Passing through the double front doors of the salubrious Bailbrook House Hotel in Bath I noticed straightaway that I was in the company of some fantastically dressed individuals and an impressively tailed beast! I had arrived during the photo call for the cast of Beauty and the Beast, this year’s panto spectacular at Bath’s Theatre Royal.

In what seemed like a very civilised version of speed dating (no I haven’t done it, but witnessed a session whilst setting up for a gig in Bristol once), five from the cast of seven, now back in ‘civvies’, were introduced to StageTalk Magazine for the chance of a short chat about their upcoming roles and their thoughts about the art of pantomime.

First up, Fairy Bon Bon . . .  

Wendi Peters will be more familiar to readers as Cilla Battersby in Coronation Street for which she has chalked up an impressive 200+ performances. But she is no stranger to panto, having previously appeared as the Wicked Queen in Cinderella and Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty.

Are you in rehearsals yet?

No, we start rehearsals literally ten days before the show starts on the 12th December! In, learn it, do it!

Are you pleased with your costume?

It’s the first time I’ve had it on for a while. It’s gorgeous and I’m lucky it fits! It’s so glamourous and pink and froufrou! So unlike what I normally put on – it’s a joy to wear something so feminine.

Do you have a wand?

Yes, I have a wand that lights up – got all the tricks.

What are you appearing in at the moment?

I’m in Big the Musical at the Dominion Theatre in the West End, which finishes in three weeks. I’ll have a week off before starting on Beauty. Big is a great big glamorous musical, based on the Tom Hanks film.

I noticed that you have been a guest singer on the BBC’s Friday Night is Music Night.

I’ve done that a couple of times – it’s scary! There is a complete lack of rehearsal time. You’re sent the music but only get to rehearse the day before you’re on live. You can suggest what you’d like to do and hopefully they’ll bring it out of the archives. But you are stuck with whatever you’re given really and what key it’s in!

Do you have a singing background?

I trained in musical theatre. For about ten to fifteen years before I was on Coronation Street I was doing musicals, plays and comedies. As a little girl, watching all those classic movies like Singing in the Rain, that’s what made me want to get into the business in the first place, made me want to go away and train. As much as I love being in Corrie, it’s lovely now to be able to go back to my roots where I can incorporate my musical side with panto.

What do you think the essence of panto is all about?

Panto is about excitement, about entertainment, for the whole family. But in particular bringing kids into a story, especially those who haven’t been to a theatre before. As a theatre we have to grab them. If they like the story they will come back and see other things. For some it will be their first experience of live theatre, so panto is really important.

Do you enjoy having the chance to ad-lib for a performance?

The initial 10-day period of rehearsals is really all about getting the show done and sorted. But then, maybe after a week or so, and if everyone knows what we’re meant to be doing, you might start to chip in with something at that stage. By then you’ve got to know your other actors better and how they are going to react. There is room for a little bit of fun, but not too much. We want to finish on time!

Will there be any pranks?

Oh, I don’t know about pranks, I’m such a good girl on stage! But I’m sure between Jon [Monie] and Nick [Wilton] there will be a few surprises. It’s a hard schedule – two shows a day, six days a week; so as well as doing your job properly you need to have fun, especially at Christmas and you’re not at home. Your panto family becomes your own family. It’s really important everyone bonds together on and off stage.

How do you look after your voice?

Lots of honey and lemon. I know when not to speak. I like going out to wind down after a show just for one drink, but I’m very conscious of not talking too much because it’s a vocal rest time, similarly in the morning. You need to make sure you are properly warmed up before a show. In panto you’re using your voice harder than in a musical or a play.

You’ve played a wicked Queen in the past.

That’s my usual panto role! For Beauty, I shall be somebody nice, so hopefully people will like her! I’m used to being booed at – such fun! This will be a big change for me.

Next, the Beast . . .

At an impressive 6’5”, Shaun Dalton cuts a fine figure as Belle’s beau. In the photoshoot you couldn’t help but notice that he was sporting an impressive tail which was swishing about at the back of his splendid coat.

You are reprising your role as the Beast?

Yes, I was in the role for the previous Disney production which toured at home and internationally. We went to Ireland, Malta and Kuala Lumpur. It was a wonderful experience.

How does your new costume compare to the Disney version?

When we were on the Disney tour, I used to have what we call a muscle suit underneath – lots of lumps and bumps and a spine. The new mask I’ve got is fantastic, not the full latex version that I had before, but it’s still warm! It looks amazing.

What about the tail?

That becomes part of your special awareness. When you first start wearing it you do tend start bumping into things and get trapped in doors etc. But I remember when I had been wearing one before it does become part of your sphere of physical influence after a while.

Current production?

I’m on tour with Kinky Boots at the moment. We’ve just finished in Blackpool and we’re off to Bradford. I’ve got six more weeks of that tour. Then I’ve got three or four days off before we start on Beauty.

What qualities do you bring to the Beast?

My height helps. Also having a decent resonance in my voice. Also, Martin the director knows I can fly (with wires). I won’t say anymore!

How familiar are you with the set or script at this stage?

I have used elements of it before on the Beauty tour. Script-wise nothing as yet, but I know that has won an award so I can’t wait to get started. I have worked with a couple of the guys before, Nick Wilton and Ben Harlow, so there should be quite a buzz.

You obviously like to keep fit.

I like going to the gym, I’d like to go more. But being on tour doesn’t lend itself to that, especially if you are moving between theatres a lot.

Any other ambitions?

I’d be interested in film work. I’m working on getting a decent show reel together and then I’ll go for auditions. Once you get into theatre, musical theatre, you can be seen as specialist in that. It’s all about breaking out of that mould really.

Twinkling nicely, Princess Belle . . .

Clare Maynard has recently been a part of the Starlight Express team in Germany for which she originated a new role for its new production – the first female ‘engine’ which she says was “really fun, really hard work. I’m glad I did it, but now it’s time for something very very different.”

How did you become involved with Beauty?

I’ve worked for this company (UK productions) before I worked for Starlight, when I appeared in Jack and the Beanstalk. When I heard they wanted a different approach to the princess role in Beauty that really appealed to me. I like to think of Belle as a little bit more than a princess; she not going to wait for anyone to save her, she’s going to save herself and finds love along the way. We need to have parts for strong female leads.

Are you happy with your costume?

It’s very nice, actually made for me. It’s heavy with lots of underskirts, but that is part of the look.

Can you say how you got started in theatre?

I trained at the Italia Conti Academy which seems like a lifetime ago now. I never thought of myself as a pantomime princess – I’ve always been told I’m a little too feisty, a little bit too tall. So even though I’m slightly older now, being given the chance to be a ‘Disney’ princess was something so exciting for me.

Have you always been a roller-skater?

No, it’s a weird story. When I was at college I had really bad legs for dancing; I don’t have any kind of Achilles. My ballet teacher always said that I’d never be in Starlight Express. And then the call came through for the audition and I knew they’d have certain criteria in order to get a part. One of the things they get you to do is duck down to the ground with your ankles flat to the floor. I couldn’t do it. They literally had hold of me, pushing me down! But they said, “Oh she’ll get there in the end.” I spent nearly eight years on the show in the end. I was always told that I could never do it. But there have been injuries. For the most part it can be the fear of something can cause the biggest problems. That can stop someone putting their whole self into it. There are times when you’ve just got to go for it.

What does panto mean to you?

For me, a panto is always going to be a happy-ending story. Personally, I always love being in big spectacular musical numbers, but that comes from my background. I love a big opening number – you can’t go wrong. And I love the dancing. But some people will enjoy the smaller more intimate scenes.

Will you be conscious of the young female members of the audience who will want to be you?

I hope they’ll want to be like me. I hope I can be an inspiring role model. I think the test can be when the juniors come in (this year it will be members of the Dorothy Coleborn School of Dance). They’ll be so excited to be part of a big show. If I’ve got them onside I’ll probably have the young girls in the audience onside too. And if they’ve got their princess merch, lots of that rather than the boys merch, I’ll be very happy. Girl power!

Defrocked now but still in demand… the Dame

Nick Wilton is celebrating his 20th consecutive year playing the Dame, his fourth on the trot at the Theatre Royal Bath. He is currently playing the lead in Run For Your Wife at The Mill at Sonning.

You obviously enjoy panto

I do. Only at Christmas though; it’s the only time I dress up as a woman, despite the rumours.

You were wearing some loud stripes in the foyer, are you pleased with your costume?

Yes! I said I wanted a costume with the French colours in it, so it does have the red, white and blue. I also have champagne bottle earrings and an exploding champagne bottle on my apron. I’m Polly La Plonk!

You previously worked with Brian Rix?

Yes, I worked on his last stage show which was in 1988 in a revival of Dry Rot. I played his part, Fred Phipps, and Brian played the part previously played by John Slater or Leo Franklin. One of my first jobs was with Brian in another Whitehall farce called Simple Spymen. I played Corporal Flight. I went to university with Brian’s son Jamie but that’s not how I got the job. Jamie and I wrote a revue at university together and then went to write for TV. We wrote a lot of sketches and I had quite a long career with him.

Did you anyone influence your career in panto?

To start with I had no interest in panto whatsoever. I used to listen to Hancock on the radio, and Al Read. It was always a Sunday lunchtime I seem to remember listening to them. I loved Morecambe and Wise on the TV. I love all of their work, all the unfashionable stuff on ITV which people forget. I love all those routines. I was into sketches and I ended up being a sketch-writer and appeared in sketches and revue. We used to take the mickey out of pantomime and Brian Rix farces, both of which I have ended up doing! Of course, I had always known about panto dames, but I later saw that panto was one of those few areas where you could combine character comedy with doing routines. Jon Monie, who has written the script for Beauty and the Beast, always likes to include a good old traditional routine in his pantos, very much like the Morecambe and Wise originals that I love. That was where my love of panto came from. I’ve looked at the role of the Dame in much more detail since and absolutely love it now.

Did you ever work with Chris Harris?

I did my first panto with Chris in 1987, in Plymouth. He was definitely my inspiration for the role of Dame, he was wonderful. When Chris sadly died, they did a year in Bath without a Dame. The next year I actually asked the producer if I could appear in Bath. I was then quite concerned as Chris’s were big shoes to fill. On the spectrum of Dames, I’m in the same area as Chris, but I don’t have his clowning skills. But character wise I’m similar.

What do you think makes a good Dame?

It has to be a bloke in a frock. But it is important not to play up the fact that it is a bloke in a frock. Some people make it too obvious. I think as far as you’re concerned, you’re not a bloke in a frock, you are now this gorgeous woman who has reached a certain age. So, while you’re playing it with femininity, the audience know full well it’s a bloke in a frock. Even Terry Scott had a femininity about him when he played the Dame. That was very important. And there have been some very refined Dames like Jack Tripp, who were very grand and posh. There are times when Dames can have ideas above their station. There is normally a time in a pantomime where they are being quite grand, but really, they’re not grand at all, they are just ordinary house-keepers. The whole mother-son relationship thing is great. The son has usually stayed at home for far too long and has developed a symbiotic relationship with his mum.

You have mentioned that Jon Monie’s script pays a lot of attention to the quieter, more intimate scenes.

It is very real, very moving between Belle and the Beast. Blackpool is a noisy audience, much more raucous than Bath. The scene when Beauty and Beast get together – you could hear a pin drop there. In the first performances I was very moved, it was beautiful. It’s written in such a clever way. In this version of the story Belle is a strong character. Jon’s written a beautiful script, all the characters are fully developed, they are not just there for the sake of it.

Can you tell us about Musical Hall Guild of Great Britain and America?

Yes. I’m a patron. The Guild erects commemorative blue plaques and cares for the graves of many famous music hall, variety, vaudeville, musical comedy, theatre and pantomime artistes. It also promotes the history of music hall and theatre performers.

And finally, scriptwriter Jon Monie, AKA Louis La Plonk . . .

Your eighteenth year in panto?

Yes that’s right, I might get it right this time!

Your first?

In 1996, as Dandini in Cinderella, performing with Patsy Palmer, Bella Emberg and Derek Nimmo.

How did you get into panto?

I wrote to the theatre. I was working in local TV, HTV as it was then. I trained in and studied drama and I was involved with amateur theatre and knew people who worked at the theatre. I knew Richard Wyatt, a famous face on local news. He’d done panto at Bath. I knew that pantos usually have a local chap ‘done good’ in a role, so I thought I’d ask them. I got the part of Dandini which went down very well. Chris Harris joined the team in Bath for Aladdin the following year in which I also performed. He really enjoyed working with me and vice versa and he kept asking for me to come back. And here we are.

Tell us about your script for this production.

It’s a new script for UK Productions. Martin [Dodd] has about ten venues around the country and has a portfolio of titles. He said he wanted to do something different with Beauty and the Beast. I have always written bits and bobs, routines and lyrics in the past but never a complete script, so I was very pleased to be asked. I wrote it last year and it debuted at the Blackpool Grand. It had a record-breaking season there and got good reviews, winning a best script award at the Great British Pantomime Awards, which was very gratifying. It’s all downhill from here! The awful thing was I didn’t get to see show I’d written. I was too busy playing in Peter Pan in Bath over Christmas. I suggested to Theatre Royal that they could put it on this year. After talks between producers and the theatre it was agreed they would. Bath has had the same five or six pantos on rotation for the last 18 years I’ve been doing it, so I think it’s nice to have something that the audience hasn’t seen here before.

What was your approach to the writing?

Beauty is on old French fairy story. In the original there are these awful step sisters, very like in Cinderella. But I decided not to go down that route. And then of course Disney did an animated version, and that tends to be the version the children know. They’ve added their own spin on it with Lumiere the Candlestick etc, but that’s their intellectual property, we can’t do that. I’ve tried to walk that line between the original and the Disney versions. It’s not too different, but everything’s there. Luckily with panto there’s a structure, there’s a format. It’s not like writing a play from scratch. In panto ‘Good’ has to win the day, and you should end Act I with a bit of a cliff-hanger. The director told me what characters to write for and I simply filled in the gaps.

Will there be any adlibbing in the performance?

There are far fewer adlibs than the audience realises. There may be moments which appear to be adlibbed, but we do them every night. The difficulty with adlibbing is that if one person starts, everyone will join in, then suddenly the show is 20 minutes longer than usual. We’d rather find those moments in rehearsals then keep what we like and run a fairly tight ship.

Tell us something about your role.

I’m the village idiot, as always. I’m Louis La Plonk, my mum is Polly la Plonk, the housekeeper of the castle where the beast resides in the shadows. I’m a servant, effectively the Lumiere part while Polly is effectively the Mrs Pot part in the Disney version. We satisfy those roles.

Nick Wilton was saying he was very moved by the scenes involving Belle and the Beast.

I’ve tried to give the roles a bit more heart. You don’t want it to be too mechanical. The role of Clement, Belle’s father, which isn’t the biggest of roles, has some really lovely moments. He’s a father who loves his daughter, who loses his daughter. Marcus Knibbs who played the role in Blackpool last year said that he loved it.

When you write for panto, where do you pitch it? Parent or child or both?

I’d like the adults to be laughing as much as the children. Most pantomimes are geared towards children. But I have kept a few jokes in there for the adults as well. I’ve tried to tick the boxes so it works for everybody. It was a bit of a juggling act. I think this is funny – it’s got more jokes than I have ever done before. If that joke didn’t make you laugh, there’s another one coming along in 30 seconds. I don’t want it to be a chore to take the kids to the panto. I’m hoping everybody will have a great time.

Have you ever thought about joining a Private Eye editorial meeting to share your jokes around?

Ha ha! I’d love to, but it’s hard enough thinking of new ones. When I started writing Beauty and the Beast I went on holiday with my former sketch-writing partner Graham Avent and his family. I used to get up very early and go and jot ideas down while I was on the beach, then I’d bounce some ideas off him. It can make a difference having a writing partnership. Otherwise writing can be a very lonely experience.

The cast of Bath Theatre Royal’s Beauty and the Beast, which opens on 12th December, were talking to StageTalk Magazine’s Simon Bishop on 17th October 2019