Chris Hayward : There’s Nothing Like A Dame
January 17, 2009
When you interview someone you never quite know what to expect. It can be prearranged questions only, a structured conversation where you know the interviewee does not really want to be there in the first place or the other extreme when the questions go out of the window and you end up chatting. Luckily for me that is what happened when I caught up with Chris Hayward at the Theatre Royal, Newcastle.
Chris is just ending his second panto run at the Theatre starring alongside North East favourites Clive Webb and Danny Adams, in Robinson Crusoe and the Caribbean Pirates. He is already booked to join the father and son comedy act as they return to Newcastle next year in Cinderella.
I caught up with Chris immediately after he had finished the 1 p.m. Sunday performance and with just one and hours between shows I was delighted that he was willing to see me at all.
During the performance I had been in the wings so had seen all his costumes close at hand and noted how much work and detail went in to his fabulous creations. Chris has fifteen entrances during Robinson Crusoe and immediately on leaving the stage races to change in to the next costume.
Compared to Aladdin (last year’s show) where he had ten entrances, as Mrs Crusoe he leads dance routines and has a much larger part to play. Next year he is playing Baroness Rita in Cinderella and during out chat, Michael Harrison (writer and producer of the pantomimes) popped in to the dressing room and within seconds Chris and Michael were exchanging their latest ideas for the Baroness. So it will be interesting to see how these ideas develop by the time the panto come to life in December, but I will not spoil any surprises here.
My purpose on talking to Chris was to discover his North East roots and it turned out he is originally from Byker. Although he moved south for many years, he is back in the North East now, but limits his performances on stage to pantomime. Amazingly, during his years as one of the Ugly Sisters in Cinderella, there were no North East pantomimes. He told me that his Grandmother had been a performer also and her work was outside the region as well, so three pantomimes in a row, at the Theatre Royal, his home territory, is a new experience.
During the year Chris not only designs his costumes but works on other shows in the wardrobe department and shortly starts work on the musical Jolson, which will bring him back to the Theatre Royal when on tour. He has worked on many West End musicals and throughout the entire run of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the London Palladium, Chris work tirelessly in the wardrobe department.
However I was surprised when Chris told me any costumes he designs for himself are only worn by him. They are never loaned or hired out, under any circumstances, as they are personal to him. When you see the work that has gone in to the costumes close hand you start to understand why. At the finale of the show he wears what can only be described as a glittering “Tyne Bridge” model , which he told me his Father made. It is truly a work of art.
During this year’s show he performs a strip routine, which he compared to the one John Inman used to perform when he played Dame. However, it had reminded me of Terry Scott when he played one of the Ugly Sisters in Cinderella, with Jimmy Logan as Buttons, in the late 1960s. It is the first real show I can remember seeing at the Theatre Royal and I hope my memory has not failed me on this one. Chris told me I was the first person to confirm to him that Terry Scott had played the Ugly Sister at the Royal around forty years ago. So I have been trying to find someone else ever since who remembers this, to ensure my mind is not paying tricks.
At this point Chris and I started to chat about backstage at the London Palladium, the Royal Variety Performance (which he used to attend up to around ten years ago, while I still go having, just clocked up my 22nd show) and different artistes that he had worked with or knew. We had stepped out of interview mode and I would have loved to have continued the chat for hours. If he ever gave me the opportunity I would be there in a second to continue the conversation, as the stories he could tell will be fascinating, maybe during his time here with Jolson or next year’s pantomime the opportunity will arise.
However, I was conscious that there was an hour left before the next show and it was time to go, although there was no pressure or indication from Chris that we needed to end. I think he is too much of a gentleman for that. In the corner of the dressing room was a blow up bed that allows him to grab some rest between shows, with less than an hour to go before the five p.m. performance I hope he managed it.
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