HARRISON White is in his element with the new musical Teddy which comes to the Lowry, Salford Quays next week.

For not only is he the show’s musical director, he’s also a key member of the cast and lead guitarist with the on-stage live band Johnny Valentine and the Broken Hearts.

“It’s a hell of a lot of fun that’s for sure,” said Harrison. “It’s such an interesting dynamic, it’s like playing a gig every night.”

Teddy tells the story of Teddy and Josie, who head out for a night out in South London. It features original songs by Dougal Irvine which many audience members have mistaken for authentic rock and roll hits from the 1950s.

“The band is this ever-present figure in the show,” said Harrison who plays Buster Watson.

“The lead characters share the stage with the band which acts as a sort of narrator At times the band will be part of a live gig; at times their music may be heard on the radio or at others the music is just something that is in Teddy or Josie’s head. It is a really interesting way of doing it and audiences have certainly really armed to it.”

The easy approach for the show would have been to use cover versions of original rock and roll hits.

“Dougal has done an amazing job of creating songs which are entirely original but fit so well into the show and the time period,” said Harrison. “One of my favourite aspects of the show is that the audience can feel the chemistry between the four of us in the band.

“For more than half the performance I feel like I’m playing a gig to the audience rather than a piece of musical theatre. It has that electric live energy to it.

“We’ve had some really lovely comments from people including older audience members who saw these kind of gigs for real and were Teddy boys themselves.

“I can’t imagine what it must have been like to experience at first hand that type of music when it suddenly appeared in post war London. To get this amazing music from the States would have been incredible.

“Hopefully we can bring a bit of that energy into 2018.”

One way the band are doing that is by recording the debut Johnny Valentine and the Broken Hearts album.

“We went into the studio for a day to record all of the main songs from the show and it will be available at every performance.”

So is there life after the musical for the band?

“You know, we have flirted with the idea of going out on the road as a band,” said Harrison, “but for the moment we’re just loving being part of such a dynamic show.”

The show premiered at the Southwark Playhouse in 2015 and this will be its first UK tour.

“We can’t wait to bring it to much bigger spaces such as the Lowry,” said Harrison.

“We’ve had wonderful audiences but it will be interesting to see how different people receive it. I’m really excited to see that first person get out of their seat and start to dance.”

Teddy, the Lowry, Salford Quays, Tuesday, February 13 to Saturday, February 20. Details from 0843 208 6005 or www.thelowry.com