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The Mighty Quinn

SHELLEY MARSDEN and Ray Quinn talk X Factor, quiffs and hand-jiving By Shelley Marsden - 06/08/08

It’s a muggy day, and Ray Quinn is sitting outside the stage door of the Piccadilly Theatre when I arrive. The cheeky little chappy from Liverpool is looking very smart today, a pair of Prada sunglasses perched on his head, figure-hugging blue jeans, a fitted white t-shirt and a great tan to top it off. The hair, long and slightly curly, isn’t how I’d imagined it – somehow, I almost expected him to great me with an impressive quiff and a Sinatra style twirl.

The X Factor runner up (he lost out to Leona Lewis in 2006) is a month into his new role as Doody in the musical Grease, and he’s absolutely made up about making it to the West End. “It’s amazing”, he enthuses. “It’s an absolutely great thing to be in, and I’m honoured to be a part of it really. It’s such an iconic, legendary show.”

It doesn’t feel like “a proper job”, he admits, as this has always been his passion and he enjoys every night of his performance. “Seriously, it never gets boring, no matter how many times you hear the same songs. In fact, you even go home singing them. If anything, the X Factor was something new to me; I didn’t start singing till I was 13, but dancing and theatre work I’ve done since I was about three. Theatre is like home for me.”

T-bird Doody, the goofy young character in the film, has been expanded for Quinn in the stage version, where he gets two songs by himself and quite a bit of dialogue. He says, “Sonny, Rodger and Doody are the fun ones that always have a laugh together; then you’ve got Danny and Kiniki, the cool ones. Doody is the youngest T-bird, the baby, and he looks up to Danny and the rest. He wants to be like them all and loves being in a gang. But apart from that, he has a good laugh.”

Quinn has dabbled in theatre before now, in “some plays and a bit of panto”, mostly during his time at the Performing Arts at Merseyside Dance and Drama College. It was his childhood dream to make it to the West End but, incredibly, until he came to see Grease, he had never been to a show in London’s theatre-land.

Voted the ‘No 1 Favourite Musical’ I ask Quinn why he thinks Grease has such enduring appeal. “A lot of the other shows are very theatrical – you just sit back and watch, but everyone knows Grease; they know the songs and they can sing along and have a laugh. They know what they’re going to get.”

For the full interview with the lovely Ray, get this week's copy of the Irish World.

Grease, Piccadilly Theatre, London is booking to 10 January 2009. Box Office: 0844 412 6666, www.greasethemusical.co.uk.