Jane's plain excited to be back in town (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Jane's plain excited to be back in town

9:40am Friday 6th March 2009 in

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SHE’S been dazzling audiences across the country, and now national treasure Jane McDonald is heading to The Anvil.

The bubbly Yorkshire singer, who shot to fame ten years ago after appearing on BBC documentary series The Cruise, has since become a household name, regularly appearing on ITV’s Loose Women and selling hundreds of thousands of albums.

Speaking about her current tour, she said: “It’s wild! It’s fantastic, and really the best show I’ve ever done. I finally feel like I have got to where I want to be, with the orchestra, the dresses, the design – it’s all come together and the reviews have been phenomenal.”

Things have gone so well that the tour, which started at the beginning of February, will be on the road until December.

“I’m mad,” said Jane “But the show’s just been so well received, so work is life at the moment!”

She added: “Touring is tiring but I get such a buzz out of it. That’s what I live for really. Loose Women is great and it keeps me on telly, but this is what I love.

“I know almost every theatre now and there’s something about the live thing, when the audience can see you in the flesh – it’s a completely different experience than on the television.”

Asked how the show compares with singing on a cruise ship, Jane joked: “I don’t have to compete with the buffet, which is a plus!

“And the fans have all paid money to see me, so they actually watch the show and don’t go off for a chip butty.”

One thing the northern star has managed to fit into her busy schedule is getting engaged to Eddie Rothe, the drummer with The Searchers, although the wedding date is still in the air.

She said: “He is as busy as me so we are perfectly matched in a way. It wouldn’t work if one of us was away and the other one was waiting around all the time.

“We talk on the phone a lot, and we’ll have one week off together this year and that’s it – and we had to fight for that!

“So I don’t know when the wedding will be – next year some time – because I want to plan it. But it’s finding the time!”

Jane, who is appearing in Basingstoke on March 29, said: “I’ve been to The Anvil before – what a great theatre!

“I remember thinking: ‘I love this place’, so I’m looking forward to seeing people in Basingstoke again and I can’t wait for them to see how much I’ve grown up.”

Tickets for Jane’s show cost £27.50 and can be booked at the Anvil Arts box office, on 01256 844244, or at anvilarts.org.uk.