BWW INTERVIEWS: Adam Cooper

You're currently choreographing an opera at Notting Hill - how's that going?

Very well, thank you!

And then you're preparing for your show, Shall We Dance, at Sadler's Wells.

I'm really excited. I've been working on it for three years - it's a dance-heavy show, a spectacle, with lots of different styles. This is my 20th year as a professional, so I'm using Shall We Dance as a celebration of all the styles I've danced in over the years, and of our enjoyment of dance.

The idea came from Raymond Gubbay and the Rodgers and Hammerstein Trust, who suggested doing a show using the music of Richard Rodgers. So that was the basic concept - then I had to choose what music to use!

I was going to say! How did you narrow it down?

It took three months to go through the catalogue and put it into categories. Eventually I started to see groups of geography emerging - America, Wild West, Far East - and then a clearer idea started to come together. But there was so much to choose from! We started to piece bits together, but I didn't want to have any singing - we wanted it to be all about dance. If people started to listen to the lyrics, I'd have to present it in a certain way, and I'd begun to imagine things differently. So this will give people the chance to listen to the music in a different way, but they'll certainly already know at least some of the music - there are songs from The King And I, The Sound Of Music, and South Pacific, and more.

How on earth have you managed all this while having a new baby in the house?

I have a very understanding wife! It's been a mad nine months since Naomi was born, I've been incredibly busy, and she and Sarah have been able to come everywhere with me. That means I've been able to see Naomi develop and I've not missed out on anything.

You choreographed Carousel, but got called in recently to dance the Carnival Boy solo. What happened there?

They were down by three cast members - there are three boys who can dance the main part in the ballet, and all three of them were injured or ill. Luckily I'd been rehearsing the cast recently so the steps were fresh in my mind, and it turned out to be fun! It's a fabulous show, and this was a great opportunity to feel even more a part of it.

When will we get to hear you sing again?

Soon. I'm in White Christmas this year. We play Plymouth for two weeks, then we're up at the Lowry in Salford over Christmas. I'm appearing alongside AlEd Jones and Suzanne Shaw, so it should be good. I love performing in musical theatre - I've done The Wizard of Oz and Zorro recently, and it's so nice to get back.

 

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