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.
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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.