SLEEPING BEAUTY (Wolverhampton Grand Theatre) Interview with Joe Pasquale

Funny man Joe Pasquale headlines this years pantomime Sleeping Beauty at the Wolverhampton Grand Theatre. Joe has already had a busy year, starting with an appearance on Dancing On Ice in January and before pantomime has 6 weeks in the West End production of Spamalot, a stand-up tour and a run playing Sherlock Holmes in a tour of Ha Ha Holmes. 

"I love to keep busy, I'm not young and we don't live forever so I'm living life to the full... I'm doing a skydive don't you know... for charity... It's like Dancing On Ice I thought right, what can I do that I can't do... Ice skating... and now I can do it... sort of! I really enjoy new challenges and at the minute I'm doing Spamalot in the West End, I grew up with Monty Python, I love it! I'm working with Bonnie Langford, she plays the Lady Of The Lake, I did panto with her about ten years ago and she invited me to see her in the show and I thought it was great and then the opportunity came up to play King Arthur (King of the Britons) and I've only got six weeks in my schedule to do it, so I jumped at the chance! You must come and see it, it's hilarious - the most fun I've had on stage! Playhouse Theatre... now until 27th July!"

You could say that Spamalot is almost like pantomime. Are these the type of shows where you belong Joe? "Definitely! I love panto, and Sleeping Beauty's a great one. It's the fifth year we've done it this year, there's me, Lucy Evans she's the one who sleeps and Ceri Dupree who's the greatest dame. On stage he's like the Queen and he's like a proper glamorous woman and then offstage he's a proper geezer with stubble and everything... and gulping pints!" 

So who is your character Muddles? "Muddles is basically the jester and there's one in every pantomime so if you don't know Muddles think Buttons in Cinderella or Wishee Washee in Aladdin - he's the same character in a different costume, jokes around, everyone loves him and he never gets the girl... What I love about these characters though is that they're funny enough, all the comedy comes from the character without having to step aside and become Joe Pasquale for a moment to get a laugh."

It has been done in pantomime before and we heard a little rumour that you might be putting the ice skates back on for Sleeping Beauty? "Yeah, the show's always evolving and this is the first year I have this new talent. It would be great if the production could handle it but nothing's decided yet... It's still a great show without it."

What is it about pantomime that you love so much? "Pantomime is most probably the first time a kid ever goes to the theatre and I think it's really important for their development. If you can get a kid into  experiencing and enjoying theatre from a young age then you've got a theatregoer for life... and that's a great thing. The trouble is now kids have got iPhones and iPads and TV shows are getting bigger and better and theatre has to compete with that for kids to like and respect it and pantomime's getting there now it really is. This is one of the best out there. I was last in a panto in Wolverhampton 1996, I've done lots of shows of other there since but I'm looking forward to coming back with a pantomime!" 

You can book to see Joe in Sleeping Beauty by clicking here. Tickets are selling fast so there's no time to snooze! Get your beauty sleep afterwards! 

SLEEPING BEAUTY (Wolverhampton Grand Theatre) Interview with Ceri Dupree and Lucy Evans

It always seems a little strange thinking ahead to Christmas in the middle of the summer (or what is supposed be the summer) but now is the time when theatres up and down the country are launching their 2013/14 pantomimes. The Wolverhampton Grand Theatre are pleased to announce that this year the hugely successful production of Sleeping Beauty which is now in it's 5th year will be delighting local audiences for 6 weeks.

The pantomime started life at the Birmingham Hippodrome in 2009 and has since played in Plymouth, Nottingham and Cardiff. The forthcoming Wolverhampton production will star the same three leads as in previous years with Joe Pasquale as Muddles, Ceri Dupree as Queen Passionella and Lucy Evans as Princess Beauty. 

Ceri Dupree and Lucy Evans with Joe Pasquale

"It seems so long ago now since starting out in Birmingham" said Lucy to which Ceri agreed - "Yes, Birmingham was a great place to start, it was a massive theatre and they could just throw so much money at it. I used to have 22 costumes changes, it's only 17 now... yes, only! We've had to scale down the production slightly but that's not a bad thing. What the show is now is a really slick production that we've had five years to perfect and for that it will be the best it's ever been this Christmas - it's tried and tested and we know it works. I always say to myself before I go on stage, this is the first time these people are seeing these costumes, hearing these gags and so you just have to give it 100% every time..."

You'd think that after five years in the same production things start to get a bit repetitive, but not for Lucy. "Oh it's never the same show twice, especially with Joe Pasquale involved. Joe's always making us laugh, adding in new jokes and we're at that stage where we know the show so well now that we can do that and I think that's what makes our pantomime so great. All my friends who are also do panto come to see me and say afterwards that they want to be in our Sleeping Beauty because it's the best, so Wolverhampton's in for a treat!"

This is the first year that the Wolverhampton pantomime will have a relaxed performance. On Thursday 16th January at 11am there is an adapted performance for those on the autistic spectrum and or with additional needs who may benefit from a more 'relaxed' theatre environment. Effects such as loud sounds, bangs and pyrotechnics are removed from the show. Neither Lucy or Ceri have done a relaxed performance before. Lucy said "Joe's done one before, some West End shows do them too." Ceri added "I didn't even know what one of those was, but if it's what you say then that's fabulous. Making theatre even more accessible to everyone is great!" There are also audio described and sign language interpreted performances.  For more information on any of the access performances of the pantomime and other upcoming shows at the theatre contact Janine at janine@grandtheatre.co.uk. 

Lucy Evans

Ceri continued to talk about changes to the show with how his particular character differs with each venue - "I do impersonations during the show, last year we were in Cardiff and so Shirley Bassey made an appearance, she'll probably stay at home this year and I'll do someone more local. Who's local to Wolverhampton?" ....  Jamelia? .... "Oh no love, I can't do her...!"

Ceri Dupree

This won't be the first time Ceri has performed in Wolverhampton. "It's a gorgeous theatre, the Grand... lives up to it's name. People tend to frown upon Wolverhampton, but the state of the town is nobody's fault - it's the economy. All high streets are the same wherever we've been and you can't judge a town on that. If you judge a town on it's theatre, Wolverhampton's one of the best. I did panto there in 1990 and then in 1994 I was in Hot Stuff, the musical there. I'm very much looking forward to coming back and a big reason for that is because it's a wonderful traditional theatre with a proper theatre manager. Peter Cutchie, the Chief Executive isn't one of these council officials who run many of the theatres . They'll just put anything on but he's so passionate about theatre and giving Wolverhampton the best shows he can offer. I've been in shows where nobody knocks on your dressing room door for weeks just to check if everything's OK, but everyone who knows Peter will tell you that he truly is at the heart of the theatre." 

Joe Pasquale and Ceri Dupree in a dress given to him by Danny La Rue

"I've never been to Wolverhampton before" said Lucy. "I'm really excited and I've heard so much about the theatre so I can't wait to get to started. I do 'sleep' for quite a while though... that's the deal, so I have to take up a new hobby backstage until they wake me up. Last year I did knitting, if anyone's got any suggestions I'll gladly take them!" 

Faaaaaabulousssss!

Ceri, (who also has his own female impersonations show) designs all of his own costumes, even for pantomime. "I design them all, for my own show and for pantomime which I particularly adore. When you do panto you can just go off an a tangent and the British audience get that. I had some South African friends come over to see me in panto a few years ago and they just didn't get it. For them everything had to make sense and they just couldn't comprehend the ridiculousness of the situations! You have to get into the mental mindset and then you just have fun... and it's only really the British that manage to do that. I almost did a pantomime in Los Angeles once. Yes, Los Angeles I couldn't believe it. Somebody saw me in cabaret in London and asked me to do it and I said you're kidding me? It was going to be Cinderella and I was going to be an ugly sister alongside Zsa Zsa Gabor as the Fairy Godmother... Zsa Zsa Gabor! It almost got into production before the American's decided pantomime was too silly an idea and that America just wouldn't get it... so that never happened."

Sleeping Beauty however is most definitely happening in Wolverhampton this Christmas and runs from Saturday 7th December 2013 - Sunday 19th January 2014. Tickets were on sale before last year's giant of a pantomime Jack And The Beanstalk had even ended - so book HERE now for the best available seats! 

View the trailer for the pantomime!

Check back soon for an interview with Joe Pasquale!