The following article by Liam Rudden was published in the Edinburgh 'Evening News' newspaper in September 2003.
A SCOTS STAR WHO KNOWS FAME SO WELL
Scots musical theatre legend Barbara Dickson is returning to Edinburgh to star in a stage version of the 1980s hit film Fame.
The award-winning singer and actress will join former Hear'say heart-throb Noel Sullivan to lead the cast of Fame the Musical.
The Christmas shows at the Playhouse will be the first that Dickson - the star of a string of hit musicals in London's West End - has performed on a Scottish stage for several years.
The Dunfermline-born actress and singer will play the part of Miss Sherman, the maternal music teacher at New York's High School of Performing Arts, for the show's four-week run.
The winner of two Olivier Awards, Dickson first found fame with hits such as January February and the worldwide chart topper I Know Him So Well, a duet with Elaine Paige.
James Haworth, managing director of The Playhouse, said: "It's a great pleasure to welcome such a celebrated stage star back to Scotland. It'll be the first time she's played this role so it's quite a coup for The Playhouse and Edinburgh.
"I'm absolutely thrilled to bits because I remember seeing her in Blood Brothers on the West End and she was brilliant. And I'm sure that, particularly in Edinburgh, she will get a lot of support."
The show's Christmas run in the Capital sees Dickson return to the city where her career began.
She was just 17 when she came to Edinburgh from her home in Fife. Dickson worked in the Registrar General's office by day, but spent her nights singing in folk clubs before turning professional and moving to England.
Since then the 55 year-old performer has played the lead in some of the world's biggest musicals, including Blood Brothers and Spend, Spend, Spend for which she won her Oliviers. Today, she said that she was looking forward to catching up with friends and family in the Capital and Fife, as well as joining in Edinburgh's Hogmanay.
She said: "I haven't had a Scottish Christmas or Hogmanay for many years, but I still have lots of friends and family in Edinburgh and Dunfermline so it'll be lovely to be there. I've never spent a New Year in Princes Street Gardens and as we don't have a show that night that's where I want to be.
"I'm so looking forward to doing the show in Edinburgh and spending some time in the city which I love."
A spokeswoman for the Playhouse said: "We think the last time she performed at the venue was in the mid-80s.
"Tickets have only been on sale for a few weeks, but they are going really well.
"She's pretty mega anyway on the musical scene and the fact that she has connections here mean people like to come along and see a local girl who has really made it to the big time."
The show opens on December 17 with performances until January 10.
