Dave Willetts talks ahead of Birmingham show

We've spoken before. And on that occasion, Dave Willetts' interview to promote some musical or other was duller than a choppy weekend in Hull. When the hotel's closed. And you have to sleep in the car. And the wind is whipping across the North Sea. And all the chip shops are closed.

That was my fault, of course, not his. For Dave is one of the most unassuming, down-to-earth blokes in showbusiness.

Willets' rise was truly meteoric. After being put in the chorus line for the original West End production of Les Miserables, his potential was spotted. Director Trevor Nunn believed he'd unearthed a rare talent and within a year Willetts was asked to understudy Colm Wilkinson in the lead role of Jean Valjean.

Soon after, Wilkinson left to join the Broadway company and Willetts took the top job.

He became one of the most in-demand performers in musical theatre and in 1987 he stepped in for Michael Crawford in The Phantom of the Opera. Crawford had left London for the US premier of Andrew Lloyd Webber's production and Willetts succeeded him at Her Majesty's Theatre in the West End's hottest ticket.

The role was reprised as Willetts took the show on the road and in 1990 he was asked to originate his first role when he appeared opposite Petula Clark in Someone Like You, a musical for which she had composed the score.

And while most celebs pepper their interviews with showbizzy stories, dropping names like phat beats at a drum'n'bass party, Dave doesn't go in for self-aggrandisement.

He used to be a Brummie engineer and has the sort of downbeat, self-deprecating humour of, well, a former Brummie engineer.

But spend a little longer, dig a little deeper and show him you're interested and…..whoosh, stories fall like rain.

There's the one where Frank Sinatra and Kirk Douglas were sitting in the front row, watching him sing in Los Angeles.

There were the private parties with Sammy Davis Jr. There was the time when Mickey Rooney was so blown away that he came to see him over and over and over and over again.

And, just as remarkably, there were the times when he was starting out in am dram, here in the West Midlands. He cycled to his job as a part-time waiter at Birmingham's NEC so that he could make ends meet, before making the first, faltering steps of a career that saw him play the lead roles in Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables and Jesus Christ Superstar, among others.

The low-key, no-fuss singer with the 'perfect voice' – thank you (for once), Daily Mail – has been one of the UK's leading musical theatre stars for 25 years.

He's featured in Cats, Ragtime, Seven Brides for Seven Daughters, Legally Blonde and a raft of other shows.

But if you passed him in the street you wouldn't recognise him. And unless you did your research – or were a musical theatre aficionado – you wouldn't know him from Adam.

He doesn't do TV, though he was a subject of This Is Your Life, and he's as likely to be in the tabloids, gossip magazines or on social media as you are to have a great weekend in Hull when the hotels are closed, the wind is whipping across the sea and all the chip shops are closed.

Dave is on the road with Wendi Peters, the vivacious actress best known for playing Cilla Battersby-Brown in ITV's Coronation Street. They're appearing together in an inspirational new musical called Wonderland, a Broadway production that has won Grammy and Tony nominations in the USA.

It's presently making its way around the UK, starting in Edinburgh on January 20 and ending in Bournemouth on August 19. The intention is simple: the producers will hone the show over many months, building its reputation, before taking it into London's West End.

Wonderland visits Birmingham's New Alexandra Theatre from February 6 to 11 before going to Stoke's Regent Theatre from July 10 to 15 and then Wolverhampton's Grand from July 31 to August 5.

"It's a brand new musical and, like all brand new musicals, we've had about four versions of the script," laughs Dave. "That's what happens when you're working on a new show. It grows and evolves.

"You have a starting point when you start rehearsals, then you see what works and what doesn't, so it gets changed. Chunks of dialogue are taken out and new songs and lyrics are added."

Willetts loves working on new shows. While productions like Chicago, for instance, are burdened by the weight of audience expectation, on new shows, there's the opportunity to fly and do something a little different.

The pressure of having to learn something from scratch is simultaneously frightening and exhilarating. "The clock's always ticking," he adds. "But I love rehearsal time because you're creating. It's so exciting.

"If you have a good director and a good creative team they allow you to bring your own ideas to it. And that's sensible, because at the end of the day you're the one on the stage. It's no good just reading out lines if you don't believe in them.

"None of what we do is real, but all of it has to be true. We have to convince the audience it's true otherwise it doesn't work."

Wonderland is an enchanting musical adaption of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, with a huge heart, a medley of magic and a whole lot of wonder.

Appealing to ages eight to 80, it is a timely and touching story of love in all its forms, an adventurous exploration of who we are, who we want to be and the power of everyday magic in our lives.

The show features Rachael Wooding as Alice. Wooding is one of musical theatre's most impressive talents and in May last year she wowed the nation on Britain's Got Talent with Simon Cowell proclaiming her rendition of With You from Ghost was 'the most beautiful version of the song' he had ever heard.

Rachael went on to the live finals and her acclaimed audition has been viewed almost nine million times on YouTube.

Soap star Peters plays the Queen of Hearts while musical theatre favourite Willetts is White Rabbit.

Completing the principal cast are Stephen Webb as Jack/White Knight, Natalie McQueen as Mad Hatter, Kayi Ushe as Caterpillar, Dominic Owen as Cheshire Cat, Ben Kerr as March Hare, Naomi Morris as Ellie and Michelle Pentecost as Alternate Alice/Mad Hatter.

"We have to sweep the audience off their feet," says Dave.

He enjoys working with Peters. They met in Manchester a month ago and have remained in touch.

"We just got on," he beams. "We clicked. It felt like we'd known each for years.

"I don't do Facebook, I've only just mastered the Filofax, but my wife talks to her on Faceback so they keep me in touch.

"You know, in interviews, everyone always says: 'it's a marvellous cast and they're wonderful'. But we all know that's nonsense. You can't get on with everyone in the world. Thankfully, Wendi and I do have a good relationship off-stage and that carries on on-stage. It makes it more enjoyable to perform. If the the audience see we're relaxed, they have more fun too."

The show is unique. Alice is a 40-year-old divorced woman who doesn't know what to do with her life. She suffers from low self-esteem and has been downtrodden. She finds salvation in her 18-year-old daughter, who encourages her to do something with her life.

"It's great fun. There are great special effects. It's a big, big show," adds Dave.

Willetts enjoys being on the road, which, given the schedule for the next eight months, is just as well.

"It's a long old trek. But that's how shows are honed. That's how they reach their final destination. Unless you're Lloyd-Webber or Sir Cameron Mackintosh, no one can afford to open strait in the West End and hope it works. You have to take it around the country and build the word-of-mouth before going into London.

"I don't mind touring. My only hope is that when I'm on the road I don't live in any less comfort than I am at home. So we have nice hotels.

"My wife comes along when she can and it becomes a home-from-home. When I'm on my own, I just have a swim or go to the gym. But when my wife's with me, it's lovely. We really have a good look around." Willetts made his name playing the lead roles in Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables and Jesus Christ Superstar. That put him at an elevated level where he now gets to pick and choose what he does.

"If something brand new comes up that I'll really enjoy, I do that. It doesn't matter whether it's a theatre that holds 50 people or the Palladium or Drury Lane."

He has a phrase for moments that stand-out. "I call them 'Bottle Moments'."

And there have been plenty of those. Singing and acting has taken Willetts around the world.

"I sang with Sammy Davis Jr at a private party around a piano," he recalls. "I went to a party when I was doing Phantom. Sammy was with Frank Sinantra and Liza Minelli. We met three or four times.

"I actually performed in front of Sinatra when I did a series of concerts in LA. When I came on, there was a great big orchestra. I looked at the front row and there was Frank Sinatra, Kirk Douglas and a load of others.

"If a bomb had dropped on that place that night, the whole of showbusiness would have ended.

"Those are the moments I don't normally talk about because I've never courted stardom. I just go to work and then go home. In the meantime, there are those bottle moments."

Willetts appreciates such moments all the more because of his background. He used to be an engineer and didn't become a pro singer until he was 20-odd. "When you look at it like that, you think, 'blimey, that's Frank Sinatra'.

"And you have to be honest. It isn't the same as just clocking on as an engineer. Those aren't 'normal' people.

"When I was doing these concerts, I'd be in a little green room with people like The Four Tops. My wife, Lynn, would be sitting there with me. I'd get my call to go on and I'd be more nervous for her, having to make conversation with other performers, than I was for myself. Those moments are amazing. But it's not like that all the time and you can't be blasé about it. You can't be blasé.

"When they got me for This Is Your Life, I thought it was fantastic too. Because whatever job you do in life, whether you're a bus driver or a writer or a singer, you have to enjoy it."

The industry has changed since Willetts began. These days, kids can become a household name within six weeks of being on the right TV show.

"Mr Producer, whoever he might be, will book people because it puts bums on seats. So within an instant, these kids are big. But the thing that worries me is the longevity, whether they can stay the course. I couldn't tell you one person who has won X Factor. I'm not saying they are not good, I'm just saying it's not my world.