Opera star James Edwards, 40, plays the male lead role of Ridolfo in La Boheme at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Born in Rochford and raised in Southend, the tenor now lives with his wife and family in Corsham, Wiltshire.

When did you start to take an interest in theatre?

I was always an enthusiastic singer. I used to get involved in anything that was going.

Then I joined the Southend Boys’ Choir, before becoming a chorister at St Paul’s Cathedral. I saw the cathedral on TV when the wedding of Charles and Diana was held there, and I thought “I want to be part of that”. From St Paul’s, I went on to the Royal Northern Academy of Music and then the Royal Academy in London.

But I didn’t always want to be an opera singer. I was interviewed on the radio when I was six and I said I wanted to be a fighter-pilot.

Are or were any members of your immediate family involved in opera?

I was adopted. My adoptive father was a salesman in Keddies store, in Southend. I had a wonderful family, but they weren’t especially musical.

I did eventually meet my natural parents, and there was a musical background there.

What formal training have you done?

I trained in acting, as well as every aspect of music, during the course of my academy training.

Do you have any specialist skills which you work into your repertoire?

I am a fully trained and qualified plumber. I completed the course four years ago. I’m sometimes referred to on the theatre circuit as “the Singing Plumber”.

I did the course as a fall-back, for any time when the singing jobs dried up. But in fact, I’ve been lucky to have had a steady supply of singing work. My plumbing has really suffered as a result!

On one occasion, though, when I was performing at Grange Park, there was a problem with the water system, which I fixed. I got paid more for the plumbing than the singing!

I am also a very keen cook. When I was younger, I worked as a sous-chef at the Westcliff casino, and I also did some cooking for the Palmeira Arches cafes on the seafront. I still pop in there when I’m in Southend.

Which experience do you regard as the highlight of your career to date?

I love singing the part of Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly.

I do musical theatre as well as opera, and in that department, I particularly enjoyed the part of Signor Pirelli, the demon barber’s first victim in Sweeney Todd.

What has been your most embarrassing moment involving opera or musical theatre, on or off stage?

In Albert Herring, there was a scene where I had to pull a pair of ladies’ knickers from my pocket, and drop my trousers.

On the last night, I decided to wear the knickers instead, as a joke. But they revealed a lot more than I had expected.

What role would you most like to play and why?

I would love to do Verdi’s Othello. It would be a great way to sign off my musical careers before going into plumbing full time!

Ever corpsed on stage? What happened?

I was playing Don Jose in Carmen. There was a scene when I had to roll around the floor and grapple with Carmen. Just a few weeks earlier, she had been a bridesmaid at my wedding.

We both very nearly lost it on that occasion.

 The spectacular staging of La Boheme runs at the Royal Albert Hall, in London, until March 9.