Long before Coronation Street acquired itself a hyper-camp, thigh-slapping screaming queen to represent its gay community, it had Todd Grimshaw.

Todd was a quietly confused teen who got himself betrothed to his permanently pregnant childhood sweetheart Sarah Lou before working out he might actually prefer boys.

As Todd struggled to come to terms with his sexuality among the less enlightened elements of the Street, the actor who played him won a huge following among sympathetic soap fans.

Todd didn't wax lyrical about how Elaine Paige's Sunday showtunes radio programme was "ooh marvellous" or strut about in leather pants singing Barry Manilow's Copacabana on Soapstar Superstar. He didn't have his own spin-off chat show.

He was downbeat and all the more believable for it.

So it seems an unlikely combination – Bruno Langley (the actor who played Todd) – and 80s musical Flashdance.

You could more readily believe Antony Cotton – the Street's current camp inhabitant – would aim for musical stardom than his rather more reserved predecessor.

But when I tell Bruno, 25, I never really had him pegged as a musical star, he takes it in good part.

"Well I'm singing but I'm definitely not dancing," he says.

"It's a singing and acting jobby."

"So are you a good singer?" I ask.

"Umm." There's a pause. "I can hold a tune. You've got to be able to sing to be in a musical."

Having said that, this is his first musical. But if it's a test run, he seems to be lasting the course.

He's been on the road with Flashdance since June and he's contracted for a year.

"So hopefully I'll last that long!" he smiles.

Flashdance is, as every child of the 80s knows, the gloriously improbable story of Alex, welder by day, dancer by night.

Luckily, the show has enough iconic songs to distract you from the ropey plot, including Gloria, Manhunt, Maniac, I Love Rock & Roll and Flashdance – What A Feeling.

Bruno plays Jimmy, an ex-con who can't give up his bad ways.

"He's a bit of a naughty boy," says Bruno.

"It's good for me because I usually play the nice guy. Jimmy isn't particularly intelligent or nice. But hey, he sings a song."

His song is a "mad rambling number".

"He's off his head when he sings it."

So does he get nervous about the singing?

Again, there's that meditative: "Ummm".

"Yes. Sometimes I get nervous. As long as you're feeling confident that day, there should be no problem."

The show has been acclaimed for its breathtaking choreography by Strictly Come Dancing judge Arlene Phillips, who has drilled the cast.

Bruno was happy not to partake in this particular musical rite of passage.

"Because Arlene didn't have to choreograph me we're still friends," is how he puts it.

Despite the occasional nerves, you get the impression Bruno's glad to be making a break with TV.

"Acting's not really too hard. You say the lines. You believe them. You listen to what the other people are saying. It's not as hard as people make out," he remarks casually.

But surely he can be proud of the high-quality productions he's worked on?

"I have done some good British stuff," he says. "Corrie gets sold all over the world and so does Doctor Who. The best programmes usually do so I think that's a good sign.

"But the stuff I've done so far has been very straight acting. The thing I'm doing at the moment is quite showy and fun."

"Showy" and "fun" definitely aren't words that would apply to poor Todd.

"The first two-and-a-half years I was there, he was a straight character," says Bruno.

"Part of the reason people thought it worked was that he didn't come in as an outrageous gay character.

"You saw him internally change and externally. It was fun to do it and a lot of people identified with it. I got some great letters. They made me want to carry on and do the storyline to the best of my ability."

Corrie is choc-full of classy character actors including ex Victoria Wood sidekick Sue Cleaver who plays Todd's mum Eileen.

"On set Sue helped me a lot," he says. "She's respected everywhere. People know she's a great actress."

After four years on Corrie, though, Bruno needed a change.

"I'd had enough," he says. "I just needed something different. I started the show when I was 17 and I'd been there quite a while. You like to leave things on a high. I definitely had learned some lessons and grown up."

As well as his Corrie role, Bruno's known as Adam, the not-up-to-the-mark companion in the first series of the revamped Doctor Who, who became something of a hate-figure among fans.

"Corrie and Doctor Who fans are very different types," he says, carefully.

"Doctor Who fans I'd class as weird and wonderful. They're hardcore."

In fact, so unpopular was Adam, the internet abounded with rumours he would be resurrected as one of the series' miost notorious villains, Dalek creator Davros.

"Oh my God!" says Bruno, genuinely shocked at hearing this. "There are always rumours. People make up ridiculous things and a lot of people accept it as the truth."

He may not have thrilled the fans but he and the ninth Doctor hit it off quite well.

Bruno even went on to star alongside Christopher Eccleston in a one-night-only play called Night Sky.

"We both fancied a laugh," he says. "I've not seen him in a while. He's a great actor so he's always in demand but hopefully we'll meet again in the future and work together again."

I ask whether he managed to get to the bottom of why Christopher left Doctor Who. The answer is no.

"There have been many things said and I don't know at all. I didn't ask him," he says.

Bruno made a fleeting return to Corrie last year but remains vague when asked if he'd make a permanent return to the cobbles.

For the next year, he's hoping his future will be tied to Flashdance – then, who knows?

"I can't audition at the moment because I'm touring," he says.

He finds it tough being separated from his fiancee and one-year-old son Freddie in Manchester.

He's looking forward to returning to Nottingham, his memories being fond but not particularly distinct. ("I've been out in Nottingham a couple of times. The memories are very clouded," he says). However, he's making the most of the experience.

"Whatever I do, I try to make it different from the last thing I did," he says. "It's not as if I'm an A-lister who gets scripts sent all the time. I'm not at that point in my career, although hopefully I will be.

"Of course, for some people who haven't seen any of the other stuff, since you've left Corrie you've done nothing."

Flashdance runs at the Royal Concert Hall, January 12-24. For more information call 0115 989 5555.

© Nottingham Evening Post, 9/1/09

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