Georgia Lennon is currently taking on the role of icon and legend Marie Osmond in the new musical, The Osmonds. Her other credits include Lady Chatterley in Lady Chatterley’s Lover (Shaftesbury Theatre), Belle in Beauty and the Beast and Princess Apricot in Jack and the Beanstalk (Belfast Grand Opera House).
With a couple months of the tour left, we managed to catch up with Georgia and chat all things Osmonds!
Marie Osmond is an international star, when you got the role did you feel any pressure and how do you feel now you’re well into the run?
I was completely lost for words when I found out that I’d landed the role of Marie Osmond. Being a huge lover of country music and getting the opportunity to play one of the biggest influences of that genre was a real ‘wow’ moment for me.
I think there’s pressure when playing any of the Osmond family because they’re real people; most of whom are still alive and performing now. I feel a real responsibility to pay homage to the strong, independent woman Marie is, but also want to do her music justice night after night. After all, we’re playing characters that have such an incredible fan base and that comes with a certain expectation. However, this pressure is certainly eased through working with the man himself; Mr Jay Osmond. Jay has been with us throughout the entire rehearsal process and hearing all of his stories and first-hand accounts about each Osmond has allowed us to inform our character choices accurately. We’ve all been able to grab a real essence of who each family member really is, and was.
There must be very different challenges that come with playing a real person, What kind of process did you go through to prepare for the role?
You’re totally right; the approach to real and fictional roles differs a little bit. As I mentioned before, there’s more expectation attached to a role like Marie Osmond, because she already has quirks and personality traits, so it’s important to take the time to understand these specifics and to watch them in action where possible.
I loved the process for Marie Osmond. I started by reading her book 'Might as Well Laugh About It Now' only shortly after I’d been offered the role, which gave me a true sense of her life from childhood through to the present day. And then came the most fun part, I watched SO many episodes of the Donny and Marie Show. I’m convinced that if I’d been around when that show aired, I’d have been obsessed with it! I think I’m a Little Bit Country might be one of my favourite jingles of all time.
Having Jay work so closely with us throughout the rehearsal process and into our run was also extremely special and it was only through his anecdotes that I felt my character of Marie really came alive.
