Lizzie Bea: ‘It's important I'm a good role model for people coming to see Hairspray’

She may be about to make her West End debut in one of London's biggest musicals of the summer, but Lizzie Bea is already showing maturity beyond her years as she gears up to play Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray.

The lead role of Tracy, who is a wannabe dancer who dreams of performing on local entertainment programme The Corny Collins Show, is traditionally played by undiscovered talent. In 2007, the London premiere of the show launched the career of Leanne Jones, who went on to win Olivier and Critics' Circle awards for her performance.

Now, the mantle falls to Bea, whose previous credits include UK tours of Kinky Boots and Fat Friends. But this summer at the London Coliseum, she'll be leading the likes of Michael Ball, Marisha Wallace, Rita Simons and Paul Merton in an all-star revival of the high-energy show.

But with great roles comes great responsibility, something Bea isn't taking lightly.

"I'm feeling that it's a very important part of my job to be a nice person along the way, and a good company leader," she told LondonTheatre.co.uk at a recent press event in Soho.

"For anyone who comes to see the show or comes to stage door, it's important to me that I'm a good role model to them", she added. "I'm not sure I had anyone who looked like me on stage when I was growing up, and I hope that I can maybe be someone who people see representing them in a musical."

In the video interview which you can watch above, Bea also reveals her history with an amateur dramatic production of the musical, as well as the moment she received the phone call to tell her she scored the lead role in the show.

Hairspray is at the London Coliseum until 29^th August 2020.

Hairspray tickets are available now.