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F E AT U R E<br />
Soul star gets her fairy wings<br />
SOUL SUPERSTAR-TURNED MUSICAL THEATRE LEADING LADY BEVERLEY KNIGHT IS RETURNING<br />
TO HER MIDLANDS ROOTS FOR HER FIRST STINT ON THE PANTO STAGE AT THE BIRMINGHAM<br />
HIPPODROME. SHE CHATS TO AMY NORBURY AHEAD OF THE SHOW ABOUT TURNING FAIRY<br />
GODMOTHER AND COMING HOME FOR THE FESTIVE SEASON<br />
BEVERLEY KNIGHT<br />
IS STARRING AS THE<br />
FAIRY GODMOTHER IN<br />
CINDERELLA AT THE<br />
HIPPODROME<br />
The Wolverhampton twang may have softened<br />
ever so slightly over the years but Beverley Knight’s<br />
Midlands roots are still evident in her voice, even<br />
after more than two decades of international<br />
stardom and mixing with the music industry’s elite.<br />
Until she starts singing, that is. Then, well, the vocals<br />
are pure soul powerhouse.<br />
The soul diva - although in person she’s charming,<br />
down-to-earth and about as far away from divalike<br />
as you can get - has spent the past 20-odd years<br />
thrilling audiences with her sublime voice, seling<br />
more than a million albums and singing with the likes<br />
of Stevie Wonder, Prince and Chaka Khan - she was<br />
even flown over to Prince’s Oscars party to perform<br />
in front of Hollywood’s elite. Not bad for a girl from<br />
Wolverhampton.<br />
And not content with being a superstar singer and<br />
songwriter, Beverley has, in recent years, embarked<br />
on something of a second career in musical theatre,<br />
taking on several iconic roles in the West End.<br />
So while she’s completely at home on the stage,<br />
the latest addition to Beverley’s immense CV is<br />
something of an unknown quantity. Until the end<br />
of <strong>January</strong>, Beverley is starring as Fairy Godmother<br />
in Birmingham Hippodrome’s panto spectacular<br />
Cinderella, alongside pop star Suzanne Shaw in the<br />
title role, soap actor and Strictly Come Dancing<br />
finalist Danny Mac as Prince Charming and<br />
Birmingham panto favourite Matt Slack as Buttons.<br />
“I’ve never done panto before and it’s not something<br />
I ever thought I’d be doing - I’ve always gone<br />
to panto but never imagined I’d be in one so it’s<br />
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