Bringing Grease The Musical to Blackpool feels like coming home says Lancashire star

Leigh Jamieson, 27, is playing Jan in Grease The Musical, an exciting new co-production from Pitlochry Festival Theatre and Blackpool Grand which promises to capture the idealism of the rock ‘n’ roll 1950s, with plenty of iconic songs, high-energy dance routines and cool costumes.

Although herself from Southport, most of Leah’s family live across Lancashire and she is a Runshaw College alumna so the stage star spoke to us about how excited she is to return to the county she considers home.

In the following interview, Leah reveals what audiences can expect, why she wants to show her colleagues the site of Lancashire and offers advice to young performers hoping to make it in the industry.

How are you feeling about bringing Grease to Blackpool?

“I am so excited. I am from Southport so it's kind of like coming home a little bit. At the moment, I'm in Pitlochry, which is the co-producer of Grease that we're doing in Blackpool. So I'm up in the Highlands of Scotland, and we're going to be in Blackpool from the fourth to the 14th of June. I can't wait to come back. The Grand Theatre is absolutely beautiful and also it means that I get to go on Valhalla again at Pleasure Beach, which I can't wait for!”

So you have been to Blackpool before?

“Oh, yeah, I used to go when I was a kid. I used to go and see Mooky the Clown at the tower. It was great. But yeah, no, super excited to bring Grease to Blackpool because it kind of feels like, if there's any musical that's made for Blackpool, it is Grease because we've got all the lights and the party and the fun at Blackpool, and that's exactly what Grease is. And I mean, it's nostalgic for everybody, I think, the musical and all the words- I mean, you can't end a night without having the Grease mega medley playing, can you?!”

Have you performed in Lancashire before?

“I've actually performed at the Grand a couple of years ago, I was on tour there which is why I'm really excited to go back because the people at the Grand are really wonderful... The people that we've been able to kind of meet and work with and collaborate with have been great and also the audiences in Blackpool are great. It's just you know you're gonna have a fun night.”

You have other links to Lancashire as well, can you talk me through those?

“Yeah so I went to sixth form in Leyland, and that's where my mum lives at the moment, and my grandmother lives in Garstang, which isn't too far from Blackpool, so I'll be making a lot of trips over there. I've got family in Chorley, I've got family in Lancaster, I've got family all over the shop.”

So even though Southport is technically Merseyside, do you consider yourself a Lancashire lass returning to your home stage?

“Oh, yeah, absolutely. I've still got a PR postcode!”

Can you tell us what your character, Jan, is like?

“Jan is one of the Pink Ladies, and she's often part of the comedy relief of the scene. She's cheeky, fun and the really good thing about this production of Grease is that Jan's character isn't developed as much in the film, but in the original stage musical, she actually gets this big song and she has a love interest, and we really get to see her progression throughout the show. The other thing that we're really excited about with this particular production of Grease is it's an actor muso production, so I will be playing my saxophone a lot during this show, which is going to be really fun to do - especially in my pink ladies jacket, I think it complements it.

So is that a unique thing to be able to do?

“Yeah, absolutely. I believe that this is the first ever actor muso production of Grease which we're super, super, super excited to be able to bring to Blackpool and to kind of the rest of the world at this point. Greece is a party as it is, and the musical is so good that this is like a musical and a rock and roll concert all rolled into one because you get to see your favorite characters all jamming out and playing the music, as well as singing all the songs that everybody knows and loves.

Would you say this is your biggest role yet?

“I think definitely in a musical. I was in a show called ‘Pride and Prejudice* (*sort of)’ which was amazing and was like a comedy version of Pride and Prejudice. We toured that for ages but it's really cool to be able to do something that I can go to my friends and family and go, ‘I'm playing Jan in Grease’, and they go, ‘Oh, my God, I love Grease!’”

And are you just performing it in Blackpool?

“It’s opening in Blackpool. These are going to be our first shows from the 4th to the 14th, and then we're coming back up to Scotland for the rest of the summer.”

Get the latest headlines, straight to your inbox, with The LEP’s free emailsor the Blackpool Gazette’s free emails.

So starting in Blackpool, where you have so many local connections, is that more nerve wracking or comforting?

“A little bit of both. What's nice for me is I'm going to be able to say it in my family's for a little while, while I'm there so that's nice that I get to be able to kind of sit for a bit. And I've got lots of friends and family coming but I think I'm more excited than anything, because there's people in our cast that haven't ever been to Blackpool, and I've been going ‘well, we can do this and this and this’ and we kind of have a whole little schedule sorted out of all the places we're going to stop off while we go there for the two weeks. So I think it's going to be really fun to start in Blackpool. It feels like the right decision for Grease.”

Could you tell us some of the places you want to show your colleagues?

“Oh, well, we have to go to Pleasure Beach, and we have to go on Valhalla, and also the Wallace and Gromit ride there is really good, I went on that a couple of years ago. And I mean, just kind of spending time going to the Silcock amusements and going down the beach. I’d love to be able to take a trip out to like Lytham and go and see Thornton and all that kind of way and, yeah, just really experience everything. Everyone's very excited to go on the trams as well, on the Promenade, that has been a big kind of selling point of Blackpool for us so you'll see us on the trams singing ‘Grease is the word’!

And why should people in Lancashire, or generally the North West, come to see you in Blackpool next week with Grease?

“I think if you want a good night out, if you want to have a bit of fun, and if you want to kind of tap into the nostalgia of Grease, you should come and see it. But also, I mean just the integration of the instruments and the kind of new things that we've added, there's a few surprises along the way, whilst kind of keeping true to that story that everybody loves. It's going to be really special, it's going to be a really, really special performance.”

And as a local performer, can I ask how you got into this career?

“Yeah so I went to Runshaw College in Leyland which has an amazing drama section that I was very fortunate to be a part of. Then I moved to London, and did the Actor Muso course at Rose Bruford College. I graduated in Covid which felt like the end of the world but it was actually okay because I got an agent. I did a few bits and bobs in Liverpool and then I got my big break with Pride and Prejudice. I started out on the West End there, and then I toured that for about three years so we went everywhere - all the way down to Cornwall, all the way up to Inverness and Blackpool in the middle. Then I got the call about coming to do Pitlochry this season and I've been up in Scotland for about two months now rehearsing Grease and I'm really excited to be back and go near the beach again. That's the thing that I've missed the most.”

Join our new WhatsApp Community to get the latest news and top stories from across Lancashire directly to your phone.

Is there anything in the future that you already have planned?

“So the wonderful thing about the Pitlochry season, which is part of the producers of Grease, is it's a whole rep season. So not only am I currently working towards Grease in Blackpool, I'm also part of The Great Gatsby and Sunshine on Leith. So if anyone kind of finds their way up in Scotland, then you should come and catch those as well.”

Looking way into the future, is there anything that you would love to do?

“I would love to be on Coronation Street. I would love to be on the cobbles, I think growing up and watching that and then going ‘imagine if in like, 50 years time, I was sat with my kids going, I was on them streets, and I had an impact on Amy and Steve [Barlow]and everybody. I would really like to do that.”

Finally for anyone in Lancashire who wants to be a performer, what advice would you give them?

“Go to your local theater, go and see what they’ve got going on. Join those groups, join the choirs, join the drama groups, the dance groups, and just have fun with it. And also, if you play an instrument, go to your lessons, it's really helpful!”