From Paris to York, Mica is loving the Tender side of life in Elvis musical

The South Londoner is looking for the right words to capture the essence of Love Me Tender, The Official Elvis Presley Musical, ahead of the show's British tour arriving at the Grand Opera House in York.

"It's very clever, the way that it's written," she decides."It's kinda loosely based on Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and it's a comedy, but it's just a very cleverly written play and that's why I wanted to do it, as I haven't done a play for a long time."

How long? "Twenty one years ago. Mom I Want To Sing, in the West End. I was there for six months, and it was a great show, but though everyone thought I was great, my heart was still in the pop charts and I didn't know if musicals were for me," says the South Londoner, now 46, who introduces herself on her website as Legendary vocalist. Author. Television Presenter. Actress. Mother. Survivor.

Well, the survivor is now very much enjoying her latest shot at a musical in the form of Tony Award-winning Joe Dipietro's Love Me Tender. "With this show, I love the book, I love the different layers of the story: young love; unrequited love; mature love," says Mica.

Soul singer Mica Paris as Sylvia in the musical Love Me Tender, on its way to the Grand Opera House, York

"We've all had our experiences, haven't we. The thing is, I'm a soul singer, so anything to do with love, I'm all over it, but we're in a time when romance isn't celebrated as it should be and it's getting worse. But this show does celebrate romance; it's set in the 1950s when women were women and men were men; men looked like Jimmy Dean and women accentuated their figure and did their hair up.

"I've been doing this show since early June and every day is just a joy, and I never thought I'd feel like this about musicals! Is it an age thing? Maybe, but I tell you, it's a wonderful show and it's a great cast too. When you're in a good company, it's a great feeling."

Mica is joined by Shaun Williamson – last seen on the Grand Opera House stage in Richard Bean's farce One Man, Two Guvnors – and Ben Lewis and Sian Reeves, among others, in a tale of hope, second chances and the healing qualities of Elvis Presley's rock'n'roll, set somewhere in the dreary small-town Midwest in the 1950s.

As many as 25 Elvis numbers feature in the show, and while you may associate Mica with soul music, she counters: "I've always been described by people as a ubiquitous person as I've done so many things, and the thing with Elvis, why he was special for me, is that I grew up with his music.

"My mum was always obsessed with him. I remember, she was watching the news on the TV one day, and I said, 'Why are you crying?'. She said Elvis had died and I said, 'Mum, you didn't even know him'. But when I rang her to tell her I was doing this show, well, that was it! Despite all the other stuff I'd done, I'd really made it now!"

She has taken Elvis's songs in her stride in her role as Sylvia. "Elvis sung gospel songs, and because I come from a church background, they're a doddle to do!" says a laughing Mica, whose Elvis big moments are Can't Help Falling In Love and There's Always Me.

"That one's from a 1960s' Elvis album and you have to be a proper Elvis fan to know it, so I went on YouTube to look it up, and it's early Elvis where he was really on fire and made you go, 'Oh hello'! I think it's great that they've chosen a rare Elvis song for a great moment in the show, so I completely go for it. I throw everything into it, right down to my intestine."

Mica Paris: "Sylvia is basically me with an American accent"

As for Sylvia, "she's basically me with an American accent. She's feisty; she owns the bar where everyone comes to air their woes, their wear and tear; she's a shoulder to cry on; she's tough on the surface, but she's there to listen to them," says Mica.

"All I could see when I read the part was me. I can relate to it because I'm not trying to be someone else, as I'm what you see is what you get. She's me; the only difference is she's got that American accent."

Does Sylvia have one of the musical's romantic storylines? "Yes, it comes out of the blue, as she gives off this thing of not having desires for any man because she's been hurt in the past, but when you're struck by Cupid's arrow....it's a bit of a shock to her," says Mica.

"I really miss that Fifties sense of romance and you wish we could get it back. It's always been down to art to do that and art leads the way, especially when everything has become too hard, like now. This is when you're supposed to go back to romance, like in the Fifties, when they were hard times too.

"I don't want to hear about those things any more. I'm done with that. I'm out of there. I want romance.

"We have all these problems; racism is on the up; inequality; all these struggles; but when you come and watch this show, you forget all those things for a while. You come to a musical to escape. Art should lift you out of the doldrums of life."

Love Me Tender runs at Grand Opera House, York, from August 17 to 22 at 7.30pm, plus Wednesday and Saturday matinees at 2.30pm. Box office: 0844 871 3024 or at atgtickets.com/york