Go Behind The Scenes of Newcastle Theatre Royal's Panto for Danny and Clive's 20th Season
Theatre legends Danny Adams and Clive Webb are celebrating their 20th season as the stars of Newcastle Theatre Royal's panto
On an exclusive visit to the theatre to get a first-look at this year’s costumes, father-and-son act Danny and Clive were accompanied by panto dame Chris Hayward (who is playing Mother Goose) local singer-songwriter Joe McElderry (who is The Spirit of the Ring) and Wayne Smith (Old King Cole).
Last year’s show, The Little Mermaid, was the theatre’s fastest selling and was enjoyed by more than 84,000 people. To mark the special anniversary, Newcastle Theatre Royal have extended the run of this year’s panto by one week, ensuring that more people can be part of the magic during their milestone season.
Wayne says we can expect ‘a huge celebration’. It’s his ninth season in the panto, which he says simply gets better and better every year. ‘I'm never shocked any more, which is bizarre, because every year you do it you think, no way we can top that. No way can anyone think of anything better to do. And they do, every year,’ he says. ‘As soon as you get that little sneak peek of the script, you think – they've done it again. It’s so good. They keep smashing it out of the park and the Newcastle audiences are used to it as well; they just know it's going to be bigger and better every year – it’s brilliant.’
Chris Hayward says he feels at home at Newcastle Theatre Royal. ‘I’ve done panto for about 40 years now. I think I’ve done 18 Newcastle Theatre Royal pantos and this is my third Aladdin, which is very different,’ he says. ‘It's lovely to be at home for Christmas and with a family, because everybody in the Theatre Royal is like a family. In front of house, backstage, the cleaners – everybody. It's lovely to be here.’ This year he’s got 12 costume changes and brand-new headdresses, and he’s looking forward to the promise of exciting special effects.
Chris says the cast have as much of a laugh backstage as they do on stage. ‘You don't know what’s going to happen with Danny when you're on stage,’ he laughs. ‘I like to stick to my script because then I know where I am, it’s difficult trying to get back into it but you always do! It was a new energy when Joe joined. He's a good laugh as well. He's got a brilliant singing voice, which has brought a good asset to the pantomime, but they [he and Danny] do a lot of comedy together and they work so well together. It's a brilliant team.
This year marks Joe’s fifth year in the Theatre Royal’s panto. ‘I’ve been very lucky enough to be asked to come for the last five years and it is a real institution in the North East,’ he says. ‘Whenever you travel around in the industry and outside the industry, it's one of the pantomimes that people talk about – the spectacle of what Danny, Clive and Chris and the team have done for years. So to be a part of it for as many years as I have now and really be in the family with them is special, but also just to be in my own hometown for Christmas is really special. I know we are all biased but I think it's one of the most beautiful theatres in the country, has the best audiences, and I think it's one of the best shows.’
This year Joe’s playing The Spirit of the Ring. ‘I think they deliberately give me a character name that Danny gets comedy value out of,’ he laughs. ‘Each year, the title gets more and more ridiculous but I kind of lean into that. Danny and I have built up a really good relationship on and off stage but there’s a real rapport. It’s very rare that you get to work with another performer where you bounce off each other and it becomes so second nature without rehearsing that. It's so lovely to be able to explore that more and more each year with different scenes and different routines. There's a slight element of danger when me and him get on stage because the audience don't quite know what's going to happen. But we live for that! We live for the danger.’
This year West-End star Rachel Stanley is The Wicked Witch of Wallsend – the first time she’s played a witch in a panto. ‘I always play the baddies but I normally play an evil queen,’ she says. ‘Because this year is Aladdin with a difference, we're all in “pantomania” and we're all different characters. I love playing the baddy because it's such fun. I've got brand new costumes this year and it's a bit of a nod to Wicked actually.
‘Coming here is amazing because I know it's one of the biggest [pantos] in the country and I know it's very, very close to our producer and director's heart. So I feel really privileged to be here, especially for Danny and Clive's 20th anniversary which is incredible. It's just nice to celebrate a legacy – and panto is not an easy run. For someone to have done that for 20 years is amazing and it's a massive achievement. I think having the gift to stay relevant for that long is a real achievement. I get a bit emotional sometimes when I look at the kids who are really invested in the story. They get into it and it's so beautiful to see as it’s often their first experience of theatre.’
Fellow West-End star Billie-Kay plays Princess Jasmine this year, the daughter of Old King Cole. ‘She is in love with Aladdin and forbidden to see him, but obviously always sees the good in him. It's a new spin on the character and it pays homage to other stories and other characters that we love within other pantos,’ she says. ‘I’m really excited to be here on Danny and Clive's 20th year and excited to be back with Michael again. This is my third time being directed by Michael, and it's just great. He's got so many fresh and exciting ideas, so I always enjoy that. Last year, for Peter Pan, we had the flying car that flew over the audience and I was in that section. You’re right at the front and you get to see the kids' faces just light up and they think it's real. I'm really sad I'm not in that moment this year! It's really special.’
Mick Potts returns to this year too, and he’s The Genie of the Lamp. ‘It's always an honour,’ he says of being a part of Newcastle Theatre Royal’s panto. ‘We’ve been here many years and you pinch yourself a little bit – the theatre’s amazing. it's very rare you get to work in a building like this, architecturally and crew-wise. I’ve been here a long time as well so I've seen Clive and Danny go from five shows, to 10, 15, and now to 20 – it's a landmark. We've all grown up together really, Joe, Wayne and Chris included. Michael [Harrison]’s done 20 [years]. He still does it because, I think like all of us, he just loves it. This year seems to be stepped up again.’
Clive explains the success of the panto is down to more than just the cast. ‘There's a huge team working on this all year round, not just before Christmas,’ he says. ‘They're coming up with all the special effects. It’s like a West End production.’ Pantomime is a tradition that’s celebrated every year at the Theatre Royal and Clive recognises that. ‘It’s been going on for years and years and different stories have been handed down. It’s family entertainment,’ he says. ‘For live entertainment, the theatre and the pantomime are number one for family entertainment. In our case, we've had kids coming when they were five or six and they're now 25 and 26 – and they're still coming back, which is lovely. It's for all ages. They're bringing their kids now.’
Danny agrees. ‘When we go out on that stage, you can look at the first few rows and you you almost know them,’ he says. ‘It's the same people, the same faces, and it's like working to your mates. It's really special and that doesn't really happen that often.’
When we ask Danny how it feels to be celebrating 20 years in the Theatre Royal panto, he jokes ‘long’. ‘It doesn't feel like 20, actually,’ he says. ‘It feels like yesterday that we came here. It's just flown by. It's a real honour and it’s an accolade to the whole theatre, the whole production, the whole team (from Michael Harrison who writes, produces and directs all the way down to the people that usher, the cleaners) – everyone in this theatre cares about this. I think it’s quite a rare thing and I think the whole city embraces this panto massively.’
Danny is proud to be keeping the legacy of pantomime going at Newcastle Theatre Royal. ‘It went through a funny phase where panto was seen as something for people who couldn’t really do theatre and it was kind of looked down on, whereas over the past 10 to 15 years, that's gone, and things have moved on to these pantos which are like West End shows now,’ he says. ‘Big actors want to do pantomime now because it's looked upon as an art form itself. I think that the grassroots of it is still the same. The comedy we do is exactly the same as what Laurel and Hardy did. We’ve modernised it, but it's still something that mum, dad and their kids can laugh at – there's not many things in life, but especially in theatre, that a family can go to and all enjoy at the same time.’
