I Am Changing

(Dreamgirls)
Dreamgirls was my favourite musical – even before I was in it. I’ve watched the movie so many times I can pretty much sing it lyric for lyric and say it line for line. There are so many great versions of I Am Changing: Patti LaBelle’s, Jennifer Hudson’s, Jennifer Holliday’s of course. When I sing it, I often get really emotional. It’s a song everyone can identify with. That first line – “I am changing, trying every way I can / I am changing, I’ll be better than I am” – that’s what we’re all trying to do, be better than we were yesterday. My life’s completely changed. My television debut, Glee, was a phenomenon and a complete surprise, and I’ve had to adjust as time has gone on. I’m 31 now. I’m out here in London on my own, away from my family, I have to figure things out. It’s been tough, but it’s been pretty cool.

Don’t Rain on My Parade

(Funny Girl)
I’m from LA so I didn’t have the luxury of growing up going to Broadway. Most of the musicals that I knew were adapted into films. One of my favourites is Funny Girl. Barbra Streisand’s voice is one of the reasons I fell in the love with musical theatre. She was different to anything I’d seen on television. She was gorgeous and beautiful but she was also really funny. She had her own style and she commanded your attention. I love her ability to interpret a song, to make you feel. And her neverending belt! Her voice just doesn’t let up. It’s like, man, her voice is not getting tired at all. It gets stronger and stronger and the song ends with that classic Broadway long note, and you can do nothing but stand up and applaud.

Seasons of Love

(Rent)
Back when Blockbuster was a thing, me and my sisters used to go every Friday and take turns renting a movie, and they used to hate it when it was my turn because it would always be a musical. I think Rent was a lot of people’s favourite musical at the time. The story [about young New Yorkers living under the shadow of Aids] was groundbreaking, and by the time they get to Seasons of Love at the end I’m an absolute mess – and I don’t consider myself a crier. What I got from the song was: enjoy your time here, because we don’t appreciate what we have. We think we have more time than we actually do. Why spend another day being mad at someone, why spend another day being down on yourself, why spend another day procrastinating?

Defying Gravity

(Wicked)
To me, it’s an impossible song to sing – and I was so impressed when Idina Menzel did it. But one of my favourite singers is Shoshana Bean, who also sang it on Broadway. She’s absolutely incredible. She’s this white Jewish girl and you just don’t expect this big, boomy R&B diva voice to come out of her mouth. Look her up, you’re going to be floored. Vocally it’s a really tough song – all the nuances – and the range is really high. The lyrics are amazing. You say to someone, “I’m going to fly”, and people look at you like you’re crazy, but the song is about not accepting that. For me, being in this industry as a plus-sized black woman, people will say, “She can’t be a leading lady,” or “There are only certain roles she can go for”, and I’ve just never accepted that.

The Flesh Failures (Let the Sunshine In)

(Hair)
I performed in Hair at the Hollywood Bowl about three years ago. I did not get naked though! The Flesh Failures creates this imagery about how these 17- and 18-year-olds felt, knowing they could be called up to go to the Vietnam war. The lyrics are so poetic and heartbreaking. It just destroyed me. It then turns into Let the Sunshine In, and that’s a song that would be on the radio, it’s been in commercials, everyone’s laughing and singing, but when you put it in the context of the show it’s something completely different. Instead of a happy-go-lucky song, it’s asking for the sun to shine because this is a really dark time.

Hair reflected its time, and that’s what art is supposed to do. Dreamgirls isn’t political but it is talking about how African American music, black people’s music, was often stolen from them and how they had to fight to have a voice. And that’s not a fight that’s finished, especially in America. It’s great for art to start conversations – and the singing and dancing gets people to pay attention!

• Dreamgirls is at the Savoy theatre, London. The Dreamgirls original cast recording is available now.