She sold millions of records as a member of dancing pop sensation Steps, but Faye Tozer tells Kerry Ann Eustice nothing compares to the challenge of her current role playing Eva Cassidy

Despite feeling like she’s been on tour ‘all her life’ Faye ‘from Steps’ Tozer wouldn’t swap her current role for anything. And to prove it, she’s returned to it several times and has no plans to let it go. This is coming from someone who, with the dancing popsters Steps, sold 15 million records. And the role Faye adores so much? It is playing songbird Eva Cassidy (an artist Faye has had in her music collection for a very long time) in Over the Rainbow — a musical celebration cum biography of the popular singer’s life and death. “It’s a really lovely show,” said Faye. “I keep coming back because I’ve got such a soft spot for it. It’s such a fabulous role for any female vocalist, it really is. And a much coveted role.” More of a ‘play with music’ than a jukebox musical of We Will Rock You’s ilk, Faye is finding this show her most challenging to date. Not only for depicting Eva’s death every night on stage (she says bring your tissues, it’s a bit of a tearjerker) or portraying a real-life character — something Faye has never done before — it was also a difficult role to prepare for. “She’s actually quite a limited person to find out about,” said Faye. “There’s now nine albums and limited information out on the internet and biographies, so I was given a lot of information and all of her music but I wanted to get close to her as a person. Unfortunately you can’t, she’s protected by the family lawyer, who got in touch with Eva just before she died. “They’ve got so much control, you can’t get that close to her. All we have is what everybody else can get to, so we’ve had to use a bit of artistic license on how we think she moves and things like that.” Plus as a classically trained dancer since the age of three, Faye has had to contend with her natural flamboyance when portraying Eva’s laid-back poise. “For me, being such a skippy person I have to keep my hands by my sides when singing,” she said of capturing Eva’s mannerisms. “She was a guitar player, not a dancer like I am. Also she was quite a shy person and had stage fright.” Revealing such lesser-known details of Eva’s life, including her wrangles for the record companies so desperate to sign her, is what Faye says, this show is all about. “She wouldn’t comply with what the record industry wanted,” explained Faye. “They wanted to pigeon hole her. Lots of people were interested but she didn’t want to comply, she wanted to do varied styles and the songs she chose to do, not what everybody else wanted. “That’s quite a strong opinion to have and quite a brave thing to do. It’s obvious she wasn’t in it for the fame and she genuinely wanted to do it for the music. That’s something really to look up to.” It’s clear Faye — as bubbly to talk to as her Steps persona suggested — loves being involved in Over the Rainbow. She said: “It’s been the most fantastic journey for me, it really has. “Luckily, all the songs fit really well with my voice. She had a superb range, it’s so nice to do songs you can actually stretch yourself in. “I’ve been singing and paying my bills by singing since I was 18, let alone Steps. But it’s really lovely to have a show where you get to have such a vocal showcase, to be able to prove yourself a bit and have such great fun myself.

"People say ‘oh my God, Faye from Steps, what’s she doing as Eva Cassidy?'"

“Obviously, people say ‘oh my God, Faye from Steps, what’s she doing as Eva Cassidy?’And I do understand, people are a little weary of it. But then most don’t know me for musical theatre either. I ask people to have an open mind and come and see it.” Initial scepticism has proven to be unfounded, the tour, says Faye has had massive backing from UK audiences and even the approval of some of Eva’s closest friends. “I’ve met Raice McLeod who was her drummer and Chris Biondo,her boyfriend, and vocal producer. “They both came to see the show on the last tour I was doing. They had a lovely reaction. Raice was very kind to me. It was a lovely reaction but also bizarre meeting these people. I think me and Chris weirded each other out. He was kind of freaked out and so was I. It was very strange.”

Faye is now enjoying the musical theatre career she always dreamed of before stumbling across an audition for Step in The Stage.

“Steps kind of got in the way,” she laughs. “I’m really not complaining because I’ve been very lucky and because of Steps I got my foot in the door first for auditions . They still won’t take me if I’m not the right person. But it’s still nice to have the auditions there.

“It was just one of those auditions,” she said of the try out for Steps. “I’d probably done another six of those that week. Being in entertainment you go for everything and just hope you’ll get one job. I didn’t see it as a recording career, I didn’t see it as I wanted to be famous it was just another job to pay the bills. Five years and five albums later, there you go.”

Yes, Steps were are fairly kitsch concern, but also massively successful, shifting 15 millions records. Something many tend to forget.

“Back in the 1990s people bought a lot of CDs, it was a very big market,” said Faye. “I think people are probably surprised [how successful we were] but there are a lot of bands out there that have outdone us nowadays. At the time, pop in the late 1990s, was quite a big thing. We did very well we stayed together for five years which is quite good.

“ It was an amazing time,” she continued. “But looking back on it, we were in our own little bubble. You’re whisked away from reality, shoved away in a people carrier and taken to all these weird and wonderful places and meeting these amazing people and being plonked on a different stage in another country near enough every other day and it’s not reality at all. I wouldn’t swap it for the world, it’s just such a big gap from reality and only lasts as long as it last. We’ve got to be really grateful for all the support we did have and all the success we did have.

“Thankfully we’re all fairly level-headed people and managed to get on afterwards. We’re not all plundering in rehab now.

“I think you lose your own identity when you get into one of these bands because suddenly you’re surname is permanently ‘from Steps’. You’re not Faye Tozer anymore. It’s coming to terms with that as well, we’re all lucky and level headed enough to get on with things afterwards and everyone’s doing really well.”

For the future she’s keen on a few more film jobs - after taking part in a few this year - perhaps some TV acting and, as for the ultimate, role she fancies Mrs Johnston in Blood Brothers.

“That’s one I’ve always wanted to do. People see me as Mrs Lyons though because of the way I look. I have to fight for Mrs Johnston and I’m not quite old enough yet. But I’ll fight for that later on.”

Over the Rainbow, The Life Story of Eva Cassidy at Greenwich Theatre Oct 30 to Nov 1. 020 8858 7755.

At The Orchard, Dartford, Nov 14, 7.45pm. 01322 220000.