Louise Dearman, London's Glinda, Chats About Being Popular in Wicked

Louise Dearman is the latest performer to chirp, “It’s good to see me isn’t it,” while perched high atop the Apollo Victoria stage. As Glinda to Rachel Tucker’s Elphaba, Dearman has been helping bring West End audiences to their feet since the end of March in what is the highest-profile assignment yet for the 31-year-old actress. Dearman has played Eva Peron in Evita, Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls on tour and Grizabella in Cats in, of all places, Cyprus, but now she knows all about popular by starring in the phenomenon that is Wicked.

It’s amazing how different Wicked can be with different leading actors.
That’s what I like about Wicked as a performer: they let you put your own stamp on it so that you’re not a carbon copy. When I got the part, I hadn’t even seen the show! When we started rehearsals, there was so much to do in four weeks and it was so intense that I thought, “I’m going to wait until I’ve decided how to play Glinda before I watch someone else playing her.”

So you did see it in the end?
All the cast went literally a week before we opened, so I did see Dianne [Pilkington], who was fantastic. She did it over two years and had built up this amazing fan base, so I was well aware that I had big shoes to fill—and that it would take time for Dianne fans and Wicked fans to get used to me.

Is it true that you and Rachel were in a Forbidden Broadway-type stage parody of Wicked before actually appearing in the show itself?
We did a show called So Jest End at the New Players Theatre [in 2009] where we did a little spoof of Wicked, and at the time, people said, “They should be the next Elphaba and Glinda.” Of course, individually, we had been dreaming of playing those roles but to then land the parts in the actual show. We found ourselves screaming down the [telephone] line to one another!

Is it just coincidence that you and Rachel were cast together?
As far as we both knew, yes. I think we had both been patiently waiting in the wings for the roles to come available, but it’s such a popular musical and so in-demand that people were staying with the show and auditions were not coming up. It was about waiting for the chance and grabbing it.

You use the word “popular,” which is of course of more than passing importance to Glinda in her first-act showstopper of the same name. How do you relate to that song and the issues it raises?
Well, you do think about how popular you’re going to be in the show itself, and you want to make sure the audience enjoys it. I do think it’s a beautiful story that these two women both change as people and become wonderful friends. But as far as my own life is concerned, when I was younger, dancing was my entire life and there were some people that thought that was wonderful and other people not so, so there was almost an element of how Elphaba would feel in terms of popularity. I wouldn’t be hanging out on the streets, I was always in dance class. My good friends would think that was great, but other people would make fun of it.

So you were the “green” girl in terms of being different?
I think every young person goes through a phase of feeling left out and of being slightly isolated. The thing was that I absolutely loved what I was doing, and no one was going to keep me from doing it. I was [dancing] after school every night, and it was all worth it.

You certainly have accumulated a lot of credits, including a solo album [You and I] and productions around the U.K. and overseas.
The way I look at my career, it has been a slow, steady climb—from smaller productions to ensemble member in bigger shows to tours. It has always been my goal to play a lead role in the West End, and I finally got here. Roles like Evita [on tour] are enormous parts and now I think, yes, this is what I did that for and why I trained so hard. The album was one that I actually recorded four years ago, but, hopefully, I'm going to be working on a new one next year. I'm also getting ready to do a concert at the Leicester Square Theatre on November 7. Rachel is my guest singer.

What is it like to be snapped into a bubble not far from the roof of the theater?
I don’t think people realize quite how high it goes! I absolutely love it. The fact that I’m harnessed into a bubble is incredibly different to, say, being on top of a mountain. I feel very, very safe up there.

Do you have showbiz in your background?
Not really—my dad is a driving instructor—though my grandmother was in a dance troupe that used to perform at the Palladium. We have a picture that shows a pyramid of dancers, and there’s my grandmother across the top doing the splits. She’s not with us anymore. She would be very proud.

I would imagine that it would be especially lovely for you to play the Palladium.
I did, when I was 13, in the choir of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, with Philip Schofield as Joseph and Linzi Hateley as the narrator. I will never forget every single night sitting on the floor beside her and thinking, “Wow, I want to be like her!”

Do you have a particularly treasured theatrical memory?
Probably singing “Memory” under the stars when I was doing Grizabella in Cats in a 3000-seat amphitheatre in Cyprus. The show was completely sold out, so people were wandering down the aisles and sitting on the steps.

Have you every considered playing Elphaba instead of Glinda?
Actually, when people heard I was up for Wicked, everybody automatically assumed it was for the part of Elphaba because I’ve traditionally been a bit of a belter. I have definitely changed the way I speak and sing in order to play Glinda; I had never sung a soprano role before. And though I wouldn’t call myself “squeaky,” there is a Glinda voice that goes with her being bubbly and spoiled and tactless at the beginning. I have to say that I do think Rachel and I ended up in the right place with these two roles: she can really hit those belty notes!

Still, never say never.
[Laughs.] You never know! Maybe in the future I’ll be green, but for now I’m very happy covered in glitter and being blonde.