Wishaw actress Natalie Williams makes West End debut with showbiz legend Tommy Steele in A Christmas Carol

Nov 14 2012 By Robert Mitchell

Natalie Williams

Wishaw performing star Natalie Williams has landed a dream role with stage and recording legend Tommy Steele at one of the most famous venues in the world.

Natalie is appearing with Steele at the London Palladium in Scrooge, a musical version of Charles Dickens’s much-loved novel A Christmas Carol.

And the Waterloo singer/actress/dancer is delighted to cap what has been a tremendous year for her by making her West End debut with one of the best-loved performers in the business on possibly the most iconic stage in the entertainment world.

“To land my first West End role was a huge thrill in itself but to then find out it was at The London Palladium with Tommy Steele was unbelievable,” said Natalie.

“When you walk into the theatre you get a great sense of all the brilliant stars who have appeared there and the amazing shows that have been staged over the years.

“When I started rehearsals for the show I couldn’t believe that Tommy is almost 76 years old. He jumps about like somebody a third of his age and has boundless energy.

“His enthusiasm rubs off on the rest of the cast. It’s not hard to imagine why he is so popular with the public and why he was such a heart-throb in his younger days.

“It’s a real feel-good show and it’s nice to know at the end of each performance that the cast have brought so much joy to the audience,” said Natalie, who performs under the stage name of Natalie Moore-Williams.

Scrooge contains songs like Thank You Very Much written by double Oscar and Grammy Award winning composer Leslie Bricusse and some amazing illusions from Paul Kieve – the man behind the special effects on all the Harry Potter films.

Natalie, along with the rest of the cast of Scrooge, recently appeared alongside pop superstar Robbie Williams and X-Factor winner Leona Lewis at the spectacular switch-on of the Christmas lights in London’s landmark Oxford Street.

The performer has also just ended a successful UK tour where she understudied and appeared in the lead role of Ruth Sherwood, played by Connie Fisher, in the critically acclaimed production of Leonard Bernstein’s Wonderful Town, the story of two sisters from the American mid west who head for the bright lights of New York.

Earlier this year she completed a 16-month tour of Europe with the Bill Kenwright/Andrew Lloyd Webber production of Evita, which visited countries such as Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Turkey.

Scrooge runs at the London Palladium until January 3.