Soap favourite Ian Kelsey has added another string to his bow this month by entering the unpredictable world of immersive theatre for the first time.

The actor has landed the role of Nikos in Mamma Mia! The Party – a unique theatrical dining experience which mixes Greek food, a romantic storyline and some of ABBA’s best-loved anthems.

Guests at the show enjoy a four-course meal at Nikos’ taverna while an exciting show unfolds around them. Following the performance, diners are encouraged to get involved by singing and dancing at an unforgettable ABBA disco.

Ian – best known to soap fans for his roles in Emmerdale, Doctors, Casualty and Coronation Street – recently caught up with Inside Soap for a chat about his new project. He also reflected on some of his soap memories and his real-life partner Beth Cordingly’s current success in Emmerdale as Ruby Fox-Miligan.

ian kelsey with the cast of mamma mia the party
Courtesy of Mamma Mia! The Party

What can you tell us about Mamma Mia! The Party?

“It’s a totally different storyline from the film. My character is called Nikos and the audience comes into his massive three-tier Greek taverna, which is all decorated out with waiting staff and everything. We perform alongside the meal so we’re weaving in and out of the tables, singing ABBA songs.

“The storyline is that Nikos’ taverna is where they filmed the Mamma Mia! movie. Nikos fell in love with a member of the crew! He’s got a daughter from a previous marriage, and his wife has got a nephew. Those two characters fall in love, and that’s where the fun and games start!”

How are you feeling about taking on an immersive project that involves the audience like this?

“I’ve seen it myself three times now and it’s been different every time I’ve seen it, which is quite exciting. When you’re doing normal theatre, somebody could come and see the show three times in a row but they probably wouldn’t notice the different nuances. We’d say ‘oh this is quite good’ or ‘we need to work on that tomorrow’ but nobody would know.

“With this you definitely know, because people are up and about and they’re dancing. There are three different acts, and two of the times that I’ve been to see it myself, people are already up on their tables and dancing in the first act. They’re having a right laugh and singing along with you.

“So you’ve got that to contend with, whether they’re singing the right lyrics or not! But people do get up and go to the toilet in the middle of a scene, so you’ve just got to have little one-liners to get you through those bits. It’s really, really exciting.”

Were you a big ABBA fan before this?

“Well, I was born in ’66 so they were always at the forefront of what was on the radio. I used to fancy one of the girls as well!

“One funny thing is that, because you’ve been singing these songs all your life, you think you know them but then you realise that you don’t! It’s like: ‘Oh, is that what the lyrics are?’

“There’s quite a few songs that I didn’t recognise, actually. They’re really good songs. There’s a great variety of very well-known songs and also great album tracks as well.”