| Shonagh’s Smiling Through in Les Miserables
Role By Joe Horgan
By Grainne McLoughlin
Shonagh Daly is one of the more exciting new singing talents to emerge
from Ireland in recent times. A versatile musical actress — who has wowed
audiences in both the West End’s The Beautiful Game and London’s Old Vic
— she’s currently playing one of the lead roles in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s
musical extravaganza Les Miserables at the Queens Theatre. Grainne McLoughlin
caught up with Shonagh to talk about the show, her career and the allure
of the West End stage.
Nothing quite prepares you for meeting the Limerick born singer-cum-actress
Shonagh Daly. Her stunning good looks and amazingly big voice belies a humble
and down to earth character, who admits to liking the simple things in life.
Sitting in her pleasant dressing room at the plush Queens Theatre, which
has been wall-papered with good luck cards and photos of loved ones, Shonagh
in real life, is every bit as passionate as the brave and good-natured Eponine
she plays in Les Miserables.
And she’s given Irish people the world over, another reason to be proud.
At just 25 years of age, Daly has come a long way to stardom from her
birthplace in Castletroy, Co. Limerick.
As a young girl, she dreamed of one day starring in the West End. And
the events of the last five years have proved her fantasies haven’t been
in vain.
After being discovered by musical guru Andrew Lloyd Webber, the singer
has not only performed twice on the West End stage, but she’s also recorded
her own album, sang for millions of people in New York and dined with some
of the industry’s most glamorous celebs.
But it can’t be easy performing night after night with such passion and
conviction.
“Well, it can be tiring,” says Daly. “But it really just depends on how
you’re feeling. I’ve been doing it eight weeks now and it’s emotional. To
maintain that kind of passion and intensity is sometimes difficult, and
some shows are better than others, but I try to be as consistent as I can.
“When you’re in a bad mood, and have to go to work, it’s horrible. But
the minute you go on stage, you lose yourself in the character. It’s such
a release as well. It’s like a little holiday from your problems.”
The Limerick stunner was discovered by Andrew Lloyd Webber — who has
since become her mentor — at an audition in London. Not long after, she
was whisked off to London where she spent a year on the West End stage in
his hit musical The Beautiful Game.
“That was a huge milestone in both my life and career,” admits Daly.
“Just getting a job in the West End was amazing. It’s something I’ve always
wanted but never dreamed possible, I suppose because I come from Limerick.
“Getting that job on Beautiful Game also meant I didn’t have to be a
music teacher. I remember the week before my first audition I firmly decided
I didn’t want to teach, but hadn’t a clue what I was going to do. I talked
to my parents, who were understandably, a bit worried. But when I got the
audition it seemed my problems were solved.”
But the biggest milestone for the 25-year-old was singing at the Ground
Zero memorial service in New York after September 11. The invitation, which
came from Mayor Rudolf Guiliani, came as a great honour to Daly, but one
that she found hugely difficult.
“That event was particularly poignant. It’s weird as well because the
whole thing feels like a blur yet I’ll never forget it.
“I’d never been to New York before so it was a strange introduction.
But the hardest thing was standing in front of the families of the victims
holding candles and photographs. I remember thinking, ‘don’t look at them,’
but I did at one point and lost it — I forgot the words for a few seconds.
And despite being quiet all day, when it finished, I couldn’t help but cry
my eyes out.”
After the service, which was broadcast to an audience of millions, Daly
was invited on RTÉ’s chat show, the Late Late Show. She performed at BBC’s
Children in Need, London’s Old Vic — a night which was hosted by Judi Dench
and Kevin Spacey — and she was a guest of Andrew Lloyd Webber to Liza Minelli’s
wedding party along with celebrity guests Cliff Richard and Joan Collins.
Then came the £3.2million, five-album record deal with Polydor Records.
What more could she want?
Everything that was happening seemed too good to be true, and unfortunately
as it transpired, that was exactly the case.
Her debut album Beautiful View failed to do well and the record label
pulled out.
“That was a strange time. I mean doing the album was great fun at the
time, but after that there just wasn’t much work.
I did one tour when the album was finished, but following that, spent
a lot of my time doing very little. Ironically I was barely singing at all.
“I also found recording an album very lonely, whereas here, I can chat
with about 25 people every day, whom I consider my friends,” she smiles.
Disenchanted with the industry, Daly took some time out and began working
in a boutique selling clothes. But after four months and hearing Les Mis
was auditioning, she felt compelled to give it a go.
“I didn’t have an agent. So I just called the casting agent, sent them
my stuff, they liked it and called me back.
“And I can’t say how glad I am that I did,” she says. I’m absolutely
loving it.”
So despondent with the way the music industry is run, Daly feels the
world of theatre is a safer option than the ‘fickle, cruel realm of music’.
“Artists today just aren’t experiencing the longevity that the likes
of Madonna and Kylie have. It seems with record companies today, it’s just
a turnover game,” says the Limerick lass.
But despite Daly’s dejection as a victim of the industry’s evils, her
performance in Les Miserables is telling. And she’ll do a lot more than
rise from the ashes.
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