When she bowed out of the role of Maria in the West End revival of “The Sound of Music” in February, 2008, she did so knowing that, while she may have got the part through the reality show “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?”, she left it a fully-fledged star. Her performance as the girl who was too high-spirited for her habit received raves across the board, many from reviewers who professed surprise at how sparklingly she rose to the occasion. As the Evening Standard’s Nicholas de Jongh said: “She eclipses her famous predecessors…the first real Maria I’ve seen.” Nice work if you can get it.
With Maria her calling card, the West End was her oyster, and most actresses in her shoes would have struck while the iron was hot and gone straight into another show. Connie, though, devoted a serious chunk of 2008 to recording an album. That gives you an idea of how special “Secret Love” is to her. She calls it a “surprising” record. Yes, it’s full of show tunes she’s adored since she was a little kid on a farm in South Wales, but no, they’re neither glossy nor sentimentalised. She may have a passion for classic musicals, but she’s also 24 years old, and she wanted to make a record other 24-year-olds will want to hear. “It’s not a Ruthie Henshall or Sarah Brightman album,” she says. ‘It was important to me to make a musical-theatre album for younger people - I wanted to take classic songs and make them sparkly and cool.”
Which she’s done. Having chosen 11 of her favourite stage and film tunes (plus Buddy Holly’s “True Love Ways” - just because she liked it - and a new Lloyd Webber number called “First Impression Counts”), she’s given them a smoky, bluesy twist that makes them completely different from the original versions. “Eva Cassidy has been a big inspiration for this album,” she explains. “She made old songs her own, and I wanted to give them that thoughtful, wistful feeling. It’s mostly balladry - I couldn’t get my beatboxing in!” she chortles. “But it’s classy and cool balladry. I’m going where no 24-year-old has gone before, I hope.”
Not ambitious, is she? But her confidence is justified. Connie’s had complete creative control over “Secret Love,” choosing every song and overseeing the recording process. “There’s a thread through all the songs, and I really connect with them,” she says. She’s intensely proud of it, and, despite having released an album in 2006 (a covers LP that was part of her “…Problem Like Maria” contract), she considers “Secret Love“ her real debut. “Absolutely. I consider this my proper first album. This is the real Connie.”
The real Connie is having a hot old time at the moment, and revelling in it, because she never thought it would happen. After leaving London’s Mountview Academy drama school with the Gyearbuor Asante prize - awarded to the top student of each graduating class - she began auditioning for every West End production going. She quickly learned what rejection felt like. “I look different, and that went against me, ‘cos I didn’t have long hair and I’m not size eight. It was a hair and teeth thing - and I was too tall for the ensemble.” To pay the bills, she worked at a Pizza Express, and in telesales, which she remembers as “completely demoralising,” though it can’t have been worse than going to auditions and being addressed as “Connie Francis” (as in the American singer). ”I can‘t tell you how many times I‘ve been called that, but I didn‘t care - I thought they’d never remember me anyway.” Then one day she heard that Andrew Lloyd Webber was producing a reality show that aimed to find the leading lady for a revival of “The Sound of Music,” and you know what happened next.
By the time Connie began planning “Secret Love,” toward the end of her run as Maria, she had the benefit of 15 months in a top-flight show, so she knew exactly what she wanted. Her intention is that people “see these as modern songs, and be able to pick up the album when they’re feeling sad.” Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “I Could Have Danced All Night” has been transformed into a husky lullabye, while “Secret Love” (originally sung by Doris Day) is now a blues-in-the-night affair that would make Doris blush. There’s also the Gershwins’ beautiful 1926 standard, “Someone to Watch Over Me,” which has a special meaning for her. “When I was in my third year of college, I went to see a one-man Gershwin show in the West End, and when the guy asked if there were any requests, I requested ‘Someone to Watch Over Me.’ The guy said, ‘I’ll only play it if you get up and sing it.’ So I did, and it was a real star-quality, life-changing moment.”
The summer saw Connie back in the theatre for the revival of “They’re Playing Our Song” starring alongside Alastair McGowan at The Menier Chocolate Factory. The nun‘s outfit was left behind for a 70‘s revival where Connie was able to indulge her comedic potential. Connie played to sell out houses every night of the 10 week run which led to her being nominated for the “Best Actress In A Musical” Award for What’s On Stage. Christmas saw Connie’s debut on the small screen in the lead role for the ITV1 drama “Caught in a Trap,” playing a woman obsessed with Elvis Presley memorabilia. Suitably enamoured with acting for the screen Connie went on to star in the film “The Wedding Dress” which is set to do the Festival circuit in 2009 “I play a runaway bride and got to run through the streets of London with bright red hair and a pink wedding dress!!.”
And, obviously, there’s “Secret Love.” You can’t blame her for being slightly pleased with herself. Just knowing that nobody will ever again call her “Connie Francis” delights her. “Now they all know Connie Fisher,” she says, unable to suppress a grin.
“Secret Love” is released on Universal Classics and Jazz/ Fascination Records on 23rd February (St David’s Day).