DAVE Willetts, Birmingham's man of the musicals, has done all manner of West End shows from Les Miserables to The Phantom Of The Opera.

He has played Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar, the throat-slashing Sweeney Todd in Sweeney Todd: Demon Barber Of Seville; Jekyll and Hyde in The Man Inside; the feline Old Deuteronomy in Cats...and now he's playing a rabbit in York from tonight.

"I've gone from God to a rabbit," says Dave, who is appearing at the Grand Opera House as the White Rabbit in the British and European premiere tour of Wonderland, Frank Wildhorn's musical adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s Alice's Adventures In Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass.

God, Dave? Please explain. "I did a few shows at Wembley Arena playing God in a brand new show called Love Beyond: the complete Bible from Creation to the End, a bit of a rock opera, which was a really, really good show, but like all brand new shows, the hardest thing to get is funding," he says. "Now, hopefully with Frank Wildhorn's music and Wonderland's reputation from America, this show will go further."

Wonderland transforms Alice into a 40-year-old women with a daughter, Ellie. "That gives Frank Wildhorn complete freedom to do a complete revamp," says Dave. "Alice has lost her job; she's been divorced for five years; she has a teenage daughter; her husband Sebastian made her feel downtrodden and useless, and she's reached the end of her tether."

Where does the White Rabbit appear? "Rather than down a rabbit hole, the initial setting is Alice's apartment in a block of flats, where my cue is, up I come through the elevator, when I hear a voice saying, 'I don't want to live in the real world' and on this occasion I hear Alice saying that."

Dave was somewhat surprised to be asked to play his role. "Let's put it this way, employing me means it's an older Rabbit, so I said why are you employing a 65-year-old white-haired old man – [he turns 65 on June 24] – to be a rabbit, and the answer was that he could be a wider, older, experienced White Rabbit who would give advice. He's a guiding character who can look after Ellie when she needs help," he says.

"And if there's an overall moral of the tale, it's that you don't know what you've got until it's gone."

Dave is full of praise for Frank Wildhorn's music. "He's written for everyone in the pop world, including Whitney Houston, and he's valued in the world of popular musical theatre too, particularly for Jekyll & Hyde and the song This Is The Moment," he says.

"The songs in Wonderland are really catchy with key changes that everyone likes in musical theatre; there are some really strong duets too and the final number, Finding Wonderland, is a real showstopper." 

Summing up why "you've got to come and see Wonderland," Dave reasons: "It's one of those shows that will whisk you away for a couple of hour; it's fun, it's full of fantasy; it's imaginative; all the familiar characters are there, and it doesn't take itself seriously. The audience shouldn't take it seriously either. Just sit back and have a great time."

Wonderland runs at Grand Opera House, York, from tonight until Saturday, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees. Box office: 0844 871 3024 or at atgtickets.com/york. Suitable for age six upwards.