OLIVIER-nominated Sophie-Louise Dann, when talking about what makes her tick in terms of becoming an actress, said if she was a six-year-old in 2018 then she would have a label of having Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Her excessive activity would have been her desire to be on stage and explained how, thanks to a wonderful set of parents, she was allowed to pursue her hopes and dreams.

As ‘a Sussex gal by birth’, Sophie started her acting training in Bexhill and Hastings, before moving to Chiswick.

“I started off as a hoofer in 42nd Street,” she said. “Over the years I have been lucky enough through different directors who have seen me in a different light and cast me not as a lead but as a character actress.

“I have never had a lead role but I have been a character actress who has grown into her roles and was told I would ‘grow into my casting’.”

Sophie’s West End credits include Celia in The Girls (2017 Olivier Award nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical); Bend it Like Beckham and Made In Dagenham (both West End); Lend Me a Tenor (2012 Olivier Award nomination for Best Supporting Role in a Musical), 42nd Street, and Jolson.

She recently played Mrs Lovett in Sweeney Todd, Velma Von Tussle in Hairspray, an acclaimed run in Forbidden Broadway and Dot in Sunday In The Park With George (Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris).

Speaking about her career, Sophie said: “A lot of people have asked me why I don’t do more television.

Somerset County Gazette:

"I would rather work in a theatre where there is a live audience.

"Over the last four years I have appeared in new musicals in the West End which meant doing eight shows a week.

“The Spoonful of Sherman is a review format which will be accessible to lots of people as it is intimate venues.

“This is what fascinates me is people will know more of the songs than they think.

"We not only touch on the songs from the musicals but the whole of the Sherman & Sherman catalogue.

These are the songs of your childhood.”

One of the real life people which Sophie has portrayed is former MP Barbara Castle in the musical version of Made in Dagenham, which opened at London’s Adelphi theatre in 2014.

Barbara Castle was Member of Parliament for Blackburn from 1945 to 1979 and Secretary of State for Employment (1968-1970).

It was while in this role she intervened in the Ford sewing machinists’ strike of 1968, in which the women of the Dagenham Ford Plant demanded to be paid the same as their male counterparts.

Sophie said a number of Barbara Castles family (she died in 2002) came along to see the play and told her ‘She captured the essence of Aunty Barbara’.

Now she is part of the cast of The Spoonful of Sherman, which tells the story in songs of the double Oscar-winning Sherman Brothers - Richard M Sherman & Robert B Sherman.

Somerset County Gazette:

From 1964 onwards their unparalleled partnership produced music, songs and scores for dozens of films, particularly many of Disney’s best loved titles including Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Jungle Book, Bedknobs & Broomsticks, Charlotte’s Web, and The Aristocats.

Featuring a highly talented cast led by Sophie-Louise, it features: A Spoonful of Sugar; I Wanna Be Like You; Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers; Jolly Holiday; Chim-Chim-Cher-Ee and many more all time favourites.

But which song is Sophie’s favourite?

She said: “I have two which resonate with me. The first is ‘Feed the birds’ from Mary Poppins and the second is ‘Tell him anything’ which comes from the Slipper and the Rose.

“I even watched this song (the film starring Richard Chamberlain and Gemma Craven) on my wedding day.

Somerset County Gazette:

“The Slipper and the Rose is such a beautiful film and I clearly remember seeing it for the first time when I was seven-yearsold.”

- A Spoonful of Sherman at the Octagon in Yeovil on April 25-April 26.

Tickets cost £23.50.

Buy online at octagon-theatre.co.uk or contact the box office on 01935 422884.