Once upon a time in a land far away, as all good pantomimes start, a beautiful princess was born. Cursed by a wicked fairy she was destined to spend her life as the Sleeping Beauty, until awakened by true love’s kiss…
Following on from last year’s tremendous production of Aladdin, the Assembly Hall Theatre and Martin Dodd for UK Productions have proudly launched this year’s spectacular pantomime, Sleeping Beauty, which promises to be jam-packed with smash-hit songs, stunning sets, spectacular costumes and an all-star cast that includes Derek Moran from Channel 5’s Milkshake, a return visit from panto dame, Quinn Patrick, and star of stage and screen, Claire Sweeney, best known for her roles in Benidorm and Brookside and now as a panelist on Loose Women.
At the launch party I was lucky enough to get to talk with all three of the headlining stars and I started by asking the irrepressible Quinn Patrick about his return to the Assembly Hall Theatre stage in the role of the dame and I started by asking him…
I remember from last year, you have such an amazing way of working the audience. How do you develop that?
I think that experience helps so much. I have been playing Dame for quite a while now but also, the main thing is, you have to trust the audience. I like to go out on stage and, very quickly, make it clear that we are all in this together. I am going to do my very best to give you a really good time, and all you have to do is “buckle in” and enjoy yourselves.
Have you been in Sleeping Beauty before?
Yes, I did it a couple of years ago, for UK productions again and that was just so much fun that I’m really looking forward to doing it again. I get lots of scenes with Silly Billy, lots of set piece routines and plenty of old-fashioned gags and, I think it’s gonna get messy in the kitchen in act one! It’s so good to be able to really let go and go crazy.
Also, I always love to make sure that there are a couple of gags that are terrible because people love to be able to have a good groan. You couldn’t do it at any other time of the year but at Christmas, in a panto, sometimes the worse the gags are, the more people love it. As the dame, you get to break “the fourth wall” and you can address the audience directly on lots of different levels. I always remember that the kids are there, and if they think that I’m a big lady then I’m a big lady, if they know that I’m a man in a frock, that’s cool too. I let their imaginations run wild, because that’s what they are there for.
I also make sure I’m not too rude because I think that sometimes that can make the parents feel uncomfortable so I try to strike a balance that suits everyone. For a lot of the kids this may be their first experience of live theatre so I want them to leave with something that they feel is magical because there is a greater chance that they will come back, maybe to another panto, if they leave the theatre knowing that it’s nothing like a trip to the cinema.
It’s great that the whole family can leave with their own magical feelings.
Oh yes, I always say that panto is one of very few types of entertainment where you get all the generations together and there is something there for all of them. The grandchildren, children, parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents all come along and whether they like the big musical numbers, the comedy, the love story or the slapstick what they get is a mish-mash of everything, all thrown into about two hours.
And something that only really works here.
Yes, it’s funny that, isn’t it? I had some friends who came to see me a few years ago, one from New Zealand and one from Australia, and I just said to them, “You will not have a clue what’s going on, but just go with it”, because if you don’t go with it, and take it for what it is, you’ll have the most miserable time because you’ll just be thinking, “What is going on?” but, when you realise that there is no judgement in the audience, you can really let yourself go and you’ll have the best time ever.
Next I sat down with Silly Billy (Derek Moran) and I asked him…
How do you cope when you have a three show day?
Yes, I just found out, we have one three show day. Aaaarrgghh! It’s going to be interesting. I’ve been doing the live tour of the TV show Milkshake!, and we had a three show day. We don’t usually do them because it is such hard work. It’s a very long day and you have to be on top form for all of it, because everyone wants to see the best performance.
But that’s just one day in your very long run in Tunbridge Wells.
Oh yes, we have about five weeks here after a week of rehearsals. Of course, they say it’s rehearsals but, as soon as you get into the theatre, it’s one technical run after another. There is no time to just rehearse, you just have to keep going and going until you know it. Everyone says to me, “You’ll be so tired by the time you finish panto” but we’re all tired before we even start!
It’s very intense because we are often here until about 11 o’clock at night and then back in first thing in the morning but it’s so important that everything is ready. I think opening night is so special because after all that work, this is the time when you get to give it your best.
Do you have that wonderful song-sheet routine in Sleeping Beauty?
Yes we do, and I’m so excited to be doing it again. The kids just love that part, whether they are in the audience or the lucky ones on stage and I love it too, it’s just brilliant fun. The song-sheet is my favourite part of the whole panto because what you get from the kids is just priceless and, if you can nail it, because you have to be really quick, but if you know you’ve nailed it, it’s just the most amazing feeling.
Playing the evil Carabosse is the star of West End shows like Chicago, Educating Rita and Legally Blonde, and the UK tour of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Claire Sweeney. I asked her…
Are you looking forward to Tunbridge Wells at Christmas?
I am thrilled to be here. I’ve just walked round the town and I’ve seen all the lovely shops you have here and I thought to myself, “This is gonna be dangerous!”. It’s a win win for me, it’s commutable to home, it’s a beautiful show with a great company and there’s fabulous shops – What more could a girl want? It’s gonna be gorgeous.
Is this a new company for you?
Not completely, I’ve worked with the Prince, Michael Vinsen, before. We did Legally Blonde together and we bonded on that show so, when I heard he was the Prince in Sleeping Beauty, that was the icing on the cake for me. You do come across the same faces now and again because I’ve been doing panto for thirty years now. My first one was when I was 17 and I was Principal Boy in Cinderella at Liverpool Empire, but most pantos don’t have Principal Boy’s any more.
Now you’re a baddie. What’s it like to be bad?
I love being the baddie. They did give me the choice this year of being good or bad and I said, “I want to be bad”. I just love it. You get to be as evil as you like and the kids hiss and boo, but I have a four year old son and I’ve let him into the secret that I’m not bad really, and he knows that – but it’s just our little secret.
There are so many good things about being the bad one. You always get a really good song and there’s always so much “meat” to the part and I think the role really suits a more mature lady too. You find ways to be a little flirty too, so the kids can boo and hiss but the fellas kinda like you.
Is it still fun, or is it just hard work?
Here’s the thing, having done panto for thirty years, now I have my son and I’m suddenly seeing a job that I’ve been doing for all these years, and that could have started to become hard work, through the eyes of a child and it’s magical. It’s like I’ve fallen in love with it all over again and my son is just thrilled to come and see me.
He remembers things so well and he wants to see the same things he saw last year and I have to say, “but it’s a different production darlin'” and he doesn’t quite understand that bit yet, but he loves it and he makes me love it even more. I am seeing everything, not just panto, through new eyes and it’s just wonderful.
Sleeping Beauty, which is being directed by the Theatre Director, John-Jackson Almond, and promises flying fairies, a fire-breathing dragon together with CGI animation, appears at the Assembly Hall Theatre, Crescent Road, Tunbridge Wells from Friday 7th December 2018 to Wednesday 2nd January 2019. Tickets, priced from £15.50 for children and £24 per adult, are available from the theatre’s website at www.assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk or they can be booked by calling the box office on 01892 530613.