No business like show business for Rebecca

Beauty consultant and part time theatre usher Rebecca Duckworth has her heart set on showbiz.
Rebecca Duckworth stars as Doralee Rhodes in "9 to  5: The Musical" at Preston's Charter TheatreRebecca Duckworth stars as Doralee Rhodes in "9 to  5: The Musical" at Preston's Charter Theatre
Rebecca Duckworth stars as Doralee Rhodes in "9 to 5: The Musical" at Preston's Charter Theatre

But she’s not ditching the 9 to 5 routine ... in fact she’s embracing it in her latest role.

The 22 year old, who works front of house at Preston’s Charter Theatre, will soon be stepping into the spotlight to appear there as Doralee Rhodes in “9 to 5: The Musical”, the part first played by country star Dolly Parton.

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For Rebecca, who graduated in music theatre from UCLan last summer, the stage appearance next month with local group Nogal Productions is a dream come true as she has always been a Dolly fan.

The part means she will swop her usual long dark hair for a long blonde wig. Extra padding has boosted her figure to Doralee proportions too and she said: “I’m so excited to be playing this role – Dolly is a fantastic singer and my ultimate idol”.

The original 1980 film starred Dolly and featured music and lyrics by her. The country star also wrote new songs for the musical.

Penwortham based Rebecca said: “Dolly is just so different to other country singers. She’s a fantastic voice. I love country music as well so it’s nice to be able to sing a few songs. It’s a really, really fun role to take.”

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However she admits to a little trepidation about her leap over the footlights: “It will be a bit weird with my coworkers watching me. I feel a bit nervous...I don’t usually go backstage.”

Until recently Rebecca, who works in Boots, also taught at PQA (the Pauline Quirke Academy of Performing Arts) in a bid to raise enough money to follow her career in musical theatre.

The former student at Preston’s Newman College and Corpus Christi Catholic Sports College explained: “ I was offered a place at the Guildford School of Acting to do a masters, unfortunately I couldn’t get the £20,000 fees together. It was a difficult decision because obviously I really wanted to continue my studies.”

It was after seeing Kirkham based amateur group Nogal’s production of the ‘The Addams Family’ last year while working at the Charter that Rebecca decided she wanted to join the group.

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Sue Gallagher,Nogal’s Artistic Director said: “Rebecca is a very talented young lady – she is the perfect Dolly”.

The show runs from November 2 - 5 and Rebecca added: “I just love being on stage. I’m going for auditions and getting involved in shows. My ultimate ambition is to be on stage 24/7 and get paid for it.”

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