Julie Atherton

Julie Atherton

Age:

Currently: Playing two roles in the West End transfer of Avenue Q, the affectionate adult spoof of Sesame Street that mixes humans and puppets, at the Noel Coward Theatre. “Kate Monster is a kindergarten teacher in her mid-twenties,” says Atherton. “She's a romantic at heart and she's looking for love. She's sort of given up and then [leading puppet] Princeton comes along and it all gets very cute.” Atherton also plays the Mae West look-alike puppet, Lucy T. Slut. “She’s the complete opposite to Kate. The clue's in the name,” adds Atherton. “Lucy is a night-club singer, and she's had them all. She chews men up and spits them out.” The Guardian critic Michael Billington tipped the performer as one to watch out for in his Avenue Q review: “Julie Atherton catches all of Kate Monster's outsiderish yearnings.”

Hometown: Now based in south-east London, Atherton grew up in Preston, Lancashire. She realised she wanted to act on a drama course at Sixth Form College. “My teacher there was such an inspiration,” says Atherton. “He brought my confidence out, and I decided that I wanted to go to drama school.” Soon after, she got into London’s Mountview Theatre School. “My mum was totally shocked when she found out,” she says. “I was so shy that she couldn't believe I wanted to perform.”

Landing Q: Atherton went through five auditions for Avenue Q. “It was a strange, gruelling process,” she says. “Before the final audition, we did a two-day puppeteering workshop. They wanted to see how fast we could pick up working with puppets. All I remember is that my arm was killing me. People couldn't use their hands or wrists afterwards. We were using muscles we’d never used before. It was like holding up a carrier bag of shopping all day.” Puppeteering felt awkward to Atherton at first: “I couldn’t imagine how would ever be able to do it. Suddenly I was in a world where I had no co-ordination. I compare it to learning to walk all over again.”

Julie Atherton with Kate Monster in Avenue Q

Starting Out: “One day I said to mum, ‘Right, I'm going to London for an audition next week,’ and she came with me. She said she’d never seen me be so organised.” When Atherton tried for a grant at Lancashire County Council, she didn't want anything to go wrong, so she phoned up a pianist friend to go with her just in case. “I was taken into this beautiful, big room with a baby grand and it was the best audition ever,” says Atherton. “I made a woman cry with the song ‘I'd Give My Life For You’ from Miss Saigon.” For Atherton, drama school was “the most amazing and the most horrendous time” of her life. “They really do break you down and build you back up,” she explains. “The main thing they worked on with me was confidence. That was my problem. I still clam up if I go into a room full of people I don’t know.”

Waiting for the Big Break: Atherton paid her dues waitressing before winning the part of Sophie in the hit musical Mamma Mia!. “I couldn't believe I got the lead,” she says. “I kept asking my agent whether she was sure I wasn't the understudy. I was dancing in a panto when I got the job and I did the biggest kick ever because I was so happy… and sprained my ankle.” She spent the rest of the evening in casualty with a miniature bottle of champagne. Atherton’s father died when she four, so her mother came to Atherton’s opening night in Mamma Mia! with her best friend. “She was in floods of tears from beginning to end,” says Atherton. “Probably after this job [in Avenue Q], I'll be back to waitressing again. But I don't mind doing that for a little while because I know that my career is building.”

Pigeonholed?: Atherton’s CV includes stints in Fame and two musicals at the Chichester Festival. “I would love to do straight plays, but it’s a difficult transition to make because people assume you can't act,” she says. “In America you’re rewarded if you can sing, dance and act, but over here it's looked down on. I don't feel stuck because I love what I do, but there is still this silly snobbery if you do musicals.”

Coming Up: Atherton regularly takes part in the Notes From New York series, one-off performances showcasing contemporary musical theatre. “We do stuff that we love by new composers,” says Atherton. “This work just wasn't being done and it’s really taken off. People like to play it safe with musicals. Every time we do a show, we try to do something different.” Her enthusiasm for new work is also reflected in her new album of songs, A Girl of Few Words, by English composer Charles Miller. Is there anything Atherton dislikes doing? “Improv. I still can't bear it. Writing's for the writers. Just give me a script”.

In for the Long Run: What is Atherton’s response to the Avenue Q detractors who find the show too sentimental? “They're not listening to it properly. The script is ironic. Some reviewers didn't want to enjoy the show because it was a hit in America. I'm proud to be part of it and I’m very protective of it.” How does she keep her performance fresh during a long run? “I think about saying my lines for the first time. It’s easy with Avenue Q because I enjoy it so much. If you're in a bad mood, you forget it once you're out on stage. And a great audience always peps you up.”