'Oliver' Diaries: My Favourite Nancy

I'm sorry I've been MIA for a while but I'm back with a post kindly suggested by my good friend, Summer.

As I prepared for my audition, I watched 'Oliver' over and over (some scenes more than others), listened to the songs countless times and obsessively watched videos teaching and listened to the Cockney accent. Obviously, it was most important to me to pay attention to the character of Nancy. Having watched/listened to many Nancys, I was, naturally, drawn to my favourite: Jodie Prenger.

I DO NOT OWN THIS PHOTO

Prenger was, of course, the winner of BBC's Talent Show, 'I'd Do Anything' back in 2008. While I didn't actually watch the show, I was immediately drawn to Prenger upon first listening to her performances in 'Oliver.' Both whilst I prepared for the audition and after I’d landed the role, I took inspiration from her as I thought she made a brilliant Nancy! I especially love her characterisation in ‘It’s a Fine Life,’ meaning I’ve listened to her version of the song way too much for my own good (if that’s even possible!), and admired the wistful, sarcastic and annoyed tones in her voice every time! Moreover, her performance of ‘As Long As He Needs Me’ is impeccable – I can only hope to live up to such an emotional delivery! Though her entire performance as Nancy is beyond amazing, the thing I love most about it is the anger she portrays at moments such as in act 2, scene 3, just before ‘It’s a Fine Life: Reprise’ is sung; I watched/listened to this countless times in order to prepare for my audition with the same scene!

I DO NOT OWN THIS PHOTO

Though Prenger will forever be my favourite, Shani Wallis was a seriously close competitor. Due to her having played Nancy in the film, hers is the only performance I’ve been able to fully and properly watch. I could watch the film more times than I could count on my fingers and toes, but I highly doubt that Wallis’ performance could ever cease to blow me away! Specifically, I love the way that Wallis shows Nancy’s relationship with Oliver (especially in ‘I’d Do Anything!’) and how she so strongly shows each distinct emotion. As ‘As Long As He Needs Me’ was the audition song, I watched her performance of the song, along with Prenger’s, numerous times, paying close attention to how she portrayed each emotion. I realised then that, though the song has the same dominant theme of sadness throughout it, it’s important that each line, if not word, holds its own emotion. In my opinion, Wallis mastered this – I aspire to perform in such a way as she.

As I’m sure you’re aware, there are lots of awesome Nancys out there and I’ve loved many that I’ve come across, but Prenger and Wallis are definitely at the top of my list. Though I’ve taken a lot of inspiration from the way these incredible women performed as Nancy, I’ve been careful not to simply copy, as I knew that that would lead to a dishonest performance. I’ve been getting to know Nancy a lot through different rehearsal techniques, such as Role on the Wall, in order to understand what emotions she would feel when and why, but the women I have mentioned have been an amazing help in guiding me as to how to portray these emotions.

Have any of you ever played Nancy? If so, which actress was your major inspiration? Let me know in the comments!