My Top 5 Showtunes: Lucie Shorthouse

Lucie Shorthouse's theatre credits include Roller Diner (Soho Theatre), The House of In Between (Theatre Royal Stratford East), The Comedy of Errors and (Sam Wanamaker Festival at Shakespeare's Globe).

She is currently starring as Pritti Pasha in Everybody's Talking About Jamie, a role she won the 2018 Best Supporting Actress in a Musical WhatsOnStage Award for.

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

1. "Wall In My Head" from Everybody's Talking About Jamie

This song has the most poignant lyrics and it really captures Jamie's vulnerability in our show and how we all have hurdles to get over. It was also the first song I ever heard John McCrea sing and I just remember being spellbound and just flawed at not only his voice but how he connected so truthfully in song. I'm so privileged to be a part of such a progressive show telling such an important story.

2. "The Sound of Music" from The Sound of Music

The Sound of Music will always be my favourite musical and film purely for nostalgic reasons. I would watch it ritually every day as a child and be captivated. I would love to one day play Maria Von Trapp, it's a secret dream of mine. Any song from that show can give me tingles. It's just so connected to my childhood and me realising I wanted to tell stories and sing. I got to play a nun in the sound of music live on ITV a few years back and as you can imagine I was over the moon!

3. "Run and Tell That" from Hairspray

I love this entire show and I love the soul and groove in this number, it's so infectious. The brass is gorgeous. The show is unapologetic in its blackness and unfortunately, its themes still resonate and prove relevant today. I also love "I Know Where I've Been" for this reason. The entire show is so forward-thinking and significant but like Jamie isn't preaching. It's celebrating authenticity just like our show does.

4. "Send In The Clowns" from A Little Night Music

I'm still very shy with my voice. I'm going for my first ever singing lesson at the end of this month. I have no idea what I'm doing and still cringe if I have to hear myself! It's easy to feel self-conscious and a bit of a fraud when you hear these huge musical theatre voices, but I always remember Judi Dench singing this song and how absolutely stunning and truthful it is. She might not have the most skilled voice in the world but my word it is an acting-through-song masterclass. Josie Walker singing "He's My Boy" in Jamie is another masterclass in emitting unbridled truth and emotion in a song.

5. "I'd Rather Be Me" from Mean Girls

This is a new one! But I would LOVE to play Janis in Mean Girls and I think the message of the song is very much aligned with my character in Jamie. It's about accepting and celebrating who you are even if it means going against the grain. "Someone Gets Hurt" (reprise) is a close contender too! When I was in year ten I memorised a speech from the film when I auditioned for a school play and I was successful so it would be lovely to come full circle and get to play her!