Are well-known people always smaller than you expect? Certainly it's the first thing I notice on meeting Rebecca Storm but it's hardly a novel observation in an interview. With singers, of course, the surprise is understandable, begging the question of how that big huge stadium-filler of a voice comes out of this small person.
And indeed, Rebecca Storm's voice is larger than life. Since she got her showbiz break by landing the role of Mrs Johnstone in the 1984 tour of Willy Russell's Blood Brothers from among thousands of hopefuls, her heartbreakingly lovely voice has been heard in one hit musical after another, in concert, on disc and on TV.
When I arrive at the SFX centre where she is rehearsing Aspects Of Love, the Andrew Lloyd Webber hit that opens at the Olympia this week, I realise her voice is not the only big thing about her; she has a personality that fills a room . . . but without pushing you out the door in the process. After a firm handshake, she trots myself and the photographer energetically upstairs, simultaneously apologising for the state of the rather messy dressing room, offering a cup of coffee ("only plastic cups I'm afraid") and confessing cheerfully that she'd completely forgotten that I was coming. "Not to worry, but I do look awful. Why don't we have a chat while I slap on a bit of make-up. Look at me, not even a scrap of mascara!"
Which is why I find myself in the rather disconcerting position of interviewing Rebecca Storm's reflection in a mirror. There is something very distancing about this, particularly as Storm, like all women I know, has a slightly glazed, open-mouthed and otherworldly expression when applying make-up. Initially her answers too are slightly glazed, as though she had done this interview several times before, if not promoting this show then another.
As her hands move assuredly over a youthful face and her shoulder-length blond hair, her answers veer toward luvvy-ness and she often addresses the photographer rather than me, as if needing to keep the whole room entertained.
However, when the conversation switches to her role in Aspects and her voice, her tone also changes and Storm is revealed as a modest professional, a charming and unusual combination. Her role is a challenging one; it is fairly soprano, but her voice is chesty ("like Evita's") and as all of the words in Aspects Of Love are sung, (as in an opera) some of the notes are in tricky combinations. In addition her character, Rose Vibert, is more complex than your average musical character.
"I'm just trying to get the measure of her now. Like myself, she's an actress and in her 30s, and she finds herself with this younger guy which to a certain extent I can also relate to as I've had younger boyfriends myself. She's a strong woman yet she's vulnerable as well. So, apart from the note-bashing I'm also trying to get two or three dimensions to her."
She warms when the topic of her 16-year-old daughter, who is playing the young version of Rose's daughter in Aspects, arises. "She's a real Rebecca - I'm not. I was in a band, the Rebecca Storm Band, when I had her. I took the name as a stage name but her father wanted her to be called Rebecca Roberts."
Although Storm was successful with this rock'n'roll band, her real fame and fortune came when she hit the musicals after Rebecca's birth. Impressively, the career she has built has included lead roles in Evita, Les Miserables and Chess as well as two gold discs for recordings and numerous sell-out concerts.
"I've been very lucky with parts; the first national tour of Evita just happened to come up as I was finishing Blood Brothers and it went on from there. There's not really enough strong roles for women, so you have to make the most of them as they come up. For about eight years I was doing eight shows a week fairly solidly and during that time I was touring with Chess for 20 months. My daughter was in boarding school in Hampshire and I missed her terribly - she was one of the reasons I packed it in the end.
"From a career point of view it's fantastic and nobody's complaining, but your life does go off kilter and you don't really have a home life. So now I really try and keep a balance."
Back among fans in Ireland, with Aspects Of Love looking good, her daughter with her, and the man in her life ("He's a rock") coming over from England for the opening night, she seems to have found that balance.
"I've got a home life and a love life and a career, which makes me very happy. If it swings too far one way you can find yourself touring for 20 months and really being quite lonely. But now, and I know it's a sweeping statement, I'm really very happy. Mind you, I should wait to see the reviews before saying that shouldn't I?"
Rebecca Storm rounds off this almost wondering litany of contentment with a peal of raucous laughter and a glint in her eye, before moving off to rejoin rehearsals. She jokes about her stage name ensuring that news articles are always entitled "Ireland By Storm" or "Taking Broadway by Storm", and even before I leave the SFX another tag is rolling around my mind: "Calm in the eye of the Storm".
Aspects Of Love opens in the Olympia Theatre, Dublin on August 26th, and in the Opera House, Cork on September 29th