Jocasta Almgill’s Brooke Wyndham leading the skipping-rope exercise in her big number, Whipped Into Shape, in Legally Blonde The Musical. Picture: Matt Crockett
WEST End star Jocasta Almgill is heading home to Yorkshire to play fitness-empire queen Brooke Wyndham, on trial for murder, in Legally Blonde The Musical.
Hull-born Jocasta last appeared on the York stage as villainous fairy Carabosse, East Riding accent and all, in Sleeping Beauty at Theatre Royal last winter, and now she is on tour in Heather Hach, Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin’s American musical. Next stop, Grand Opera House, York, from tomorrow (21/4/2026) to Saturday.
“I auditioned for the part last summer before going to Japan to play Diana Morales in A Chorus Line. We were there for ten weeks, playing three cities, Tokyo, Sendai, Osaka and then back to Tokyo. Japanese is a tricky language to learn, but within the company there were lots of Japanese people, so I could practise my Japanese.”
How did that go? “Sometimes they would laugh at me! Like when I thought I was saying ‘That was delicious’ and in fact I’d said ‘Would you marry me’!”
She could not reveal her Legally Blonde role until the full cast was rubber stamped shortly after her panto run in York, one she had so enjoyed. “Playing Carabosse was fantastic. I really loved playing a baddie. That was fun!” says Jocasta. “It’s such an amazing time to be there, for Christmas, taking my dog, Luna, with me, who’s now doing this tour too.
Jocasta Almgill’s villainous Carabosse in York Theatre Royal & Evolution Productions 2025 pantomime Sleeping Beauty. Picture: Pamela Raith
“She’s a Lurcher, a big dog but a super theatre dog because she’s so quiet. She goes everywhere with me on tour, and there are only a few theatre that aren’t dog friendly. It’s absolutely wonderful I can take her with me, and though I could do it without her, it makes it so much better that she’s there, making friends in the theatre.
“When you’re on tour, touring becomes everything, but with Luna there, I get up every day and go on a walk with her and it’s a reminder that there’s more to life. It gives a broader sense of purpose.”
Jocasta’s Theatre Royal pantomime performance – her first as the baddie after myriad Fairy roles – featured her Act Two-opening big number Pinball Wizard, and likewise Legally Blonde calls on her to inject high energy straight after the interval. “Brooke opens Act Two with this amazing number [Whipped Into Shape]. She’s a fitness influencer, and in this scene we’re exercising with skipping ropes,” she says.
“It’s a really spectacular opening to the second half, and for me, it feels so exciting to play this role because previously it’s been played by very slender women, but I like to think of myself as curvy and strong, so it’s been interesting to show a different side to the fitness industry.
“In the Olympics, they’re all different body shapes, and I’m really finding joy in portraying this role, showing women you don’t need to be one shape to be fit.”
Hull-born actress Jocasta Almgill
Buoyed by the perennially pink perma-positivity of stereotype-shattering ‘It Girl’ fashionista-turned-Harvard Law School ace student Elle Woods (played by 2025 Strictly Come Dancing finalist Amber Davies), Legally Blonde is “such a feel-good show”, enthuses Jocasta. “It would be hard to watch this show and not feel uplifted,” she says. “It’s a story about being yourself, fighting and persevering, even in the face of being judged, discovering who you are and being happy with that.”
Legally Blonde will be Jocasta’s fourth show in York: “I was in the original tribute to The Blues Brothers, which came to the Grand Opera House years ago in my first job out of college [Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, from where she graduated in 2009],” she recalls. “Then I came back on tour in 2018 with Hairspray, when I was Peaches, one of The Dynamites.”
After her journey to the dark side as Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty last Christmas, now Jocasta will be in the dock in Legally Blonde, on the road in North Yorkshireman Nikolai Foster’s co-production for Curve Leicester and ROYO until next January.
“That means no panto this winter, unfortunately, because I love panto, but there are very good reasons for that!” she says, as she revels in playing Brooke Wyndham. “The whole company are so wonderful, with a good working atmosphere among us, which is so important.”
Made At Curve & ROYO present Legally Blonde The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, April 21 to 25, 7.30pm plus Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees, 2.30pm. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.