Tamsin Carroll is currently playing Rita in the European premiere of Casa Valentina by Harvey Fierstein which officially opens at the Southwark Playhouse tonight (16th September).
Based on real life events, Casa Valentina follows a group of heterosexual cross-dressers who leave their families, friends and city jobs behind to safely inhabit their female alter egos and release their inner woman.
It has recently been announced that after Casa Valentina, Tamsin will play Baroness Bomburst in James Brining's new production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang which opens at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in December.
Most recently Tamsin recreated the role of Ellen in the first West End revival of Miss Saigon at the Prince Edward Theatre. She premiered the English language version of 'Maybe', a new song written by Boublil and Schönberg for Ellen to sing in the second act.
Her theatre credits also include: Chairy Barnum in Barnum (Chichester), The Magistrate (National), Emma Goldman in Ragtime & Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream (both Regent's Park), alternate Nancy in Oliver (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane), Magenta in The Rocky Horror Show (Sydney & Melbourne) and Dusty Springfield in Dusty (Australian Tour).
Tamsin is from Australia where just a few of her theatre credits include playing Marta in Company, Isabella in Measure for Measure, Rizzo in Grease, Tracy Lord in High Society, Rose in Bye Bye Birdie and Sheila in Hair. She played Nicole in three episodes of EastEnders.
I recently spoke to Tamsin about the beauty of Harvey Fierstein’s work, memories of sitting around at the piano with Boublil and Schönberg whilst working on Miss Saigon and why she’s so excited about working on Chitty Chitty Bang Bang…
Casa Valentina is an incredibly exciting play, what made you go ‘I want to do this’?
I’m a huge fan of the writer Harvey Fierstein, I think he’s an exceptional human being who has such a wonderful collection of work behind him. New work is always exciting and this is an ensemble piece which is one of the greatest things about it. It’s very rare that you get a cast of around nine or ten who all get their moment. It’s a real collaboration with big personalities and great stories! Also, it’s very topical at the moment. It’s a subject matter which has come to the limelight and deserves to be discussed in the limelight. It’s very interesting because it’s a topic some people may not have considered, I’ve learnt a great deal through being part of it. So for all those reasons I found it very appealing and, of course, the Southwark Playhouse has such a wonderful reputation and is a great venue to be at. We’re having a great time!
