When confronted with the 40th anniversary of her singing career, Rebecca Storm felt that she had two options.

“It’s one of those moments in your life when you can choose to be depressed or happy. I decided to be positive,” she says. “Why not celebrate the fact that I’ve been singing since I was 18 years old?”

Indeed, Rebecca has much to celebrate. The singer made her name as Mrs Johnstone in Blood Brothers at the age of 23 and has played top female roles in musical theatre since, from Eva Peron in Evita and Fantine in Les Miserables, and has toured all over the world.

For Rebecca, who lives in Co Kildare with her partner Kenny Shearer, the urge to sing was inherent.

“It was what I always needed to do. Singing is like a path that was already laid out for me in my head and in my heart,” she says. “I never thought about being famous.”

In 2014, Rebecca marked another significant anniversary – 30 years since her Blood Brothers audition. Aged only 23 at the time, the auditions advert called for someone aged from 24 to 30 to play Mrs Johnstone, a feisty Liverpudlian and mother of seven children.

However, writer Willy Russell was so enamoured by her voice that he insisted wardrobe and make-up would bridge the age gap, and cast her immediately.

“My mother laughed out loud when I told her I was going to play a mother-of-seven,” recalls Rebecca.

“Blood Brothers was the first musical I did and it was the first that I auditioned for. It opened so many other doors for me,” she adds. “I was incredibly lucky that Willy Russell liked my voice and it suited the songs he had. I took the role on 30 years ago, and a year and a half ago I did it again to celebrate playing 30 years of Mrs Johnstone.”

Rebecca admits it is much more difficult for young people to make it in the music industry today, and also questions the motives of some reality stars.

“I don’t think people actually wanted to be in showbusiness in the same way they want to now,” she says.

“At the moment, there are an awful lot of people who just want to be famous. They think they will be an instant hit by putting something on YouTube of them singing or whatever. I do quite a bit of teaching and mentoring with young people, and the talent in this country is unbelievable. It’s phenomenal how fantastic young people are. They sing Idina Menzel songs and it’s a breeze to them. But I think to myself, where are they actually going to work? Where are they going to go?”

Strong support system

Luckily for Rebecca, she had a strong support system from the very start.

“My family were very into music and my mum loved to sing. She was very supportive, but kind of warned me that it wasn’t going to be an easy ride. It’s not an easy business to be in, but she was always there with a big smile. She’s not with us anymore and on this tour I dedicate a song called the Sunshine of Your Smile to her,” says Rebecca.

My Life In Music: Songs and Secrets is her first major concert tour in five years, with Rebecca performing at the National Concert Hall and Cork Opera House. The show will feature songs from musicals such as Blood Brothers, Evita, Cats, Les Miserables and Wicked.

There will be songs from more contemporary artists too, like Paloma Faith and Idina Menzel’s Let it Go from Frozen.

“I’m taking the audience through the past 40 years in music. I want people to say: ‘Oh my God, I remember that song’, and think back to things that happened in their own lives at the time. And I’ll explain why the songs mean a lot to me and why I’m singing them,” she says.

Plus, given the title of the show, Rebecca says she intends on sharing some new information with the audience.

“I’m even going to tell them my real age,” she laughs. “I hope it will be fun for everyone and they will enjoy coming on a bit of a journey with me.”