Sue Kelvin feels a personal connection with Sophie Tucker, the voluptuous pre-war diva whom she is playing in a new show. ALEX KASRIEL talks to the actress about stepping into those rather large shoes.

If there is one woman who can do the big, bold and brassy vaudeville star Sophie Tucker, it's Sue Kelvin.

Not only she is Jewish and, in her words, overweight', but also the Manchester actress's grandparents knew the singer now known as the original Red-Hot Mamma'.

"It was kind of fate that I should play her," said Kelvin, 46, of Muswell Hill. "I was brought up listening to these stories about Sophie Tucker."

Kelvin has enjoyed a career of playing indomitable women. Her CV includes Madame Thenardier in Les Miserables and Mrs Bumble in Oliver!. She was approached by playwright Stewart Permutt about the play Sophie Tucker's One Night Stand when she was performing as Mama Morton in Chicago in the West End, alongside Denise Van Outen.

"Basildon town was empty the night Chicago opened the smell of Brut aftershave was overpowering," she quipped, referring to the Essex celebrity's fans.

But she added: "Van Outen brings in an audience that wouldn't normally come to the theatre."

As the Mama Morton character was based on Tucker and her song, Be Good to Mamma was a homage to her' it was a natural progression for Kelvin to play the role.

Chris Burgess took over the writing of the One Night Stand, and after three years in development, the show is now enjoying a successful run at Hampstead's New End Theatre.

"The first half is more of a play," said Kelvin. "It's a rollercoaster through key points in her life, illustrated through her songs. The second half is a cabaret of her in concert and in her supper club days. There's an immediacy about it. The audience feel like they are in the room with her.

"The songs are fantastic and the lyrics are hugely witty. It's a fantastic mix of fun and a deep feeling in more sentimental songs.

"So many of the people who come have had a personal encounter with her. People have been flocking to see the play, which is lovely. It's a very Jewish piece and that reflects the audiences in north London."

Tucker was born in 1884 into a very religious Jewish Russian family. They moved to Kentucky, where Tucker began working from the age of nine in the family restaurant.

"The thing that spurred her to become successful was that she couldn't stand seeing her mother slaving in the restaurant kitchen all day," said Kelvin.

In 1906, Tucker abandoned her husband, Louis Tuck, and son, Bert, to seek her fortune in New York. Her neighbours considered her to be no more than a prostitute.

The voluptuous performer refused to compromise her looks and heritage, and eventually her tenacity paid off.

"She started as a black impersonator," said Kelvin. "It started when she got a job at Christ Brown's Variety agency. As she was leaving the audition after she was offered the job, Chris Brown shouted, This one's so fat and ugly the crowd will razz her. Better get her some cork and black her up.' And that's what she did."

She joined a burlesque show in 1908, and, when she found herself without her make-up or any of her luggage one night, she went on without her black face'. She was a hit with the audience, and never wore that make-up again. She started off in vaudeville theatre, but after talkie' movies, people stopped going to the theatre. After making a couple of flops in Hollywood, she went into the supper club scene.

That was where the raunchy numbers started.

"She would sing songs in which she would give advice about sex and getting what you want out of your man," said Kelvin.

"She was a precursor to feminism. She carved out her own career. She paved the way for stars like Bette Midler and Barbra Streisand. She was a cosy, kosher Mae West. She never saw herself as a sex symbol.

"She was loved by Jewish audiences in America and England, particularly in London's East End.

"She was singing songs that white female singers didn't. She realised what fabulous music was coming out of black radio stations. She took that on board and put it in her repertoire. She had her own black writer, Sheldon Brooks.

"He wrote some of her most famous songs like Some of These Days and My Yiddeshe Mama."

The parallels between Kelvin and Tucker do not just stop at physical appearance and heritage.

"Tucker was a woman who didn't give a damn about convention and social beliefs about how women should behave," said Kelvin. "She wasn't interested in that. And I don't fit into theatrical expectations. I am not the model of the pretty, little actress. I like playing to my own tune in the same way as her. She's a remarkable testament to how you can create your own career by breaking all the rules."

  • Sophie Tucker's One Night Stand is on at the New End Theatre, New End, Hampstead, until January 14. It plays at 7.30pm from Tuesday to Saturday and 3.30pm on Sundays.

There are no shows on Christmas Day and Tuesday, but there is an extra show on Boxing Day at 7.30pm. Tickets are £18 (£13 concessions). Call the box office on 0870 033 2733.