMENTS
‘I always fancy doing some jigsaw puzzles’
‘Each piece of art is different’
‘Comedy comes from a place of truth’
‘Know who you’re going to be, and know who your show is for’
‘I do read the reviews, but I don’t take them to heart’
‘You have to deal with the down-times. That’s the hard bit’
‘It’s about having respect for the people that come into the room'
VALUABLE RESOURCES
The Kevin Clifton Show - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-kevin-clifton-show/id1475650764
Rhiannon Chesterman Twitter - https://twitter.com/RhiannonSarahC
The Wedding Singer Twitter - https://twitter.com/WedSingLondon
Rhiannon Chesterman Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/rhiannonchesterman/?hl=en
ABOUT THE HOST
Kevin Clifton is a professional dancer who has been performing & competing at the highest level for over a decade. Kevin has worked on shows like 'Burn the floor' & 'Rock of Ages' to 'Strictly Come Dancing' one of the biggest TV shows in the UK which Kevin won in 2018.
CONTACT METHOD
