The Vivienne returns home to North Wales in dream role

The Vivienne plays The Wicked Witch of the West in the Michael Harrison and the Really Useful Group musical The Wizard of Oz.

The new musical, based on the iconic story by L. Frank Baum, is touring the UK and Ireland throughout 2024, following a celebrated run at the world-famous London Palladium.

The show comes to Venue Cymru in Llandudno from March 5 to 10, and for The Vivienne it is a chance to come home to her Kansas where she set off on the road to stardom.

The Vivienne's parents and sister still live in Colwyn Bay and Towyn, and it was16 years ago that James Lee Williams finished his GCSEs at Rydal Penrhos in Colwyn Bay.

He tells us he was in Liverpool the very next day working as a self-taught make-up artist.

It was there, in the city he describes as his Oz, that he found other people like him and began a career in drag that would see him win RuPaul's Drag Race UK and become a regular on our screens in the likes of Emmerdale and Dancing on Ice.

Wizard of Oz - The Vivienne production photography (c) Marc Brenner

The Vivienne said: "I didn't know what I wanted to do. I new I didn't want to do anything academic, anything nine to five. I knew I would never have a normal life, let's put it that way. I would manifest things in my head, performances, so wHen it got to sixth form, I knew I didn't want to go on. I became a make-up artist, I self taught and got a job in Liverpool. I literally finished school on the Friday and was in Liverpool working on the Saturday.

"There I found the gay scene, the clubs, and people like me. It was literally like me going to Oz. Colwyn Bay was my Kansas and Liverpool was my Oz. Then I discovered drag and that took over my life. That was 16 years ago."

But it was in Colwyn Bay - and at Llandudno's Venue Cymru - that he first got a taste for performing and, perhaps more importantly, performing in a dress.

Wizard of Oz Rehearsal Photography - The Vivienne Venues (c) Marc Brenner

The Vivienne added: "My drama teachers are actually coming to see me, it will be the first thing they have seen me in since school. Denis Lavin and two other teachers will be coming, which is nice.

"It was Mr Lavin egged me on to play a woman in my final GCSE show, for which I got an A. When I was in Year 9 he actually cast me in the A-level production of West Side Story. Usually it was just sixformers in the cast, and that's it, but he needed to cast this one specific part of Glad Hand. He's the camp, over the top teacher that stops the fight at the school dance.

"He obviously saw something in me at a young age so it's a beautiful thing that now I get to say I've got you some tickets, come and see me at Venue Cymru in an Andrew Lloyd Webber and Michael Harrison production.

"It's mad, and I'm really looking forward to it."

Wizard of Oz - The Vivienne production photography (c) Marc Brenner

The Vivienne also remembers seeing shows at Venue Cymru, and is thrilled to have come full circle to take to the stage there.

"I saw one panto there with Su Pollard in it, who is now a good friend of mine. The first show I remember seeing there was Jesus Christ Superstar. I saw Fame there and Vampires Rock, and other shows that came in and out.

"That was my introduction to musical theatre. When I saw Jesus Christ Superstar I was just blown away. To have such a venue on our doorstep in Llandudno is great."

The Vivienne is in the midst of a hectic period, with several shows on the horizon, including a UK solo tour.

Venue Cymru audiences will be in for a treat as the show - and it's Wicked Witch - have earned rave reviews.

For the Vivienne, the witch is a dream role - one they have been preparing for since childhood.

Wizard of Oz - The Vivienne production photography (c) Marc Brenner

The Vivienne said: "I was always obsessed with the movie as a child and seeing Margaret Hamilton's original portrayal as the Wicked Witch of the West, which was terrifying as a child but I also fell in love with that strong woman in film and theatre. This sort of fabulous, misunderstood, unhinged character. I was always attracted to the villains, and she is the ultimate villain, and one of the first villains we are introduce to. Everyone watches the Wizard of Oz as a family at Christmas, that was my introduction that led to the obsession with characters like Maleficent and Ursula, then, in my later life, people like Bette Davies and Joan Crawford.

"So, yes, to be able to play one of those characters and put my own spin on it has been a dream. It has definitely lived up to the expectation. The visions I had of it going in all came true, which is good.

"It's been great. A lot of fans of mine come to the show and, again, I think people do root for the villain. Not everyone, but especially gay men. It's always gay men that love the villain.

"The reviews have been great, and the feedback has been that she's delightfully camp but also that's she's able to switch the evil on in a second. I think it's that unhingedness of the witch that is maybe scary for children but adults white like it."