Think Oda Mae Brown in the film and musical Ghost, and you probably think comedy.
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00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Really lovely
00:06to speak to Jackie Dubois, who is playing one of the great roles in musical theatre.
00:12You are Oda May in Ghost and you've got dates coming up in, oh goodness, Crawley and Southampton
00:18and Eastbourne for us. What a wonderful role to play. How do you approach a role like that?
00:26Well I just have to get rid of all inhibition because, you know, there's no holding back
00:34when you're scared. She's scared most of the time and freaked out most of the time. Also
00:42I have to be on quite high alert to hear Sam, played by Josh Sinclair, to hear him talking
00:51to me and every little nuance that he makes. I can hear it all, but no one else can. Sometimes
00:58it just makes her jump out of her skin. That must be so tricky because you can never let
01:03on, can you? Obviously he's actually there, can you? No, I cannot look at him, I cannot
01:09make eye contact with him. How do you do that? Well, first of all, it's a bit like wherever
01:20I hear the sound from, look in the opposite direction. I mean, that's the basic.
01:28It's so disorientating. And you said something so interesting just now, talking about, I
01:34think so many people are saying, oh yes, comedy character, but you instantly said the point
01:38is that she's scared. That's the crucial thing, isn't it?
01:42Yeah, yeah. And so it's a thin line because sometimes the audience are really, really
01:48cracking up. And it's that thing of not going with that, but pushing the story forward because
01:55these are moments of humour, but it's really out of the fact that she's doing weird stuff.
02:02And for example, when she goes into the bank and she's playing a whole other character,
02:08supposedly this refined millionaire who's going to close her account, and Sam is on
02:16her shoulder coaching her through it. She doesn't know what she's about to say. It's
02:20just whatever he says, and however he says it, this other character appears so that she
02:28can con her way through to get the money out of the bank.
02:35And that's what makes her such a great character to play, because you're giving us a great
02:41time by having such an awful time yourself.
02:44Yeah, and people love that.
02:47Except, of course, you personally are having a great time.
02:52So, yeah, I do have a great time playing the part, but yeah, it's a lot of concentration.
02:59There's a lot of concentration in it, which is coming, it comes naturally to me now because
03:03I've done it. This is the first time I've done this role. And it's a beautiful role.
03:09And the thing is, when you find a role that you can just relax and be in, then all the
03:14things that the drama teachers tell you, just be, just listen. You can actually do that
03:18because you're not in your head thinking, oh my God, where am I going next? What am
03:22I saying? What's my cue? Like, you're just there. And it's a wonderful feeling to have
03:28that.
03:29And it's in a fantastic musical, isn't it?
03:33Yeah, yeah. My favourite song with you, sung by Molly, the actress playing it is Rebecca
03:42Lowing, and she just sings it absolutely beautifully, like flawless every night. It's amazing. Yeah,
03:49that's my favourite song. But there's a lot of different styles. Rocky, Cosplay, Souly,
03:55Musical Theatre. There's a lot of different styles. So there should be something in there
03:59for everybody.
04:01Brilliant. We're very much looking forward to seeing it again. Jackie, really lovely
04:05to speak with you. Thank you for your time.
04:07You too. All right. Take care.
04:08Thanks. Bye.