'Welcome home, bab,' Call the Midwife star back in Brum

Birmingham-born actress Helen George has said it is "so lovely" to be performing again in her home city, in a stage revival of the classic 1956 film musical High Society.

George, who plays Trixie Aylward in the hit BBC drama Call the Midwife, is at the Alexandra Theatre this week at the start of a UK tour, alongside film and TV star Freddie Fox.

She said audiences in Birmingham are "so kind, responsive and lovely", and added that theatre bosses had left "a big bar of Cadbury chocolate saying 'welcome home, bab'" in her dressing room.

The former Strictly Come Dancing contestant, who grew up in the Harborne area of the city, promised to take her co-star Fox for a Balti during their run.

The 1956 film version of High Society starred Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly, with music and lyrics by Cole Porter.

Freddie Fox plays the Sinatra character, cynical tabloid journalist Mike Connor, in his first musical theatre role, which started life earlier this year with a run at London's Barbican.

The star of films including Pride and television shows including House of the Dragon and Slow Horses said the role fulfils a "childhood ambition", and that "to be able to sing a songbook like this, by one of the best lyricists and composers who's ever lived, is a complete dream come true for me".

Fox is the brother of actor Emilia Fox, star of BBC drama Silent Witness, which moved production to Birmingham in 2024.

He said his sister "loves it" in the city, and "always speaks very fondly of Birmingham", adding that he too loved performing at the Birmingham Repertory theatre a few years ago.

George said her Call the Midwife character, who spends most of her time in gritty east end London, had several unlikely parallels with the 1930s New York socialite she plays in High Society.

"They both like their alcohol, they're both quite fun characters, and they both like the boys. I'm not typecast at all, obviously," she said.

Asked whether she would be returning to her breakout role in Call the Midwife, which drew nine million viewers at its peak, Helen George said she was "waiting to find out" if the show would return for a new series next year, "and potentially a film, which would be wonderful".

High Society is on at the Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham until Saturday 22 August, as part of a UK tour until November.

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