My Top 5 Showtunes: Tyrone Huntley

Tyrone Huntley's recent stage credits include the West End productions of Dreamgirls, Memphis and The Book of Mormon, as well as Porgy and Bess and Jesus Christ Superstar at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre.

He is currently starring in the Watermill Theatre production of A Midsummer Night's Dream and also features in West End Does: Bond, at Cadogan Hall on 1 July.

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

1. "I Loves You Porgy" from '''Porgy and Bess''

My only pick from a show I've actually been in. I love this musical and I LOVED this job. I laughed every day. The whole score takes my breath away so it was difficult to choose a favourite, but this song is doubly meaningful because of Nina Simone's famous cover. Ms Simone is one of my Mum's favourite singers (and one of the most sensational performers of all time) and so the song reminds me of my Ma. It's also one of my favourites to sing!

2. "I Got Love" from Purlie

When I first got to drama school I had many gaps to fill in my knowledge of musical theatre so I tried to listen to a musical I hadn't heard of whenever I had the time (which at drama school was rare). Naturally, I focussed more on musicals with black people in them and so I came across Purlie and became obsessed with this song! Whenever I try and sing a song in a female key (which is most days) Melba Moore's extraordinarily effortless voice singing this song is what I hear; when in reality a strangled cat is perhaps a more fitting comparison. I hope one day I'll be confident enough to sing this in public.

3. "Knowing When To Leave" from Promises, Promises

Thanks to the likes of Dionne Warwick and Aretha Franklin et al, Burt Bacharach's music was a big part of my musical upbringing. And so I immediately connected with his musical Promises, Promises when I first heard it about ten years ago – despite its shockingly chauvinistic overtones by today's standards. A lot of the songs I'd heard before in a pop music context anyway and this is one of them. The subject of the song is incredibly relatable and the orchestration incidentally makes me reminisce about the '60s. Even though I wasn't actually born until the '80s.

4. "Some Fun Now" from Little Shop of Horrors

Little Shop of Horrors was one of only a few musicals I knew growing up. My mum had bought me the video of the film for a birthday and I loved it. Mainly because of the numbers where Crystal, Ronette and Chiffon gave their sassy narrations. I still haven't actually seen the show live but I know that this song is an adaptation of the stage show's "Ya Never Know". The voices are stratospheric and before Beyoncé's "Love on Top" this song was my go-to to test out my key change range. There's a wonderful calypso dance break in the middle of it too.

5. "America" from West Side Story

I often get asked what my dream role in a musical would be. I always say that I don't really have one and that it's whatever I'm auditioning for at the time. This is half true. The other half of the truth is the role of Anita in West Side Story. For some pretty obvious reasons that's never going to happen but in spite of this, West Side Story remains the musical of musicals in my mind and I get goosebumps every time I see the film. I struggled to choose between a few favourites ("Dance At the Gym", "A Boy Like That", "Cool" and this song) but I chose "America" because I think the sentiment encompasses the heart of the show.

Bonus: "Red Light" from Fame

Not strictly a showtune as it's from the film version of Fame but I had to give this scene and the song in it an honourable mention. I owned four musical movie videos growing up: Little Shop of Horrors, The Wiz, West Side Story and Fame, and at the time Fame was absolutely my favourite. Even though I was definitely too young to understand the more adult themes, it was exhilarating to see those kids having so much fun doing what they loved. I thought this scene and the scene that followed were absolutely hilarious; the comedic use of expletives was particularly captivating to 10 year–old Ty.