Jake Quickenden excited for Christmas show

TV star Jake Quickenden said he was looking forward to working close to home this Christmas alongside an all-local cast in a stage adaptation of Elf.

The actor, who lives in Colchester, Essex, will take to the stage as Buddy, the lead character from the 2003 film, on Saturday for the first of 36 shows.

"It's brilliant that I'm home for Christmas," he told the BBC during a break from rehearsals for the musical at the city's Charter Hall.

"I had last year at home but I was on tour with the Full Monty, so we had a bit of a break, but I'm always doing Christmas shows in different cities or different towns."

Quickenden, who rose to fame in 2012 when he appeared on the ITV singing contest The X Factor, said preparing for the show had been a "great experience".

"It's going to be, I think, one of the best shows that you'll see in Colchester for a long, long time, hopefully."

Director James Cartwright, a regular on BBC Radio 4's soap opera The Archers, said he felt "privileged" to work with a cast of local on and off-stage talent.

"Everyone's homegrown which is fantastic. Everyone in this show is from Colchester. It's produced by Colchester and it's in Colchester, which is so unusual for a show on this scale."

Jade MayJean, who is playing Quickenden's on-stage girlfriend Jovie, said it felt "amazing" to be performing so close to home in the run up to Christmas.

"I haven't done acting for a very long while - I do a lot of music regularly, but to be able to dip back in and do this has just felt absolutely amazing," said MayJean, who lives in nearby Ipswich, Suffolk.

She said she had planned her Christmas in advance, buying gifts in October and wrapping them in November, so she could focus on the musical in December.

"It doesn't feel like Christmas at the moment outside of [rehearsals], but while I'm here we've still got that bit of Christmas spirit going on between the cast.

"It will be so nice for my friends and family to come along because they're all getting very excited about seeing it."

Gary Turner, who also lives in Colchester, is portraying Buddy's dad Walter.

"This whole thing is born locally," he said.

"It is the first time a project like this has happened in Colchester on this scale; a professional scale."

The whole cast will enjoy a well-earned break on Christmas Day, before returning to Charter Hall's stage on Boxing Day.

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