Dame Chris is loving the great Portsmouth panto project

SussexWorld

Chris Aukett is delighted to return to the New Theatre Royal in Portsmouth this Christmas as Dame Dorothea in Beauty and the Beast running from December 13-January 5.

Transcript

00:00Good morning, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. It's lovely

00:07to start thinking about Panto again, and we've got Beauty and the Beast at the new Theatre

00:11Royal in Portsmouth this Christmas, from December the 13th to January the 5th. Lovely to speak

00:17to Chris Orkus again. Now, astonishingly, Chris, you look like you ought to be playing

00:21Beauty in the show, but you're not.

00:24Look, I've been saying this. I've been saying this the whole time. I tried to get it in

00:29my contract, they wouldn't listen to me, and yet here we are as Dame.

00:33Really?

00:34But I appreciate it, thank you.

00:35And you're going to be upstaged by Beauty then, are you?

00:39No. I mean, to be fair, they have got someone that is much prettier than I am, but still,

00:48it would be nice to be considered.

00:50And you weren't!

00:52I wasn't!

00:54But equally, Dame is a fantastic role to have. And last year, at the same venue in Portsmouth,

01:01was your first year as Dame.

01:02It was my first year, yeah.

01:03And that was a learning experience. What did you learn about being Dame that you'll bring

01:08back this year, do you think?

01:10Well, I did Ugly Sister for 10 years, which is obviously, you know, it feels like the

01:15same sort of thing, and it wasn't. It was completely different. The Ugly Sister is a

01:21villain. Ultimately, a lot of their stuff is comedy, but you are a villain, and you

01:27don't have the responsibility of a Dame, of kind of keeping the energy going in a show

01:31and being much softer, but still keeping that kind of on the edge comedy thing alive. So

01:40it was a learning curve, but it was a really enjoyable one, and especially because I'd

01:44done the same thing for so long. And I'd worked with Jordan Productions for five years

01:51as Ugly Sister. So it was actually really nice to do a different show and work with

01:55different people and have a, it was a whole new experience. So the first week or so was

02:01kind of getting my head around that and working out exactly what the role was and trying new

02:06things and throwing out things that didn't necessarily work and keeping things that did.

02:10But it was really exciting as a performer to just try something different and have a

02:16bit of fun.

02:17And a big part of the pleasure was just being in Portsmouth, and several times as we're

02:20speaking, you've been talking about the project. It's a project, isn't it? The pleasure in

02:23Portsmouth to really build something special. And you are keen to commit to Portsmouth and

02:29that project.

02:30Yeah, it feels really nice to be back. This is my third year here now. And yeah, when

02:38I first, when we first did Cinderella here, it was the first Panto in many, many, many

02:42years. They'd done Christmas shows here, but they hadn't done a Panto. And so it was about

02:48letting everyone know that Panto was kind of back in town in the centre of Portsmouth

02:52at the new Theatre Royal. And now kind of word is out there. And it's been really nice

02:57to be part of that project and bringing the energy back over Christmas. And last year

03:02was, it's really, really building. And it's so lovely to be part of that. And it's nice

03:07to, it's nice to know that families are choosing the new Theatre Royal as their Panto theatre

03:12of choice. And it's just lovely to be part of that and seeing the same faces and coming

03:17back and feeling the energy. It's really nice, even today, seeing faces that I've seen over

03:23the last two or three years. It's just so, it's nice to come back and work with these

03:28people.

03:29Absolutely. Well, welcome back. And I love that eye make-up. And you really will one

03:32night love to outburst my beauty and just step into that role. Just to do yourself justice.

03:38I might put it forward. Yeah.

03:40Fantastic. Good to speak to you again, Chris. Thank you.

03:44Yeah, nice to see you. Thanks so much.

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