My Top 5 Showtunes: Fra Fee

Fra's theatre credits include The Fix (Union Theatre), Candide (Menier Chocolate Factory) and Les Miserables (Queen's Theatre).

He is currently playing Mole in a new musical adaptation of The Wind in the Willows at the Theatre Royal Plymouth.

We caught up with Fra and asked him: "If you were stranded on a desert island which five showtunes could you not live without?"

1. "Now You Know" from Merrily We Roll Along

I first heard this when I was studying Musical Theatre at the Royal Academy of Music. A bunch of us went to Clare Burt's cabaret at Pizza at the Park and this was her opening number. I loved it then and even more so when I heard it in context in the Menier Chocolate Factory production a few years later. It's jazz idiom is fun and exciting but the lyrics I think are wonderfully profound…"It's called 'burn your bridges, start again', you should burn them every now and then or you'll never grow."….oh, Steve!

2. "The Light in the Piazza" from The Light in the Piazza

This song just completely floors me. It is stunning, particularly when hearing it as part of the show – a perfect window into Clara's character. The whole show is glorious but this number in particular I love.

3. "Sometimes a Day Goes By" by Kander & Ebb

I think just about anyone who has been in love can appreciate the lyrics of this gorgeous song. The seemingly upbeat accompaniment gives you the false sense of security that it's going to be a happy song but then it rips the floor from underneath you. Brilliant.

4. "Being Alive" from Company

I'm not sure how wise it would be to listen to this song when stranded on a beach, presumably starving and contemplating imminent death but still… A song that finishes somewhere very different from where it started is always interesting and this does it fairly remarkably. Company is such an incredible show and this song pretty much is one of the best dramatic climaxes of any character ever, ever… ever. (I also love Marry Me a Little but there's only room for five so I couldn't possibly mention it…)

5. "Make Our Garden Grow" from Candide

I'm sure I'd be pining significantly for grass and water so perhaps this song would quench those desires. The ultimate show-stopper. Playing Candide a few years ago was one of the biggest privileges I think I'll ever have, particularly singing this song at the end of the show with some of the most sensational voices. It's just so unbelievably stirring and wonderful.

The Wind in the Willows opens at the Theatre Royal Plymouth on 8 October and then tours to Southampton and Salford before opening in the West End.