IT was a car crash that, surprisingly, gave Dawn Hope a new lease of life.

For, after wowing audiences in London's West End since the age of 16, Dawn needed all her resilience and energy to pick up the fragments of her tap dancing career.

"I couldn't tap dance any more because of the whiplash following the crash," explained Dawn. "But, until then I'd been playing the same roles all the time.

"I would get every sexy tap dancing part going. The costumes were to die for, but I didn't feel there was any depth to the roles.

"So, following the accident, I left the West End to look for more challenging roles."

If it was challenging she was looking for, Dawn couldn't have picked a more searching role than that of jazz legend Billie Holiday in the critically acclaimed show Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill.

Audiences up and down the country have flocked to see the musical which depicts a washed-up Billie in one of the last appearances before her death and, through her music, takes viewers back to some of the formative moments in her life and career.

The show gives Dawn the chance to stretch her captivating vocal abilities, as well as introduce a four-legged friend of hers to the audience -- Bonny, her Yorkshire Terrier, who co-stars as one of Billie's pets.

Dawn said: "The audience loves her. She comes on stage with me and I hold her in my arms when I sing T'aint Nobody's Business.

"She's a little scene stealer. Sometimes she yawns and pulls faces when I'm singing and it makes the audience fall apart."

In spite of Billie's tragic, heroin-riddled life, Dawn says there are uplifting parts to the show.

"There are many fantastic stories, so the audience ends up laughing an awful lot.

"The very reason people come to see the show is because of Billie's name and her music. Even though she had a sad life, people are still celebrating her music 50 years after her death. I see that as victorious."

Although the show is a tribute to Billie and includes songs like God Bless the Child, Don't Explain and Strange Fruit, Dawn says she does not attempt to ape the singer's unique voice.

"Billie once said: 'No-one sings like me and, if anyone tries, they aren't making music'," explained Dawn. "So I decided that if I tried to sing like Billie, I wouldn't be singing from my heart."

"She sang with every emotion she ever lived. I don't have that sadness etched into my voice and I don't have a life like that, but I do know some sadness."

Dawn may not imitate Billie's voice, but other aspects of her singing, such as the style and phrasing, bear a remarkable similarity to the Philadelphia-born legend.

Dawn said: "I was gripped by Billie's music when I was 16. That's why I never went into the pop industry.

"I thought the songs were mundane - all those repetitive verses. Like Billie, I can't sing meaningless words. It's got to have a story.

"I've listened to her so much over the years I've subconsciously picked up things like her phrasing and how she tells those stories and that's what comes across to many jazz lovers."

Besides listening to Billie Holiday, Dawn's teenage years were spent trying to break into musicals.

She said: "I used to bunk off school to audition for the West End. I must have looked just like a kid - I wore my green leotard and tights - but I thought I looked older because I put lipstick on.

"The casting people got to know me and, on my 16th birthday, I got my first West End show."

Dawn's vibrant energy as a singer and dancer then led to her making West End history by performing in two West End shows at the same time - Ain't Misbehaving by day and Chicago at night.

She said: "There was one guy who actually came to both shows one day and couldn't believe his eyes when he saw me on stage for a second time. I saw him confusedly checking my name in the programme."

But the West End did have its drawbacks.

Dawn said: "No matter how successful you are, there's only so many people that are ever going to know your face."

Now, thanks to Billie Holiday, that won't be a problem for Dawn in the future.

Dawn Hope stars in Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill at Manchester's Library Theatre from Tuesday May 27 to Saturday May 31. For tickets call 0161 236 7110.