How local theatre made shy teen into West End star

One of the original cast members of Six The Musical has credited her childhood theatre experiences for helping her overcome shyness and achieve West End success.

Aimie Atkinson, who can be seen in the cinema in the filmed version of the musical, recalled her introduction to theatre at the Gordon Craig Theatre in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, was "everything".

As a 13-year-old she was unexpectedly drafted on to the stage while working as an understudy for a pantomime production of Cinderella.

"I was this like really shy, insecure 13-year-old, but really I loved it so much and that really made me go 'Oh, I want to do this'," she said.

"The whole reason I'm here is because of my roots in Stevenage, although I like to call it St. Evanage, it's fancy," she joked.

She encouraged young fans who want a future on the West End to visit their local amateur clubs.

"They're so accessible, they're not obviously hugely expensive. So that I think is definitely a place to start.

"Then for me from there it was just like every single day doing something towards what I wanted to do. Whether that was dancing around my living room or doing a free online singing lesson.

"I think it's just doing something small every day to what you want to do."

The performer also reflected on the success of Six The Musical, a musical about the wives of Henry VIII where she played the role of Katherine Howard.

"To be with a show from its early start, where we were earning no money, to performing around the country - it's amazing to have seen it come to this.

"Doing the movie with the original cast was like a feeling of coming home, because those women have become like my family."

While she found watching herself on the big screen version "terrifying", she loved watching her co-stars who she could never appreciate from an audience perspective.

She described the production as a "massive part of me" and said it influenced her latest album Queen, which is out in June.

The lead single, a cover of Alone by Heart which is released on Friday, is a duet with fellow original Six cast member Natalie Paris.

"She's such an incredible vocalist and we just wanted to do something that was really sort of epic, cinematic and queenly.

"The album is influenced by the journey of Six that I've been on and includes covers of songs from other shows I've been in."

When asked if it is nicer to perform without being dressed as a queen she joked: "Listen, I love wearing a crown, you never know."

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