28 January 2024 , 16:13
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Fans of Call the Midwife will get to see one of their beloved stars transformed for a new role on stage. Helen George, who plays nurse Trixie Franklin in the BBC drama series, looks a world away from that character when in costume to play Anna in a West End production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I at London's Dominion Theatre.
The 39-year-old actress swaps up her signature blonde look, when as Nurse Trixie, for a more copper look for her portrayal of Anna in the musical, which is set in 1860s Bangkok. Helen will be able to call on her time competing on Strictly Come Dancing to help master any moves she has to make on stage during the performance.
Helen George as Anna in The King and I (PA)The BBC star has said that she has had to master singing in corsets for the role as well as the "enormous and heavy" dresses she needs to wear while playing Anna with her costumes featuring Indian linen. Speaking to The Standard, Helen said: "The corset makes me work hard. It’s actually really good for singing, it kind of really supports you in a way. The dresses are enormous and heavy. They’re wide."
Anna is a role that Helen has played before but she still had to put the work in so that she was physically fit for it. She said: "You really do need to train like an athlete, and you have to take care of yourself and you have to warm up. It’s a big show.”
Helen George as Trixie in Call The Midwife (BBC / Nealstreat Productions / Ray Burmiston)Helen's time on Strictly in 2015 has certainly come in handy for the King and I as during the climax of the musical, when she performs Shall We Dance?, Anna has to dance a polka with the King and Helen has said that it was made all the more difficult by her costume.
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Speaking about the challenges she has faced in having to learn the dances while wearing heavy dresses, Helen told The Bristol Mag: “When we do this incredible dance I wear this incredible dress. I’m as big as a house. In the rehearsal room everybody has had to get out of the way. I lift up the skirt and drag scripts and tea cups with me along the way. It weighs ten pounds and it’s uncomfortable but this was the life of a Victorian woman.”