Our latest celebrity interview with Sue Devaney

Sue Devaney is one of those actresses that exudes positivity, she’s made a career of playing strong Northern women from Coronation Street to Casualty and unforgettably as the toast connoisseur in Dinnerladies. Following a mammoth international stint in the tour of Mamma Mia, Devaney is bringing it home to play the ultimate strong Northern woman, Gracie Fields. 

A new play written by Philip Goulding, Our Gracie opens at Oldham Coliseum on 4 March. Canal St caught up with Devaney to talk Gracie, angora sweaters and life as an actress.  

1. How are rehearsals going?

Really well, I am terribly nervous. We’ve got Act One up and running and now concentrating on Act Two. The actors and musicians are really talented, one minute one’s playing the flute, the next they’re playing the piano.

2. Tell me about the show?

It’s all about Gracie Fields’ life. Philip Golding has written it and it’s about Gracie coming to Oldham to promote her autobiography and the producers ask her to act out her life so there are little vaudeville snippets and songs and stories. It is fascinating. The team are wonderful and we’re pulling it all together.

3. Is it nerve wracking taking on such an icon on her home turf?

We put the pressure on ourselves really. Everyone loved Gracie but I can’t be Gracie, she had such a  wonderful singing voice but there is only one Gracie Fields. 

She put Rochdale on the map. They do Gracie Fields walks around Rochdale and have put plaques up and I think they are doing a statue of her. Rochdale are still proud of her. I’ve done a lot of research for this part, reading her autobiography, Sing As We Go, watching You Tube clips of her and her films. 

She was very ambitious. It is funny listening to her voice. I am very northern even though I lived in London for 10 years and Bristol for 3, I can’t fake it but Gracie’s voice had a bit of posh in it, a bit of Northern and a bit of American from when she lived out there.

4. Do people still recall the Angora sweater from Johnnie Briggs?

Yes they do! What is that about? I was seventeen when I did that.

5. If you could only choose one, would you choose TV or stage?

That’s a really difficult one, you just go where the nice parts are. I love the stage, it is my first love. It’s nice to get a reaction straight away and know what works and what doesn’t and where the laughs come, it’s very organic. TV can be just “learn your lines and say I”t, the sound man doesn’t usually give you applause.

6. Would you consider a return to the cobbles (Sue played Kevin Webster’s sister, Debbie)?

I have been asked back a couple of times but I’ve always been working. Doing the Mamma Mia tour meant I was away for almost two years but I still have a family on Corrie. Debbie Webster only went to Southampton to be a hairdresser. 

7. What is next for you?

I’m doing this show for 3 weeks and then we’re in Stoke for 3 weeks, that takes me up to April, then I don’t know but you never know in this life. It’s exciting; a lot of people can’t deal with it.

8. You did a big stint on the international tour of Mamma Mia, what are the differences between playing the same part constantly to short jobs on fast paced TV?

As you get older you like stability, I don’t know why that is. If I do 3 jobs a year, that is a good year for me. I did Casualty for three years and I think that’s enough unless you’re really content and happy. I like to try and stretch myself. This is the hardest part I’ve done in a long time. The songs and the script are so intricate but I can’t put that pressure on myself. I’m just playing the essence of Gracie, not impersonating her.

9. Maxine Peake played Hamlet to great success, would you tackle a traditional male part? If so which?

I’m happy to play strong, determined and feisty female women. Actors don’t always have a choice what parts they play. I’ve always wanted to play Puck in A Midsummers Night Dream but I’m getting too old now, someone needs to do it quickly.

I’ve always said it must be enlightening to play a man, to strut around like a man full of testosterone. 

10. Do you find that roles become scarcer for actresses in their 40s?

I lived with the actress Patricia Hayes when I was younger and she said “Just keep going darling, everyone will die off and they’ll cast you”. So if I stay away from Botox and fillers and get my wrinkles and grey hair, then I’ll get all the parts.

Our Gracie opens on 4 March at Oldham Coliseum, for tickets please visit

By Chris Park for Canal-St Online

Published: 25-Feb-2016: (3574)