BWW Interviews: Paul O'Grady, Bradley Walsh and Dick and Dom On CINDERELLA

The Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham is the proud host of the "world's biggest panto", Cinderella, this Christmas. It may only be on for five days in the run-up to Christmas but they will be playing up to 4,500 people per performance twice a day; a prospect that celebrity cast members Paul O'Grady, Bradley Walsh and Dick & Dom are chomping at the bit for.

TV presenters Dick & Dom (Richard McCourt and Dominic Wood) are household names for the majority of people, particularly those with young children. Saying that, the duo have been together for eighteen years now so it may even be you who enjoyed their many game shows when you were younger! Still best friends after all these years, they have rarely done any professional jobs as individuals. Dick plays Prince Charming and Dom plays Dandini in this epic scale of a pantomime - purely this way round because of their heights of course rather than their talent, the men assure me!

When speaking to Paul O'Grady and Bradley Walsh, you could almost mistake them for being a double act as well! Although they have never worked on stage together before, they have done plenty of TV work together. O'Grady and Walsh both have huge careers under their belt and are thrilled to be working together in a venue "sensational for the city" of Birmingham. They also feel the show is very "special for the venue" and based on their excitement surrounding the project, it's easy to see why.

Dick and Dom, have you performed in Birmingham before?

Dick: We have done a lot of filming in the city but we have never been on stage here before.

Dom: We are really looking forward to it, it's going to be amazing. Couldn't be bigger! It really is the world's biggest panto. We are in at the deep end as well because we have never performed in a panto together before. We were approached by Jon Conway who said he was putting together a 'little' show in Birmingham where there's going to be four and a half thousand people per show and did we fancy doing it? We thought it sounded perfect! He said there are going to be bhangra dancers and we arrive on horseback through the audience - it just sounds awesome!

With the show being on such a large platform, how will you ensure that a person watching from the back row of the arena gets the same experience as someone at the front?

Dick: We are used to doing big set-ups such as festivals so we are used to massive crowds and I think the show will work really well in the arena.

Dom: We always play to the back row because they have paid for their tickets as well so they are equally as important - you have got to reach them. A lot of the games and interaction we will do involves everybody so they will feel like a part of the show.

There are a huge amount of pantos across the country. Why should people come and see this one?

Dick and Dom: Us! *lots of laughter*

Dom: A lot of the time in theatre, there is a formality - you sit down and you watch a show. This is going to be like one big arena party.

Paul: It's got everything in it. Looking at the cast list of over 100, we have a gospel choir, horses, reindeer, 3D and you have got me hanging off a rope 2000 feet in the air as the Fairy Godfather - that's worth the price of a ticket alone!

Paul, you are used to performing in pantos as your alter ego, Lily Savage, but how do you feel about essentially being yourself this time round?

Well, I was myself playing Genie of the Lamp in Wimbledon...well, I looked like a smurf as I was painted bright blue! Lily currently works at HSBC and money laundering in Geneva!

Tell us a bit about your non-conventional character of the Fairy GodFATHER in the show.

Well, normally with the Fairy Godmother, they are all quite old and 'dithery'. My character's not. He's a wicked fairy who has reformed so there's a slight edge to him. But he's a good guy; he keeps his wand in a violin case like the Godfather.

Will Olga (Paul's dog) be joining you on stage this Christmas?

I might bring Olga up but I don't know how she'd be on stage, she only does TV and she's very particular - it's written in her contract! Buster would, though, he would stroll on and sit there; you would never get rid of him! He was in Annie and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Michael Ball hated him! He used to run on in the sweet factory scene and whilst all the other dogs were trained and would run straight off, Buster would just sit there - stealing the limelight!

Will your grandchildren be coming to see the show?

They will be. Seeing me perform gives my grandson ideas though, he goes off and decides he wants to be on the stage and do magic. Once I was flying in a show for Halloween and he went into school when he was four and said "my gan-gan's a witch!"

You played the Child Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Did you enjoy that role?

The character is quite a solitary creature so I used to spend a lot of time in the dressing room and therefore I didn't know many of the cast. The whole thing about doing a show is that it's meant to be like a family and a social life surrounds it but unfortunately I didn't have that which is why I'm looking forward to this show as it won't be like that. I'm hoping to catch my mate Tony Maudsley in Hairspray at the Alex this Christmas and Julian (Clary) is at the Hippodrome too.

Would you consider doing more theatre?

I did a play not so long ago with Celia Imrie at the Finborough and I got a Holby City job out of that after a Casting Director came along so yes, I like theatre. You need it really as it does you the world of good creatively.

Bradley, you have had a vast career in presenting and acting. Do you have a preference at all?

No, I don't actually, everything I do I love, otherwise I wouldn't do it. There's no point doing a job where you're uncomfortable or doing something you dislike. I think the opportunity to do something like this show for five days is heaven. It's the biggest panto ever made with the biggest cast. There is something for everyone and a lot going on. We have got trapeze, high wires, circus acts - it's extraordinary, we have got the lot.

It sounds like it is going to be an incredibly complex show to tech!

Paul: *sarcastically* Oh I can't wait for the tech!...No, I'm not the best person in a tech because I'm impatient. I have to go out of the theatre, it's the worst bit.

It's unusual for a panto to have such a short run but presumably it will be really nice for you as you can enjoy the Christmas holidays with your families.

Bradley: That's the perfect thing. Also, to actually finish a show on Christmas Eve is great because everyone is in a fantastic mood. It will be magical.

Corpsing happens a lot in panto. How do you think you will manage as you have both got a great sense of humour?

Bradley: Because it's the greatest story ever told, as long as you know the script, we can deviate a little and that will be fun for us. Paul will undoubtedly catch me out as I'm the world's worst giggler!

Paul: See, I'm not, funnily enough!

Bradley: I really am! On The Chase I don't know what questions are going to appear so they deliberately try and catch me out. So if anything happens on stage, I will probably lose it!

Paul: Surprisingly I can hold myself together very well but I'm the one that does terrible things to make others laugh. In Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the shop used to open up like a Christmas card and the guy playing the Toymaker always used to forget his lines. I came out as the Child Catcher and one half of the set suddenly closed so I said to the Toymaker - "ah, so I see it's half day closing on a Wednesday" and he just went to pieces! Admittedly that did make me laugh but I had to try and restrain myself as you can't laugh as the Child Catcher. It's very infectious and when it's a genuine corpse, the audience love it.

Bradley: Absolutely. Although I've been in shows when they have tried to recreate something funny that happened in rehearsal and they have had to cut it out because it's not spontaneous. A rehearsed corpse is no good at all. You can't fake it because it seems very pretentious then and makes it seem like you are not having a good time. But that won't be the case with us this Christmas!

Cinderella plays at the Barclaycard Arena from 20-24 December. Tickets can be purchased here: http://www.barclaycardarena.co.uk/whats-on/cinderella.

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