Can’t sing, won’t sing, says Nicholas

NICHOLAS lyndhurst has joined Katherine Jenkins and Alfie Boe in Carousel — but he won’t be singing.

i asked if he could, in fact, sing, and he replied cheerily: ‘ Not at all!’ Before adding: ‘ Fortunately, i don’t have to.’

lyndhurst has taken the dual roles of the Starkeeper and minister Dr Seldon in the show about star-crossed lovers Julie Jordan and Billy Bigelow. The Rodgers and Hammerstein classic will run at the london Coliseum, complete with 70-piece orchestra, from march 10.

in fact, the actor can ‘technically’ sing — as fans of his TV show goodnight, Sweetheart will know — but not like Boe or Jenkins. ‘ The producer said: ‘ We shouldn’t be offering you this part!’

indeed, when i spoke to michael linnit, who’s putting on the show with michael grade, he laughed and said: ‘ He can’t sing a note. But he’s thrilled to be in a musical. He just likes doing different things.’

lyndhurst was bowled over when he saw glenn Close in Sunset Boulevard at the Coliseum last year. ‘ The fact it was semi- staged gave you an opportunity to focus on the performance,’ he said.

But there are personal reasons for jumping onto Carousel. His grandfather, Francis lyndhurst, was a scenic designer for what was known as the ‘ lone Panto’ — staged at the Coliseum in 1939 and so- called because it was the only panto in town that year. ‘You can imagine why they weren’t in the mood for “it’s behind you!” ’

And the Coliseum is where he first saw his wife: lucy Smith.

Nicholas was starring in a play at Wyndham’s Theatre. Some ballet dancers saw the show at a matinee. ‘They sent us a note saying if we ever wanted tickets to see them at their matinee, to let them know. We pitched up at the Coliseum, and she was dancing in Cinderella,’ he recalled.

He watched her in the corps de ballet and knew she was the girl for him.

‘it’s come full circle for me and the Coliseum,’ he said.