00:01I saw you last year at the halls, at the Wolfe's Top.
00:05Yeah, so much fun.
00:07Really enjoyed it.
00:09You're right.
00:10How are you, Dana?
00:10We're here with Wolverhampton's own Beverly Knight.
00:14Fantastic to see you ahead of the penultimate night of Marie and Rosetta here at the Grand Theatre.
00:20How's it going so far?
00:22So far it's been extraordinary, absolutely extraordinary.
00:26The audiences have been brilliant, you know, everybody has turned out for it, which has warmed my soul.
00:35And myself and Ndombe Zodwa, who plays Marie Knight, have been having the time of our lives on stage here.
00:41Now it's one of only three theatres you're visiting.
00:45Obviously Wolverhampton, home to you.
00:47That must be special.
00:48I saw you at the halls last year.
00:51It was just like a fantastic celebration.
00:54Do you get that when you come back home and perform?
00:58It feels like that.
01:00It feels as though everybody's kind of celebrating not just my success, but their own part in it, because I didn't get here by myself.
01:11You know, this place helped to give me the platform that I have and to create the person that I've become.
01:20And so much of my identity is bound up in being a Wolverhamptoner.
01:26And I think Wolverhamptoners know that.
01:29So it's our celebration, which is so nice.
01:32Now it's such a varied career, music, radio, theatre, obviously.
01:37Do you have a preference?
01:38I mean, I'm a musician to my absolute core.
01:42I think it's quite obvious that anybody who's ever seen me perform will be like, yeah, definitely a musician.
01:48But I love performance in all its different facets, whether it's performing, I keep doing that because that's where the stage is, but whether I'm performing in character as someone else, whether I'm just me or whether I'm behind a microphone and I get to talk about music and the joys of it.
02:11I just like that kind of broadcast element of this is me and this is what I do and this is what I want to share with the world.
02:20It's the sharing thing that I love so much.
02:22Yeah.
02:22And this is a big musical, isn't it?
02:24You get to sing, you get to act and you've got two performances tomorrow coming to an end.
02:31So you're kind of in the middle of it.
02:33So how is it going at the moment?
02:35It's been going great.
02:36It's been going great.
02:37We did two yesterday, Thursday is our matinee and evening show.
02:42Today is just a single show tomorrow, the final two, which I'm sad about, but I hope that we'll get a chance to return.
02:52Yeah.
02:52And the last time you were here in a theatre production, West Side Story, how long ago was that?
02:58I'm just looking at...
02:59I was 12.
03:00Wow.
03:00I was 12, so this has got to be what, 85, 86 or something.
03:07But, and I loved it.
03:09And theatre, I mean, this is my favourite musical of all time and I got to actually be in it.
03:15And I was one of the very youngest in the cast, but I was lucky enough to be one of the principals and I played Rosalia.
03:23So I got to sing, I like to be in America, and it was the best times, really was.
03:32So this is the first time I ever got to do theatre outside of being at Woodfield, my junior school, or Highfields, my senior school.
03:41Well, Rampton Youth Theatre, and I'm forever grateful.
03:44Forever grateful.
03:45And all these years later, you're starring, you're the star of the show.
03:48Yeah.
03:49What are you moving on to after that, quickly?
03:51After this, oh, I am not actually sure, in terms of theatre, but immediately after this, I'm following my niece, who is currently doing background vocals for Gary Barlow.
04:04Wow.
04:05And I'm actually his special guest on a few of his shows that he's doing around the country.
04:11Wow.
04:12So it's going to be a family affair for us, and that's what I'm doing immediately after I finish this.
04:16Yeah.
04:16Now, being the Express and Star, we like the exclusives.
04:20Yeah.
04:20You said you're a daughter of Wolverhampton, you love coming here.
04:24We can exclusive reveal if you want to look back at that seat that you're sitting in.
04:28Oh.
04:28Here.
04:29B-25.
04:30They've named a seat after you.
04:34You're in the company of the likes of John Bishop, Ian McKellen.
04:37Oh, my God.
04:38A number of other people, they've appeared here.
04:44Oh, my God.
04:45They've given you the honour of naming the seat.
04:47B for Beverley, 25.
04:50Oh, my God.
04:53I just sat in the seat and never even looked.
04:55Yes.
04:56I just sat down.
04:57It was deliberate to have you sitting there, but...
04:59Oh, my God.
05:01So, every time you come back here, you can get a family member to reserve that seat.
05:08Thank you so much.
05:10And B, row B for Bev, and 25 for 2025.
05:14Oh, my God.
05:15Well, the guys at the Grand Theatre think a lot of you.
05:17We all think a lot of you in Wolverhampton, so that's just a little gesture.
05:23Apparently, you still have to pay for a ticket if you come to watch the show.
05:26That's the deal, though.
05:27That's okay.
05:28I can do that.
05:30Oh, my God.
05:35That's...
05:35I'm almost in tears.
05:38That's...
05:39That's a kill.
05:40We'll let you get back because you are on stage at, what, 7.30?
