Jennifer Caldwell laughs when I suggest she is becoming the ‘go to’ performer for historical rock musicals. “That’s my thing apparently,” she said. “My partner only said the same thing the other day.
He said ‘it’s seems your niche is historical, slightly comedic musicals’.” Well the evidence is there. Jennifer starred in Six - she’s one of the few performers to have played every one of Henry VIII’s six wives in the hit show.
She’s also starred in Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World and now she’s playing Bridget in the return of Lizzie the Musical to Manchester’s Hope Mill Theatre which explores the life of Lizzie Borden, who was accused of murdering her father and stepmother with an axe in the late summer of 1892. Kayleigh McKnight as Lizzie “You know what,” said Jennifer, “that’s not a bad niche is it? I just love it and I also find it really interesting. “I do love to be able to create a character from scratch but the opportunity to be able to research these real people and bring them to life and honour them is a real privilege.
“And when it comes to people who were around in the late 1800s there’s still a bit of artistic licence.” The case of Lizzie Borden shocked society. She was tried but found not guilty of the murder of her father Andrew and stepmother Abby.
No-one else was every brought to trial for the brutal murders and for the rest of her life Lizzie was shunned by many in the small town in Massachusetts whe.