In the midst of this glorious Platinum Jubilee weekend, when we are thinking all things Royal, it seems fitting to talk to a queen of the West End. Mazz Murray, legendary powerhouse performer, currently playing Donna Sheridan in Mamma Mia at the Novello Theatre, has starred in more top musicals than the number of Union Jacks flying on the Mall.

Indeed, our very own Dancing Queen will be going down the Mall herself as part of the Platinum Jubilee Pageant on Sunday.

“I and eight of the Mamma Mia cast are part of the 70 years of music during Her Majesty’s reign. So, we’ll be doing all the Abba hits. I’ll be in full Abba cat suit, it’s neon lime yellow, it’s phenomenal. You won’t miss me,” says Murray. “It’s an absolute honour and one that I never thought would happen again.”

This is her second Jubilee. For the golden Jubilee, she performed at the Party At The Palace, where Queen’s Brian May famously played God Save The Queen on the roof of Buckingham Palace. The performance was life-changing.

“I was in the Queen musical, We Will Rock You in the West End,” Murray explains “And the show had been slated and we were set to close. When Brian was asked to perform, he said ‘only if I can bring my musical company’. They agreed and the world saw us perform Bohemian Rhapsody from this show that had been panned.”

The song was a turning point. “We were then sold out and became the longest running show at the Dominion Theatre and it’s still touring,” she says.

“I remember being in the garden at the back of Buckingham Palace with all the superstars you know, Paul McCartney, Rod Stewart, Tom Jones, Eric Clapton, Elton John and so many more. I was living the best life. I was laughing my face off because Barry Humphries as Dame Edna was using the lady’s loo.”

Getting into the Palace had been a trial and she nearly didn’t succeed. “My whole costume was a PVC cat suit studded with bullets. So, getting through security was interesting. They asked me had I got any weapons,” laughs Murray.

“Before that, I’d got on the wrong coach and ended up having to walk down the Mall to get in. Later on, Prince Charles told me he and the boys had seen me because they were in a car behind.”

The enormity of the occasion wasn’t lost on her. “At the time it was before I was married and had children, and I remember standing on that stage, looking out and thinking ‘this is one of the greatest days of my life and probably will never be repeated in my lifetime’. After all, the Queen was 70 then. You couldn’t imagine it would happen again. I thought it was an absolute once in a lifetime, I no idea I would be part of her Platinum Jubilee 20 years later. I feel so honoured.”

The event became life changing for her because while performing as the Killer Queen in We Will Rock You, Murray met her Israeli husband, restauranteur Oren Arush.

“He was managing a coffee shop and I would go after the show, and he would then make me a beautiful tuna and smoked salmon platter. We started dating and very soon into us dating I saw what a fabulous man he was.”

When they married in 2009, Brian May, by then a close friend, played at their wedding. The couple have two children Zac, 12 and Charlie, eight.

Murray is really show business royalty herself. Her father, songwriter Mitch Murray wrote some of the biggest hits of the 1960s including How Do You Do It and You Were Made For Me for Gerry and The Pacemakers and Paper Lace’s Billy Don’t Be A Hero. Her mother, the stage and screen actress Grazina Frame starred in films and toured with The Rolling Stones and Billy Fury before being the Golden Shot girl on the popular quiz show and then appearing in every single episode of The Morecambe & Wise Show.

“When my mum was pregnant with me, she was working with Bob Monkhouse on The Golden Shot. Bob asked to be my godfather. He was brilliant, we used to get the most sensational cartoons sent to us and he’d write us poems, I’ve kept everything, he was wonderful.”

Murray’s sister Gina is also an actress and singer. The two have a group together along with West End stars Kerry Ellis and Anna Jane Casey.

During the lockdown in 2020, with theatres closed, Murray tried to keep busy. The group, called Woman, along with Brian May on guitar, recorded a version of the famous Peggy Lee song I Am Woman for charity. The single went to number one in the rock charts. “I was so lucky to do that. Those girls are the best,” she says.

She also performed in a concert version of Sunset Boulevard at the Royal Albert Hall playing Norma Desmond. “It was amazing to do and you have to be on top form, and get it right with one shot. There’s no ‘oh I’ll just do it again’ Andrew Lloyd Webber came to see it, which was amazing.”

Murray is contracted to Mamma Mia until October this year. She has no immediate plans, but reveals another ‘royal’ ambition, one that Brian May’s wife, Anita Dobson, could give her tips on. “I’d love to be in Eastenders,” Murray says. “I did do a couple of episodes and would love to do more.”

And the part she’d love the most? Landlady of the Queen Vic, of course.

mammamia.com/london