IAN Reddington, one of only two actors to star in both EastEnders and Coronation Street, will play the title role in Son Of A Preacher Man, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York, from October 3 to 7.

The Sheffield actor, who turns 60 during the tour, will take the part of a romantic fixer in Soho who helps resolve the troubles of a trio of romantic drifters in a new musical by Warner Brown, directed and choreographed by Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood.

As the title would suggest, the musical showcases the songs of Dusty Springfield, and unlike most of the cast, Reddington has strong memories of Dusty.

"She was one of the women that we had crushes on. She was like Blondie was to the 70s era," says Reddington. "You forget how phenomenally huge she was, and she is partly responsible for bringing all that wonderful black R'n'B music over to England. She famously said, ‘My face is white but my soul is black'."

In his role as Preacher Man's son, Simon, Reddington does not sing much in the show but he has deep roots in music. His earliest performances were in a band with Glenn Gregory, who went on to form Heaven 17. Their pre-punk outfit rejoiced in the enchanting name of Musical Vomit. “Our idea was we would be so bad that the audience would vomit," he says, recalling the days when his contribution was to feed a stylophone through a huge amplifier.

It proved to be a musical dead-end but Reddington remains grateful to the support given to him and other arty teenagers in 1970s' Sheffield. “I had no intention of being an actor, but the council and youth and social workers found an old disused education building and said, ‘There you go'. They put a stage in one room, a piano in another room, and my mind was blown.

"The Crucible gave us the theatre for two weeks. And it just exploded. I ended up at RADA, RSC, Bristol Old Vic. That just shows you. It couldn’t possibly happen now."

More than most of the cast of Son Of A Preacher Man, Reddington is familiar with the inner workings of jukebox musicals, having appeared in three of them: High School Musical 2, the Madness show Our House and his favourite, We Will Rock You.

"I’d seen it and I found the audience response unbelievable and I thought, 'What is it like to be on the receiving end of that?', Strange kind of choice to take as an actor," he says. "I will never experience that again so I’m grateful that I did. It’s just a part of the ripped tapestry that is my career."

Son Of A Preacher Man plays Grand Opera House, York, October 3 to 7. Box office: 0844 871 3024 or at atgtickets.com/york