WEST End hit musical Everybody’s Talking About Jamie will come to Leeds next year for a residency rescheduled from the spring.

The show is inspired by the true-life story of Jamie Campbell from County Durham who overcame prejudice to become a drag queen at the age of 16.

The show can be seen at the Grand Theatre from May 10-15 with Layton Williams, from Billy Elliot the Musical and TV’s Bad Education, in the title role. EastEnders star Shane Richie played Hugo and his alter ego Loco Chanelle in the West End was due to reprise the role during this year’s national tour.

Everybody’s Talking about Jamie is described as a funny, fabulous and feelgood musical sensation for the whole family. Lead character Jamie is 16 and lives on a council estate in Sheffield. He doesn’t quite fit in and is terrified about the future.

But he’s going to be a sensation, supported by his brilliant loving mum and surrounded by his friends as he overcomes prejudice, beats the bullies and steps out of the darkness, into the spotlight. The show features an original score of catchy pop tunes by lead singer-songwriter of The Feeling, Dan Gillespie Sells, and Doctor Who writer Tom MacRae.

In preparation for his stage role as Loco Chanel, Shane Richie spent a couple of hours each day in the heels at home, acclimatising to new heights. As Hugo in the show he is 6ft, but once he transforms into Loco’s character he grows to 6ft5in.

He said: “When I first played this part in the West End last year I had backache and shin splints, but at least I have some experience of them for the tour.”

In 2018, Shane decided to take a break from TV and looked for theatre roles that would stretch him. “The last thing I did before this was The Entertainer by John Osborne,” he explains.

“That character, Archie Rice, couldn’t be more different to Hugo/Loco Chanel. Archie is a racist, sexist, homophobic character… the absolute polar opposite, but it’s important for me to play as many different characters as I can.”

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie also takes away a lot of the pressure that came with a classic role like Archie.

“Going out with Jamie, there’s such a big cast, and there’s a band! Almost like running away with the circus – it’s just so much fun and you can see that the audience is with us from the first lines.”

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