My shoes are size 2 and a 1/2, the same size as my feet

One was never taught how to begin at drama school. But all it required was one intake of breath.

If you are in a play, and you catch a cold, you are able to muddle through. If you are carrying a musical, it's a different thing altogether. It's the great fear of any singer's life.

You couldn't even write me a paper about the roles you would dream of playing in modern musical theatre.

My dad always told me that perseverance furthers. He was right.

But you know, I'm not 25 anymore, and I have always said musical theater in particular is a young person's game. It requires energy, mentally and physically, to do it.

Oh, it was awful, and I vowed to myself I would never, ever push myself to the edge that much again. It was really frightening. Because absolutely everything seemed to be impossible to deal with, just little things became major - noise, if someone had a radio on, or even the sound of traffic, or being in someone's company for longer than 10 minutes - I started to find it all too much.