NEW YORK -- Jane Horrocks is feeling absolutely fabulous these days.

The waifish British actress is expecting her second child and her famous theatre child has finally received its due.

Seven years ago, Horrocks starred in a play in London called

The Rise and Fall of Little Voice.

It is the story of a chronically shy girl whose only refuge from her shrewish, domineering mother is to hide in her attic room with the pile of records willed to her by her dead father. Alone in that room, she sings and speaks in the voices of such legendary divas as

Marilyn Monroe, Edith Piaf, Judy Garland and Shirley Bassey.

The play was a smash hit because, like her stage alter ego,

Horrocks can mimic these and a dozen other famous singers.

"The play was written for me (by British playwright Jim Cartwright). I was starring in his play Road at the time and we had this cast party," recalls Horrocks. "I just got up an did my party turn. I thought everyone knew I imitated these wonderful old singers."

Cartwright immediately saw the potential for a stage play and quickly wrote Little Voice to showcase Horrocks' remarkable talent.

The movie rights were snapped up within months of the play's London opening, but it took almost six years for the transition.

"I honestly thought the (film) role was going to go to someone else. There was talk of changing the location of the story from England to America. I was so relieved when the role finally came back to me."

Horrocks, 34, began mimicking singers when she was 10.

"I did it to make people laugh. My older brothers were such monsters to me. I had to find some way to draw attention to myself and these impersonations were the first thing that worked."

Between the stage and screen versions of Little Voice, Horrocks played the ditzy public relations assistant Bubbles on the British cult comedy Absolutely Fabulous.

"We only filmed 18 episodes for Ab Fab, but they've been shown so often in different order that people think we made 50 or 60 shows."

Right now, Horrocks' attention is centred around the imminent arrival of her second child. She's hoping it will be a sister for two-year-old Dylan. Horrocks is married to writer Nick Vivian.

"To date, my harshest critic has been my son Dylan. I tried singing to him once as Garland and he screamed his head off. I finally calmed him down with Julie Andrews."


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