Over the course of a stage career spanning 30 years, Olivier Award-winning actor and singer Ruthie Henshall has performed and created countless roles, received five nominations for Best Actress in a Musical, and been heralded as perhaps one of musical theatre's last great stars.

 This month, she'll be putting in a special guest appearance in Spirit Productions' jukebox spectacular, That's Entertainment, when it arrives at Birmingham's New Alexandra Theatre. But what’s it like being part of the show, and where do you go from the top of your game? Ruthie Henshall reveals all...

“It's a kind of all-singing, all-dancing celebration of films and musicals from the ’30s, ’40s and ’50s,” she says of That's Entertainment. “There's no story as such, it's just millions of sequins, loads of fabulous dancers doing amazing choreography, and one great song after another.”

Previous guest stars on the tour, which began in May, have included doo-wop five-piece The Overtones, G4 tenor Jonathan Ansell and The Cruise star Jane McDonald, each of whom have taken it in turns to spice up the show with their own individual twists, ensuring it remains fresh and exciting throughout the tour.

“I've had long conversations with Jane McDonald and she's been having an absolute ball,” says Henshall. “One of the perks of having guest stars is that they bring their own unique style and flair to the production. We don't have a script or a director to give us boundaries, so it's basically just a case of interpreting the songs however we want to.”

Within this musical-meets-concert-meets-variety-show format, then, Henshall and her fellow guest performers have a lot of freedom over what exactly they end up doing out on stage, provided that it's broadly in keeping with the ‘Golden Age’ musical theme.

“I've ended up with quite a cross-section, actually. There are songs from things like A Star Is Born and also from Gypsy The Musical as well as stuff by Gershwin. I was allowed to liaise about the kind of things I wanted to do, and it's completely my era. I love Gershwin and all the MGM musicals.”
It's also offered her an opportunity to expand her own repertoire by tackling some classic songs that she's never publicly performed before.

“I'm doing a few new songs, actually, but one that I'm really looking forward to doing is Some People from Gypsy. It's a real corker of a number and it's one I've been meaning to sing for a long time, but I always end up copping out of it. I knew I had to do it at some point, so when this came along I jumped at the chance.”

And it's not just the material she has sway over: Henshall also gets a say in what she's going to look like on stage. Of course, as with the music, it'll have to fit the style - in this case, the lavish, dazzling aesthetic of a fabulous, feelgood party.

“I've already spoken to the wardrobe lady, who said that I can come and thumb through all the fabulousness at the warehouse. I know there's a lot of feathers and Swarovski there, and so I imagine that whatever gets chosen, there's going to be some serious sparkles! Also, because I'm not doing any choreography, I can wear whatever I like - I don't have to worry about how much I can move in it. It's everyone else doing the dancing this time.”

Joining a production as a guest for just a handful of dates is a significantly different experience for a performer to being part of the creation of a show and sticking with it for several weeks or months.
Having yet to see the show, Henshall will have a lot to pick up quickly once she starts rehearsals.
“I'm going in pretty much completely blind. I don't know the cast yet - I haven't met them and I won't meet them until I start rehearsing with them. But in some respects I'm used to that. It's similar to joining any show that's already up and running, so it's not so bad. I think there's also something quite nice about the fact that I don't know the show very well, because it means I'll be doing a lot of watching in the wings and being entertained myself.”

Recently, Henshall has been enjoying and supporting the work of her fellow creatives in a very different capacity. In late 2012, together with Polly Ingham and Paul Schofield, she set up her own company, Three Pin Productions, which is already supporting and developing industry newcomers.

“My reasoning behind setting up the company was two-fold: first, it's a way of enabling myself to do the kinds of work that I want to do, and second, I want to use it to discover new talent. We've actually got something in production at the moment with a set designer who is straight out of college because he's just brilliant. I really want to help give people a step up into the business.”

This isn't the only way that Henshall has been using her influence to benefit the future stars of musical theatre. Co-authored by major West End director and music supervisor Daniel Bowling, her book, So You Want To Be In Musicals? was published by Nick Hern, and is packed full of handy hints, insider knowledge and nuggets of wisdom accrued over years of experience.

“I was actually initially asked about writing an autobiography, to which I replied, 'Are you nuts? Who'd read that?' But then I thought about all the questions I get asked - I get loads of people sending me emails and approaching me at stage doors to ask what to do in various situations - and I suddenly realised that there was a gap in the market for a book on musical theatre. There were a lot of books already on acting and choosing monologues and things like that, but nothing specific about getting into musical theatre, so that's what started the conversation. Inspiring and lifting up other people is something I'm really passionate about. It's all about passing it on.”

There is another, more practical side to this branching out and career diversification than is perhaps immediately apparent, however.

“I'm a single mum with two daughters, so I have to be a provider. At some stage, the face is gonna fall and possibly then the West End roles won't be as thick and fast, so I'd rather be doing my own thing and have something else to help pay the mortgage. So it's just been a case of thinking of another side of the business that fascinates and excites me, and being able to produce things as opposed to just being in them does that for me.”

Nevertheless, for at least as long as the fickle industry allows, Henshall remains one of the most popular, successful and highly acclaimed performers in her field, with a glittering career behind her that's already something to be proud of in itself.

“I rarely reflect on all that, I have to be honest, but I do remember receiving an honorary degree from a university while I was pregnant with my first child, and when they were reading out a list of things I'd done, I did have one of those moments where I thought, 'Wow! If I gave it up tomorrow, it's been all right'. But the bottom line is that I love what I do and I'm still a working actress. The nature of acting means that you might work for a year and then have nothing for six months. It's always feast or famine, and something about that always makes you feel that you're only as successful as your last job.”

That's Entertainment shows at the New Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham, from Tuesday 19 until Saturday 23 July.