SCOTTISH actor Stephen Ashfield speaks with Nan Spowart about the 10 things that have changed his life.
1. A PIANO
I started having piano lessons at secondary school and very quickly my music teacher said I should tell my parents to try to get me a piano.
Through a connection with the local minister, my mum and dad managed to get me a rickety old piano that was basically my pride and joy. You couldn’t prize me away from it. It sounded bad because it was in such bad nick but I just felt so rock ’n’ roll playing it. I was always a singer so it was a means of accompanying myself. I think that made me a bit frustrated with actual piano lessons.
However, I had this really patient teacher, Mattie Riley, who told me I needed to know the basics first. I was really impatient but I’m glad she did teach me the proper way.
2. HIGH CARNTYNE CHURCH
IT was very close to where I grew up in the East End of Glasgow and I went to Anchor Boys and Boys Brigade where we’d have little displays and Christmas pantomimes.
I got a huge amount of encouragement there and there were so many other things going on. There was a drama group with two really inspirational leaders, Stephen and Carolyn McGrath, and we would do these kinds of weird and wacky productions of Bible stories and stuff like that. It was the first time I’d really thought about acting because until then it had all just been music for me.
I eventually ended up playing the organ there as well because the organist left. I was coming on with my piano so they asked me if I thought I could do it. I didn’t think so but I had a little play around with it and enjoyed it. It’s something I still do. I play at a church in Hamilton although I’m absolutely no expert and I’m definitely not like a traditional organist.
3. MY SCHOOL
THAT was Smithycroft Secondary School in the East End of Glasgow. It was quite a rough catchment area but we had the most incredible music department there. I wanted to learn the flute but they said there were no places and I would have to do keyboard.
So I started that and realised very quickly that it would be good for me because I could play and sing at the same time. The teachers, Margaret Milton, Irene Stewart and Eileen Hunter, put in so many extra hours doing school shows and I think our productions were top notch. That place was really special and it stimulated my interest in musical theatre.
I’m always hearing about cuts for the arts in education but it’s so important because for some kids it may be the first time they experience anything like that. If you don’t have that first connection, where else will it come from?
4. TRAVELLING
MY parents always tried to take us on holiday, even if money was tight. One year we were really adventurous and we drove all the way to Yugoslavia, as it was then. I’ve never really lost that sense of adventure and in some ways it’s just got even greater. I love seeing new places which has stood me in good stead as a musician and an actor.
You’re always travelling to new places which can be intimidating but also a lot of fun. Recently I acquired a campervan because I’ve not seen enough of Scotland and I want to see as much of it as I can.
5. LES MISÉRABLES
THE first tour of Les Misérables in Scotland was about 1993 and I don’t even know how it came about, but my parents bought tickets for it. I’d never seen a musical before and we had these strange little box seats at the side of the Playhouse in Edinburgh. I don’t imagine my parents paid a lot of money for them as it was a slightly obstructed view but from the minute it started, I could not take my eyes off the stage. I was absolutely transfixed.
Immediately after that, I got the CD. I remember begging my parents for it. I had this little portable CD player and I practically wore that CD out.
Frances Ruffelle, who played Eponine and won a Tony Award on Broadway, was on the CD and now I am performing with her in I Can Die Too at Pitlochry Festival Theatre which is amazing.
6. THE ROYAL CONSERVATOIRE OF SCOTLAND
MY music teacher encouraged me to audition when I was leaving school. To my surprise I got in and it did actually change my life. It was a magical place and I have many brilliant memories of it. I had my first foray into Scots song there, winning a Scots song competition, and also did classical singing which stood me in good stead for everything that was to come. We sang in different languages and I think my singing was taken to another level.
There was also a teacher there, Mary Troup, who was head of community music which really interested me. Part of our coursework was to go into the community and start up community choirs for kids and adults. It was a great experience.
7. STRATHCLYDE SCHOOLS CHORUS
THERE was this week-long residential course at this mystical castle down in Dunoon called Castle Toward that the local authority used to own. I don’t think it does any more which is a shame as kids from all over would go for outdoor weeks and things like that. I went for the singing week for two or three years in a row. It was great.
We would sing Puccini and Vivaldi and lots of works we’d never heard before and we would meet all these different kids. It was a bit of freedom and somehow the weather was always great. It was brilliant. I don’t know if these things still happen but it really made you grow up. One of the highlights of my year was going off to Strathclyde Schools Chorus.
8. SCOTTISH OPERA
THEY had an outreach programme that came to my school, led by a woman called Jane Davidson, who was just brilliant. They were getting a children’s chorus together for La Bohème and Tosca. I was about 13 and didn’t think I could sing opera but I went to the audition and got in. We did a little tour and that was my first taste of opera.
9. GRAHAM LYLE
I FINISHED my degree in classical singing but I knew I wanted to do musical theatre and at that time there was no course in Scotland. The Royal Academy of Music in London had a musical theatre course but it was about £10,000 just for the course fees at that time. I couldn’t afford that so I did some fundraising but I still didn’t have enough. A family friend then suggested I get in touch with Graham Lyle of Gallagher and Lyle. I was writing to everyone including Richard Branson and Cameron Mackintosh so I sent a letter off to him as well.
I was leaving the house one day, running late as usual, when the phone started ringing and it was Graham Lyle. I’d never met him or spoken to him before but he said he had been talking to his wife about my letter and asked me how much money I would need. I told him, as well as what I planned to do and everything I had already done, and he said he was going to send me a cheque.
I couldn’t believe it because I’d never met him and I never did meet him so if he happens to see this, I want him to know how grateful I am. Without him, I would not have gone to college. When he phoned, I was losing hope and for someone just to call that day from a letter was amazing. I hope he doesn’t get inundated with begging letters after this but I always tell others to write to everyone because although they will get loads of rejections, there might just be one person that says yes.
10. THE BOOK OF MORMON
I HEARD the soundtrack to this show by the creators of South Park before I was able to see it and almost fell off my chair laughing. I fell in love with its irreverent, naughty humour and I made up my mind I wanted to be part of it when it was due to come to London. Simple as that. Not quite.
Eleven auditions and recalls later, I was offered the role of Elder McKinley. We opened the show in London in 2013 to rave reviews and it was the most fun I’ve ever had on-stage.
That alone would be enough to say it changed my life but add in the Olivier Award it brought my way, moving to New York to make my Broadway debut, and all the wonderful people I met, I could not have asked for anything more.
We sing in the show, “This book will change your life”, I can say with certainty that this show changed my life.
I Can Die Too is at Pitlochry Festival Theatre from July 11-August 2.
