Sammi O’Neill talks to Nova Skipp about her career and more specifically her role in Apartment 40C a new musical written by Ray Rackham and Tom Lees to be performed at St. James Studio 6th-12th April 2015.
Nova Skipp | Apartment 40C | Interview
Hi Nova, I would like to know more about Apartment 40C. It had it’s debut late last year didn’t it?
Yes Apartment 40C ran at the London Theatre Workshop just before Christmas and it did very well. It has since been reworked and opens next week at the St James’ Studio.
The music is written by Tom Lees who is a very talented new writer whose music is quite unique. Since the London Theatre Workshop production there has been extra songs added. The new songs are very much in character of the previous material but they’ve made Apartment 40C more of a cohesive whole. The cast all enjoyed being in the original production and it is really exciting to be able to come back to it.
The reviews from the London Theatre Workshop performances were fantastic. Why was there a need to change it?
Apart from the musical aspect being more developed now, there were a few practical reasons as well. The previous production of Apartment 40C ran for about 140 minutes without an interval which is quite a long stretch. There were a few of the cast members crossing their legs as well as the audience by the end of it so it is really nice now to have the two acts :D. We have also restructured the last quarter of the play so that it flows better.
Tell me a little about the storyline, the synopsis says it is set in a New York apartment and examines a couple’s relationship through their decades of love, happiness, regret and loss. Am I right in saying that the couple are played by several actors?
Yes that’s right. Three actors play ‘Kathryn’ and another three play ‘Edward’ over the decades. I play the older Kathryn. The audience see them return to their apartment to achieve a sort of closure in their lives. The apartment was originally a magical place for them and it is full of their memories so as soon as they return they are plunged back into the past and recall their lives tigether and how their relationship has changed and ultimately they have to decide how they are going to move forward in their lives.
Does it end happily for them?
That is the clever thing! The audience have to make their own minds up! Ray Rackham who has written the book and lyrics, likes to leave things open for the audience to fill in the blanks. Although with the re-working, more of the questions are answered. In the original production of Apartment 40C there were a lot more unanswered questions which I think have now been clarified.
What is it like watching a younger version of yourself even if it’s just your character?
It is funny to watch your character when you’re not on stage. You just get drawn in and you have to remind yourself and say ‘Gosh, this is me!’ even though I’m not playing it!’ It really helps you to form your character and understand her choices later in the piece.
What do you like or hate about your character Kathryn? Do you relate to her at all?
I do relate to her. Kathryn is quite brittle, she’s been through a really bad experience which has changed her and so now she is quite protective of her feelings. She can also turn on a dime and be quite nasty and hard. The audience sees through the younger characters what has made her this way. The story is not all sweetness and light.
Does the run at St James feature the entire original cast from the London Theatre Workshop?
We are exactly the same apart from one boy Drew Weston played the part of that last time and and he has been replaced by Johnjo Flynn, the other Edwards are played by Alex James Ellison and Peter Gerald. The other two people who share the character of Kathryn with me are Lizzie Wofford and Alex Crossley.
I am hearing lots of good things about the music. What makes it so special?
It is unique in its own way! Some of my characters songs sound a little like Sondheim, because they talk about the journeys we take and the paths we have to follow. By comparison some of the other songs sound very different, the ‘young’ Eddie has a lovely vibrant number which has echoes of Jason Robert Brown. However it is all cohesive and brought together very nicely and you don’t feel that it is a pastiche of another composer. It is so completely Tom Lees.
Apartment 40C is to be performed at St James Studio for one week only. That seems incredibly short. Are there further hopes for the show?
It’s on from the 6 to 12 April and we are obviously hoping it will be developed further. It would be lovely to have a longer London run if that were possible or maybe even a short tour. I am sure Ray has got his eyes open for future possibilities.
The set doesn’t change I believe, so Apartment 40C would be easy to take on tour.
Yes that’s right, it would be quite easy. It is beautifully done, it is quite a simplistic set. It is very nice to look at. When we saw the set for the first time at the London Theatre Workshop we were all wowed. It really is charming.
So Nova, please tell me a little bit about yourself, you have had such an amazing career. You have been in a great many productions including Phantom, Cats and more recently Damn Yankees at the Landor.
Thank you, yes I’ve done a lot of musicals which is principally what I started doing over 20 years ago. Lots of highlights as you have mentioned and I’ve been very fortunate to do lots of Rodgers and Hammerstein as well when I was younger, Julie Jordan in Carousel and Anna in The King and I. More recently I have started to do more plays as well such as Abigail’s Party and Kes.
You have been in the West End, been in foreign productions, national tours and fringe. Do you have a favourite role?
There has been a few! I really loved covering Anna in the King and I, for me that was quite amazing. I couldn’t quite believe that I was there I had that strange feeling of slightly floating above watching myself when I came on stage in that big iconic dress, just before the ‘Shall we Dance’ number. The character of Anna is so amazing but also the book is so well written. It is very much a play as well as a musical.
What has been the most challenging role you’ve performed so far, maybe something you perhaps wouldn’t want to go back to?
There have been a few things that I’ve wondered why I got involved with them! I suppose Cats in Germany was probably one of the most challenging. Probably because I have never seen myself primarily as a dancer so to be out in Germany doing that and to be singing it in German as well was difficult. I had to learn all the lyrics in German, phonetically to begin with but the longer I was out there it slowly all began to make sense.
As well as your stage career, you have also got a couple of CDs I believe.
Yes, my Once Upon A Dream CD was only meant to be a demo really, but once we’d put it together it seemed a nice product. So we released it through Dress Circle, this was when we still had a lovely Dress Circle shop in the West End. The shop is online now but I miss browsing around the shop so much, it was lovely just to pop into.
I made the second CD ‘The Children’s Musical Theatre CD’ the following year after the birth of my daughter. I spent so much of my time singing to her to go to sleep at night and during the day that I thought it be nice to put a few fun songs together. It seemed a natural thing to do.
Is your daughter going to follow in her Mum’s footsteps?
I don’t know yet, she is five years old now. She quite likes to perform herself at home with me but she doesn’t particularly like to do it for other people yet, she gets a bit inhibited. I don’t know whether acting would be for her or not. She is a good writer and draws well so maybe she will work behind the scenes.
Is there still a role you would like to play?
I’m sad I never got to play my dream role of Christine Daaé in Phantom of the Opera. When the sequel came round I was pregnant so I couldn’t even audition for it. I still have dreams that maybe there will be yet another story 10 years on and she’ll be in her forties next time and catch up with me.
But it is lovely to create a role, like I am doing now, it is a wonderful opportunity to create Kathryn right from the beginning and follow her journey as Apartment 40C evolves.
How do people find out more?
We’re promoting Apartment 40C quite a bit on social media on our Facebook page and our Twitter Feed and we have an excellent website with musical clips and also a promo of the show. Hopefully this means that people can get a flavour of the music beforehand so that they are not going into it cold. Tickets are going very well, so we are very pleased.
One final question, have you fallen for an April Fools joke today?
Oh no, I haven’t! Don’t tell me this is all an April Fool! To be honest I haven’t had that much conversation with anybody yet so hopefully I shall be OK.
Wishing Nova Skipp and all the cast of Apartment 40C a very successful run.
Review coming soon.
Apartment 40C
St James Studio
6th-12th April 2015
Nova Skipp singing ‘A Child’ from Apartment 40C