“I love what I do and feel lucky every day to still be doing it,” Wendi Peters tells us between performances of the hilarious new musical Glorious! in which she takes centre stage.
Opening at Oxford Playhouse next week (April 14-18), the Olivier Award-nominated production follows American socialite Florence Foster Jenkins, AKA ‘the worst singer in the world’ as she prepares for her recital at a sold out Carnegie Hall.
‘We want the audience to be wincing’
You may have seen the film Florence starring Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant, which too celebrates the true story of Florence’s journey in 1940s New York, but the much acclaimed stage musical has been garnering equally glowing reviews.
So did Wendi watch the film to prepare for Glorious!? “I saw it when it first came out in 2016 but not since because I wanted to put my own stamp on it. I want people to believe that this is how Florence was, and I’m very defensive of her because Florence is such an exuberant character. She just doesn’t care what other people think, plus she’s a bit bonkers.
‘I love what I do and feel lucky every day to still be doing it’
“So it’s a wonderful part to play because she has suchl joie de vivre. Everyone loved her. In fact, we all need to be more Florence. We should hashtag that,” Wendi laughs.
But with countless musicals under Wendi’s theatrical belt, from Mother Superior in Sister Act to Big The Musical, isn’t it hard work singing off key in Glorious! every night?
“It’s muscle memory, but we learnt all four arias by heart and then picked them apart, bar by bar, interspersing the wrong notes and phrasing to make them sharp or flat. We want the audience to be wincing,” she chuckles. “And anyway, I’m not known for my subtlety and I love making people laugh.
‘I want people to believe that this is how Florence was, and I’m very defensive of her because everyone loved her’
“In fact, I always worry that we’ve made her voice sound too terrible, but then I listen to the original, because the Carnegie Hall recordings are still available, and they were much worse,” Wendi laughs. “But Florence just didn’t care, or know. Either way singing made her happy and she just wanted her audiences to enjoy themselves.”
Much like Wendi then who has been keeping us throughly entertained in soap operas, musicals, murder mysteries, drama, panto, children’s TV, voiceovers and chat shows over the decades. She can also sing, act, cook, sew, jump out of aeroplanes and train dogs. So is there anything the renowned actress can’t do?
“I’d forgotten about the dogs,” she says laughing, “and as it turned out I can’t train dogs, but hopefully everyone has forgotten about that.”
We won’t talk about the ITV celebrity sheepdog training show Flockstars in 2015 then, but that aside, Wendi is not only able to turn her hand to pretty much anything and shine, but is also hugely prolific.
‘I just hope people remember that I can actually sing’
Which is why the star’s CV is so extensive, from her long stint as Cilla on Coronation Street, to Celebrity MasterChef finalist and Cook Jenkins in Hetty Feather, you name it and Wendi’s been there.
“Well I get bored easily and like to keep busy,” she says, a consummate professional through and through. “Plus I love a challenge and am always happy to have a crack at things,” she smiles.
‘Florence is such an exuberant character. She just doesn’t care what other people think’
This is certainly true, considering Wendi moved to London aged just 16 to go to drama school. Working in bars, waitressing, dressing rooms and theatres to pay her way, she was soon reaping the rewards as her career took off.
“I know it’s a precarious industry but I sort of love that about it – the variety, not knowing what I might be doing next, or where. I still can’t imagine doing anything else,” she says.
This is certainly true of Glorious! Wendi loving every minute. “Our audiences are having a wonderful time because it’s so hilarious. It’s two hours of pure escapism because Florence is such an exuberant character. I just hope that afterwards people will remember that I can actually sing!”
GLORIOUS! The true story of the unforgettable Florence Foster Jenkins runs on April 14-18 at Oxford Playhouse. Book here: https://www.oxfordplayhouse.com/events/glorious
