LIFE is feeling a little “surreal” for Stevie Doc.
Since it was announced that the West End star and winner of Mamma Mia! TV audition show I Have a Dream would be performing in her home city, social media has been ablaze.
“I’ve had lots of messages, some from the young people who are going to be performing in the show, saying how much they’re looking forward to singing with me,” she says, in awe.
“I just can’t believe people care in that way? I don’t feel special. I’m only at the start of my career so having people look up to me is lovely.”
She grins. “It is just a bit bizarre.”
The 23-year-old, who is originally from Knightswood, will be appearing as part of the dazzling Movies to Musicals showcase at the Theatre Royal on March 2.
She joins Lizzie Bea (who has appeared in Sister Act, Hairspray and Heathers) and Alex James Hatton (who has had roles in Bonnie and Clyde and Book of Mormon), and a cast of rising stars in the world of Scottish musical theatre, to perform songs from a diverse range of hit shows, including Sister Act, Rent, Moulin Rouge and Come From Away.
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(Alex is stepping in to replace Tobias Turley, Stevie’s fellow Mamma Mia! star who has had to cancel.)
“I think it will be an amazing night,” says Stevie, sounding thrilled. “I can’t wait and it will be great to be back home for a while.”
Stevie triumphed over thousands of hopefuls to win a spot on ITV show Mamma Mia! I Have A Dream, where she delighted viewers and host Zoe Ball with her down-to-earth personality and beautiful voice. Judges Alan Carr and Jessie Ware were even moved to tears by her performance.
Filming on the Greek island of Corfu, she was eventually crowned the winner and her prize was a spell as Sophie in the West End production of the hit show, which is based on the music of ABBA.
For a third-year drama school student, who auditioned for her first show just because her pals were doing it, it was the stuff of dreams.
“I grew up always singing karaoke,” says Stevie. “I went to Knightswood Secondary, although not the Dance School of Scotland bit, the mainstream secondary bit.
“I auditioned for the school show – We Will Rock You - just because my friends were doing it and I thought it might be a bit of a laugh. Then I ended up getting a lead part.”
She laughs. “I was thinking, oh, am I good at this then?” she says. “One of the boys in my maths class, who was at the Dance School, saw the show and said to me – you have to audition, you’re really good.”
“I just didn’t think I was good enough to do it, not as a career.”
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Eventually, however, Stevie did audition for the musical theatre course at the Dance School of Scotland – and did not get in.
“That was when I realised how badly I wanted it,” she says. “The next year, I did get in, and my life changed, honestly. I thought I knew how to sing, but I didn’t at all.
“The training you get at Knightswood is incredible. The two years I spent there gave me what I needed to get in to drama school, the whole toolbox.”
Stevie, born Stevie Docherty, lived in Knightswood until she was nine, then she and her parents, Gayle and Gary, who ran clothes shops, and brother Jordy and sister Karis, moved to Clydebank.
Gayle sadly died when Stevie was just 13.
“My mum was an incredible singer,” says Stevie. “She sang lots of Dolly Parton, but her favourite was Kelly Clarkson’s Because of You.”
She pauses. “I sometimes sing that song, and people always say – that was lovely, but we’ll never forget your mum singing it,” she says, with a smile. “She really had the most beautiful voice.”
After Movies to Musicals, Stevie will be returning home to London where she plans to “keep auditioning.”
She also teaches musical theatre, to children aged between three and 16.
“They love talking about Mamma Mia!” she laughs. “I think it’s good for them to see that one of their teachers has done what they are all aspiring to do and it also does show them the nature of this industry, that most musical theatre performers do have to find other jobs in between shows.
“It’s really important to encourage young people. Yes, it’s a scary industry and no, you’re probably not going to be employed every day of every year, but if you really want it, if you’re passionate……”
She pauses. “I know I’d much rather be in this job and loving it than doing something with stability but absolutely hating it.
“You just want young people to know the option is there, that it is possible. Everything is possible.”
Movies to Musicals is at the Theatre Royal on March 2.
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