'I didn't know you could be paid to sing and dance'

A performer who grew up not knowing she could be paid to sing and dance has said two Olivier nominations are the "cherry on top" and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Georgina Onuorah said she grew up "a really shy kid", but has gone on to star in some of the biggest shows in the West End, including Hamilton and The Wizard of Oz.

The 27-year-old from Luton recalled her love of performing and singing with her sister before joining a local acting company which she said was "transformative" for her confidence.

"I cannot believe people have connected with my work in this way," she said. "It's really a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing – I want to remember every second of it."

Despite earning two Olivier Award nominations, Onuorah said one of her biggest barriers entering the industry was not believing she could pursue it as a career.

"I actually didn't know you could be paid to sing and dance," she admitted.

"I feel like my whole career is because of people who believed in me and that's people in Luton and Hitchin... for people going to school in Luton, something like this feels out of reach."

After training at the Emil Dale Academy in Hitchin, Onuorah went on to receive an Andrew Lloyd Webber scholarship at ArtsEd in London, where her course fees were paid for.

"I've got a single mum at home who works so hard I think the fees would have been really, really just not possible and that took a whole weight off training and me being able to just really focus on getting good and really appreciating every minute," she said.

After leaving drama school during the Covid pandemic in 2020, she said support from Lloyd Webber was "pivotal" in her career, casting her as an alternate in Cinderella, and the role of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.

"At every point in my career he has been so pivotal and I'm so thankful for that and meeting him and him believing in me," she said.

Last summer she played Lulu in the Tony Award-winning show Shucked and shared the role of Fiona MacLaren in Brigadoon with fellow performer Danielle Fiamanya - at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre.

She describes the setting as a "bucket list" venue.

Actors have been among those in the theatre industry who have campaigned for role sharing to be implemented in the industry.

With both Onuorah and Fiamanya nominated in the category of best actress in a musical for the same role, she believes it sends a message that role-sharing can "enrich" a production.

"I feel like even what this nomination has done in terms of the industry has been so impactful already," she said.

"Job shares are often seen as inconvenient to the producer.

"It's also really great for the wellness of the actors and I think our industry could do with focusing a bit more about everyone's wellbeing.

"Now we both have this nomination together and it just feels like the cherry on top of a really beautiful summer."

She has also been nominated for best actress in a supporting role in a musical for Shucked.

She said: "This is a career goal, something you want once in your life if you're lucky.

"I'm so honoured to be in the presence of people who are my idols. Even Victoria Hamilton-Barritt - we're nominated in the same category, and we did my first job together [Cinderella] so it just feels really full circle."

Ahead of the ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall on 12 April, she wants to "remember every second of it".

"This is my absolute passion and when I think of younger me this is all she would have wanted," she said.

Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.