I Stepped Away from Acting - And Then Got Offered One of Musical Theatre’s Biggest Roles | Pressure, Perspective and Performing for Someone Else’s Fans – Emma Lucia
You're On TonightShow Notes
Emma Lucia has spent the last year doing one of the hardest jobs in musical theatre: being ready to step on at a moment’s notice and make one of the Musical Theatre’s most recognisable roles her own. All while stepping into a role normally played by one of the most iconic names in the industry.
As the cover for Jenna in the 10th anniversary tour of Waitress - a role normally played by Carrie Hope Fletcher - Emma knows what it feels like to walk onstage as an understudy in front of an audience who have arrived expecting somebody else. In this episode, she takes us inside that experience - the pressure, the nerves, the expectations and the challenge of trusting that you are enough when the spotlight suddenly lands on you.
But Emma’s story goes much further.
She opens up about one of the biggest decisions of her career: stepping away from acting altogether. She talks about why she left the industry, what eventually brought her back, how much she missed the people and community she had left behind, and why she’s now approaching her career with one very different priority - having fun.
Emma shares some of the most extraordinary stories we’ve heard yet, including one spectacular piece of backstage chaos involving a moment where - in her own words - her life flashed before her eyes.
We also talk about the power nerves can have over you, what it’s like performing when every instinct in your body is telling you to run, and Emma gives perhaps the most honest answer we’ve ever heard to one very simple question:
Why do you do it?
Emma Lucia - You’re On Tonight. Produced by The Sound Company. www.sound.co.uk
Get in touch: [email protected] www.instagram.com/youreontonight www.youtube.com/youreontonight www.tiktok.com/youreontonight
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from You're On Tonight
Steph Parry’s most memorable understudy story sounds like something straight out of a musical. In 2016, while working as a standby in 42nd Street, Steph got a phone call telling her to run to a completely different theatre, where a different cast, performing a different show, desperately needed her to step in as Donna in Mamma Mia! With just 18 minutes to get on stage, she went from eating her dinner in the dressing room to playing one of musical theatre’s biggest leading roles - and the press attention that followed changed her life.
David Tarkenter is a rare thing – an actor who simply hasn’t stopped working. For decades he’s graced some of the country’s most iconic stages – The National, The Old Vic, The Globe – alongside theatrical heavyweights including Alan Cumming, Bertie Carvel, Daniel Radcliffe, Mark Gatiss and Johnny Flynn.
Lucy Jenkins and Sooki McShane have cast some of the biggest hits in British theatre, including The Play That Goes Wrong, the original cast of War Horse and A Comedy About Spies. But what does a casting director actually do?
Strictly Come Dancing winner and star of Coronation Street, Ellie Leach, had her stage debut as Miss Scarlett in 2024 in Cluedo 2. Hannah Boyce starred opposite her, directed the show while it was on the road, and also understudied Ellie.
When Margot Robbie produced one of the biggest plays to hit the West End in a generation, Hollywood came with her. Quentin Tarantino was at press night, A-listers were descending on the theatre - and Harry Bradley was standing in the middle of it all as an understudy on Ava Pickett’s 1536.