TV comedy star Natalie Casey on stage on Sheffield Crucible musical Guy and Dolls

Natalie, who starred in the hit show Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps , plays Miss Adelaide in the musical which is at the Sheffield theatre from December 7 to January 18.

She is a performer at the Hot Box burlesque club in New York who is also the long-suffering fiancee of professional gambler Nathan Detroit.

“She is a woman who makes her own money. Her partner Nathan never has any notion of ‘why don’t you stop working at that joint?’ He’s perfectly happy and he’s fine.

“Other men in the show say to him ‘you’re under the thumb’ and he always responds with ‘I love her’. There’s no slagging off of her from him.

“Usually there are lots of jokes about ‘the ball and chain’ and we are all meant to think it’s hilarious that men hate their wives. I do think that’s a very interesting part of the show.”

She wants to do her character justice: “I want to make sure that I’m not being ‘stupid’ – there is a tendency with parts like Miss Adelaide where there’s points you’re meant to be sexy and therefore you have to be stupid.

“You don’t have to be smart or sexy. There is a way to be all those things at once and that is my mission.”

Her character has some great songs and that holds no fears for Natalie: “Straight theatre actors will always say how do you cope with singing? I think it’s the same as doing scenes – the acting comes first, the feeling comes first.”

Natalie is not the only Casey to star in a Crucible musical – her sister Anna Jane Casey is a seasoned West End leading lady who has starred in Sheffield in Annie Get Your Gun, Company, Piaf, Flowers for Mrs Harris and Sweet Charity.

Natalie said she rang her sister and jokingly complained that her picture was everywhere in the Crucible!

“She told me ‘it will be the most enjoyable theatre experience you’ve ever had in your life’. So far she’s right.

“I’ve seen pretty much everything Anna has done and seen everything she has done here, in this auditorium and the Lyceum.

“That was a really good tip and she is totally correct. There’s no bad seat in this auditorium where you can’t see the whole of the stage. When you’re on stage there pretty much isn’t a bad place to stand.

“That never, ever happens. I’m usually stuck in the situation when someone is trying to upstage you and you move around and end up at the back!

“It’s really nice to be in the theatre where my sister has been on that stage. I really do think people leave a mark. Anna has left a mark on this city and this theatre. That means I can’t get that nervous.”

Natalie has no cause to be nervous anyway – she has appeared in a host of stage musicals including 9 to 5, Oklahoma!, Legally Blonde, The Wedding Singer and Fame.

She recently appeared on stage in Kingston in a play called Valued Friends but also enjoys doing voiceovers for TV documentaries and adverts.

She joked: “I’ve been working now for 30 years. Nobody has figured out yet that I’m a bit sh*t and they keep employing me.

“While that keeps happening I’m just going to keep my head down until I get a tap on the shoulder.”

*Crucible box office: www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk or call 0114 249 6000.