Zizi Strallen: 'I want to be a sketch writer'

Zizi Strallen can currently be found feeding the birds around the UK as the titular role in the WhatsOnStage Award-winning UK tour of Mary Poppins.

At 25 years-old, Zizi is the third eldest of four sisters increasingly prominent in the musical theatre world; Scarlett, Summer and Sasi – Zizi's real name is Sylphide.

Her previous theatre credits include Cats, Merrily We Roll Along and The Car Man for which she recently won the National Dance Award for Outstanding Female Performance (Modern).

Matthew Bourne's The Car Man will be beamed into cinemas around the UK from 1 March, full listings can be found here.

How's Mary Poppins going?

It's absolutely brilliant, we're pretty much selling out everywhere I think. Everyone loves Mary Poppins, as do I, and it's going really well!

Is it a part you've always wanted to play?

Not particularly. My sister [Scarlett Strallen] played it about eleven years ago and when I saw it I was much younger so I never really thought that I would play it. But when I heard it was coming back on tour I remember thinking it was such a great part, so when the opportunity came up to audition for it I was quite pleased.

What was it like performing it on the Royal Variety Show?

That was crazy. I met Prince Harry! Flying in at the Royal Albert Hall was brilliant, I do some pretty amazing flights on tour but nothing really compares to the Royal Albert Hall.

I've had a go at flying with the RSC and it's not easy…

No, you have to engage your core.

I don't have a core…

Well thanks to Matt Bourne, I do! You have to keep your back up, but I think the hardest bit of flying is actually for Matt Lee [who plays Bert] who has to walk up the proscenium arch. When he walks back down the wall he has to keep his back up like he's doing the Dirty Dancing lift, he's got a harder job than me for sure.

Has there been any more talk of it coming into the West End?

Gosh, well no, we haven't heard a single thing. Obviously I'd love that, but there doesn't seem to be anything on the grapevine at the moment.

The Car Man is about to be screened into cinemas around the world…

Yes, it's great that it's going into cinemas, when we filmed it we thought it was just going to be on Sky Arts a couple of times, but I've booked my tickets already! It's the second time it's happened to me because Merrily We Roll Along did a similar thing.

What are your memories of working on the The Car Man?

Just absolute joy. I couldn't have loved a job more. I love working with the New Adventures Company, they won Outstanding Company at the National Dance Awards and they absolutely deserve it.

I will always have a sad memory to go with it because my friend and leading man Jonny [Ollivier] died at the end, which will be something I'll always remember. I was due to be rehearsing a couple of things with him in the afternoon and when he wasn't there I knew something was wrong. We found out at the end of the matinee and decided to cancel the last show. It would have been impossible to perform it.

Mr Wonderful at Sadler's Wells was a fitting tribute to his work…

It was incredible. It was such an emotional day, but also so happy, it had such a celebratory feeling about it. So many people came together to perform, it was a great day.

What's it like working with Matt Bourne on dance shows and musical theatre? Is his approach different?

Not at all really. He would say himself that he's more of a director these days, obviously he knows all the choreography back to front but he doesn't teach it so much anymore. I don't think I've ever worked with a director in dance, musical theatre, TV or anything that goes so far into your back story and the characters' relationships on stage, he's just a fantastic director to work with.

The Strallens are a force to be reckoned with in theatreland. Is it hard living up to the family credentials?

It used to faze me when I was younger and just starting out, but my sisters would tell me I was just being silly. I had it in my head that my older sisters [Summer and Scarlett] always got every job that they went for, of course that's absolutely not true, they've been for a million jobs and only got a few! So I kind of put them on a pedestal, as you do with older siblings. But as I've got older I've realised that I can go down my own career path, whatever that brings, and no one is looking at me to say 'she's the rubbish one' or 'she's the one that's going to fail', you know? I've realised that if you are just doing what makes you happy then you're probably going to be quite good at it.

And your younger sister is starting to give you some competition now too?

Yeah, Sasi's amazing. She's such a beautiful performer and a lovely person. I did the workshop of Miss Atomic Bomb the year before last and now she's doing it at the St James, it's nice to hear what she's saying about it.

Do you all get round the piano for a sing song at Christmas?

I always say 'no, we don't do that', but actually a couple of years ago we did! I play the piano a little bit, which was the first thing I ever bought with my first paycheck from my first job, Music Man in Chichester. It lives at my mum's house, so if we're there for Christmas I always get up and play. So yeah, we actually do sing!

Is performing something you've always wanted to do?

My nan runs a dancing school and we all went there, and obviously my parents did it but they would always tell us about the downfalls of it. We saw firsthand how hard it is to be performers and have a family. My dad was asking me to be a doctor or a lawyer or something. When I was eleven I got a scholarship into a really academic school, my sisters had both been to Arts Educational and had a lovely time, but I thought as I'd been given this scholarship I'd go and try it. So I went and I lasted a term and a half then I went home and begged my mum and dad to please let me go to Arts Ed!

What's in store for you after Poppins? Is there anyone you'd like to work with?

Well first of all I'm absolutely gutted that I'm not available to audition for Strictly Ballroom! I've always said that Drew [McOnie] should direct, I worked with him on Chicago and he's such a visionary, I completely understand why Baz Luhrmann wanted him to direct it. If that has a life after Christmas then I will definitely be interested in that.

For me, Mary Poppins is one of the biggest female roles you can play in musical theatre and I'm loving doing that, but for the last couple of years I've had this hobby of writing comedy sketches, so my big dream for the next ten years or so would be to make something of that. That's kind of where my heart is.

Who would you cast in your sketches?

Ooh I don't know, we'd have to see who comes up over the next ten years. One of my idols is Amy Schumer, she's incredible. But a lot of characters in my sketches are based on my dad because he's absolutely crazy, so he'd probably have to star in some of them!

Mary Poppins continues its UK tour at the Palace Theatre, Manchester until 5 March, before moving on to Birmingham, Edinburgh, Southampton, Norwich, Plymouth, Newcastle, Bradford and Cardiff.

Click here for full details of The Car Man cinema screenings.