Alex Beaumont tells Tim Hughes he has a point to prove after winning the top spot in a new musical

Winning the part of Bobby in Dreamboats and Miniskirts, a new musical, was the stuff fantasies are made of.

Because Alex Beaumont, who plays the lead role, was beginning to think he’d never get his big break.

“Don’t they say good things come to those who wait?” the 25 year-old smiles when discussing the upcoming show.

The casting agents, however, spotted his potential immediately, picking him mid-audition, knowing Alex would be perfect for the sequel to Dreamboats and Petticoats.

“I auditioned on the Wednesday and started rehearsals on the Monday,” he remembers.

Set in the 1960s with a vigorous cast of singers and dancers, and big numbers like Twist and Shout, it looks set to be as big a success as Dreamboats and Petticoats.

And such was the response from audiences that the team who also wrote Goodnight Sweetheart and Birds of A Feather, Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, sat down and wrote Dreamboats and Miniskirts, and it’s already going down a storm.

No one is more delighted than Alex. “There are only a few of us who aren’t from the original cast so we have something to prove – we want to make it even better.”

Even so, it was a steep learning curve for Alex, having to learn all the lines, steps and lyrics in just three weeks.

“There are snippets from 40 songs in Dreamboats and Miniskirts, so a lot to learn, as well as seven or eight duets and solos.“It was quite intense and I had a lot of homework to do. So after a full day of rehearsals I’d come home and stay up going through my lines and learning the songs. It was tight,” he grins, “but this is what I’ve been waiting for.”

The new Dreamboats crew will arrive in Oxford just a few weeks into their long tour, when we will find out what happens to Bobby and Laura and Norman and Sue.

“I know Oxford well, “Alex says. “My father used to live on Iffley Road so I used to spend a lot of time there. It will be nice to revisit some old haunts and go punting.

Neither does touring daunt him. “We get to go to some amazing venues and opened in Windsor where I’m from, so the audience was full of family and friends, which was incredible.”

No pressure then? “I felt prepared and I knew the home crowd wanted me to do well, so it was amazing. It’s taken me four years to get here but it’s been totally worth it,” he smiles.

So are we in for a treat? “Yes! And if you missed the first one don’t worry - Dreamboats and Miniskirts is a stand alone show, evoking as much nostalgia as its predecessor.

“It just unfolds on stage and while I can’t say too much there is a happy ending,” Alex promises.

As for him, Alex hopes this will be a springboard into the world of musical theatre. “It’s hard and you do get to a point where you think if you haven’t got anything by a certain point you’ll have to go and do something else But the wait makes it that much more enjoyable.”

SEE IT
Dreamboats and Miniskirts comes to the New Theatre from September 1-6. Go to atgtickets.com/oxford or call 0844 8713020

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