I grew up in a village with 50 houses in Bedfordshire [Bletsoe in the UK]. It didn’t have any shops, it had a castle and a pub. It’s the castle where Margaret Beaufort was born. She was Henry VII’s mum, so Henry VIII’s grandma, so that’s my claim to [the musical] Six! It’s a tiny village in the middle of nowhere but about a mile away there was a water mill which they had converted into an amateur theatre, and this was the source of all of my theatrical education.

Lisa CampbellLisa Campbell. Photo © Maryna Roth

My musical tastes were completely defined by the two shows they put on each year. When I was seven I saw Sweet Charity. When I was 10, they put on Annie, which I was in. I got introduced to The Baker’s Wife at a young age, and so I fell in love with all the Stephen Schwartz back catalogue. Seeing Sondheim’s Into the Woods at 14, while doing the follow spot, was a complete awakening for me. I got to be in Follies when I was 17 so that amateur...