Danny and Clive on Two Decades in Newcastle Theatre Royal's Panto
Danny Adams and Clive Webb are celebrating their 20th season as the stars of Newcastle Theatre Royal's panto (oh yes they are!)
With origins dating back to ancient Greek classical theatre, pantomime is a participatory form of theatre developed in England in the 18th century. Nowadays pantomimes are a huge part of our Christmas traditions, and Newcastle Theatre Royal’s annual Christmas panto remains hugely popular. Last year’s show, The Little Mermaid, was the theatre’s fastest selling, enjoyed by more than 84,000 visitors. To mark Danny and Clive’s special anniversary this year, the theatre have extended the run of this year’s panto (Aladdin) by one week, ensuring that even more people can be part of the magic during their milestone season.
Father-and-son act Danny and Clive are known for their slapstick silliness in the panto. Sunderland-born Clive started his show business career as a drummer then literally ran away and joined the circus after answering an advert for a drummer in the famous Robert Brothers Circus, where he stayed for seven years, ending up as head clown. Then he auditioned for Opportunity Knocks and came second. ‘My career kicked off from there,’ he says. He continues to perform circus-style shows with his sons Mick Potts and Danny (Mick is also starring in this year’s panto).
Danny and his brother were destined to be on stage, and Danny found his love for pantomime aged just five. ‘When I was little and Dad was doing his own acts he was also doing pantomimes, and I was about five years old the first time I went on stage with Dad at the Tameside Hippodrome in Manchester, in the pantomime,’ Danny recalls. ‘There was a cabinet and I was dressed as a wizard and when he brought the cabinet on, I came out and I had to kick him in the shin, take a bow, and walk off. I did it about four of five times and I can remember the first time I did it, it got a round of applause. The second time it got a bit of cheer, and the fifth time, as soon as the cabinet was being wheeled on, I could hear everyone cheering and that was my first insight into show business. I knew from then that that’s what I wanted to do. When I was 16 I left school on the Friday and joined Dad, who was touring Butlins at the time, on the Saturday afternoon. That was it. I’ve never looked back.’
Danny and Clive see pantomime and circus as the greatest form of family entertainment. ‘It’s normally kids’ first time going to the theatre,’ Danny adds. ‘It’s really important that it’s good and they come away loving it, because if they don’t, they might never come back. There aren’t many places you can go, whether you’re three or 93 and all enjoy it the same. The North East really embraces pantomime and it’s become a bit of tradition. We see families who come on the same day, sit in the same seats and have done for years and years, and it’s part of their Christmas. The Newcastle Theatre Royal pantomime has become equally as big for people’s Christmas as Santa and Christmas Day.’
‘What’s nice about it is we’ve had kids come when they’ve been four and five and they’re now 24 and 25 and they’re still coming,’ says Clive. ‘We never expected to be here for 20 years!’
The duo made their Theatre Royal panto debut alongside Jill Halfpenny in Cinderella. ‘We got asked to come along for one year. Then we got asked back for a second year because the first was so successful, and then the third or fourth year we came back as top of the bill, and that was it,’ says Danny. ‘Our contracts got extended and our rapport with the audience got to a point where it was like going on stage to your old friends. I think our type of humour appeals to the Geordie sense of humour. Sometimes things happen and they just take off, and this was one of those things.’
Over the years Danny and Clive have performed all the classics at Newcastle Theatre Royal, from Jack and the Beanstalk and Dick Whittington to Peter Pan and Beauty and the Beast. ‘My favourite pantomime of them all was Sleeping Beauty, and I never thought it was going to be – it turned out to be absolutely brilliant,’ says Clive. ‘They’ve all been great in their own respective ways but that one stands out for me.’
Every year they get better and better. ‘I think with technology things have escalated on a huge scale within pantomime, but still in keeping with the essence of what we do – the slapstick comedy,’ says Danny. ‘That’s still as relevant today as it was 70 years ago. We’re doing the gags that Laurel and Hardy would do, and Charlie Chaplin; we’ve modernised them but when you strip it all back it’s still the same kind of humour.’
‘For people who know us, and know our style of comedy, we’ve got a lot of new silly stuff this year’
Clive tells us there are some spectacular effects in this year’s pantomime, and Danny adds that Newcastle is known for setting a standard in pantomime. ‘It’s where a lot of new ideas start,’ he says. ‘Crossroads Pantomimes come up with new ideas that have never been done before and if it works here it goes down to Birmingham, and the Palladium. A lot of it originates here which is nice! The standard of the show is so high, not just from the cast’s point of view (we all care about it so much) but also the crew, the writers, and the producers. It means so much to everyone so the pressure to top it year on year is huge. Touch wood, we’ve always done that.
‘It’s all about giving the audience something new but at the same time giving them what they know. We’ve changed everything before then people ask “why didn’t you do this bit of routine?” It’s finding the fine line between giving them what they want, but also the unexpected. Newcastle’s panto does that just right. We’ve hit that line where you could have 1,000 five-year-old school kids in a matinee and they love it, and on a Saturday night you struggle to find any kids and the adults love it. It’s about hitting that balance. It’s very fast paced too.’
Pantomime wasn’t always this popular though. ‘It went through a very dark patch in the ‘80s and ‘90s and it was sort of frowned upon by actors in the profession – but now it’s all turned around thank goodness,’ Clive adds. ‘It’s quite an accolade to do a pantomime now.’
Danny agrees, and is proud to be keeping the legacy of pantomime going at the theatre. ‘Nowadays there’s big Hollywood actors wanting to do pantomimes, especially over the last 10 to 15 years,’ he says. Michael Harrison will also celebrate his 20th anniversary this year as producer and creator of Newcastle Theatre Royal pantomimes. ‘He has had a big say in turning it around,’ Danny continues. ‘He’s got some big musicals now, he’s one of the world’s biggest producers and I feel like he’s steered it into making actors want to do it. If it carries on like this, and we continue to embrace technology whilst keeping the roots of pantomime, I can’t see why it can’t go from strength to strength.’
Danny and Clive will join panto dame Chris Hayward (who is playing Mother Goose), Wayne Smith (Old King Cole) and local singer-songwriter Joe McElderry (who is The Spirit of the Ring) in Aladdin this year, which marks Joe’s fifth year in the theatre’s panto. ‘It’s a bit different this year because Aladdin is set in Newcastle,’ says Clive.
‘The story is still the story of Aladdin but there’s a lot of twists. It’s rewritten with a real Geordie feel,’ adds Danny. ‘This version probably wouldn't work down south because they wouldn’t understand the places or humour. It’s the story of Aladdin like you’ve never heard it before with huge effects. For people who know us, and know our style of comedy, we’ve got a lot of new silly stuff this year. It’s more of what we do, but on a bigger scale.’
Yorkshire puddings on a Christmas dinner – yes or no?
Clive: Yes, 100 percent!
Danny: Yes, definitely. At least two as well! Or one of those big Yorkshire puddings that are the size of the plate.
Clive: Plenty of gravy too!
What’s your favourite Christmas film?
Danny: Home Alone.
Clive: White Christmas.
What’s your favourite Christmas song?
Clive: The carols, like Good King Wenceslas. They make me feel Christmassy.
Danny: The one where it goes ‘it’s Christmaaaas’. [Merry Xmas Everybody by Slade].
How will you be celebrating Christmas Day this year?
Danny: Everyone who comes to the panto says ‘it must be so Christmassy’ but as soon as you get into rehearsals at the beginning of November you don’t even see Christmas – you get in at 11am and don’t leave ’til 10pm. We do around 100 shows throughout the run. Christmas Day for us is a day off, so normally Dad comes around here and we spend it with my kids. Up early, Christmas dinner, a few drinks at the pub, and then a lie down… before we do shows on Boxing Day.
