You might not spot Princess Jasmine if she walked past you in the street, but that’s something actress Michelle Hardwick has become used to over the years.
Fans would certainly recognise her in her 60s gear as ever-present character Lizzie Hopkirk from TV’s The Royal, who she’s played for six years.
Now resident at the Lincoln’s Theatre Royal for the next five weeks, she’ll be sharing the stage with veteran comedy duo Cannon and Ball, ‘Confessions’ film star Robin Askwith, and Lincoln's own panto dame Steve Barclay as Widow Twankey.
And with the curtain rising on the first performance yesterday, the hard work is only just beginning.
“It is hard work,” she said. “It can be three shows a day, sometimes, and we’ve got a two-hour show. There are 53 shows ahead of us!
“It’s an odd one, panto, because you only have five or six days of rehearsals. I learn my lines before I get there and then concentrate on the songs.
“In television you can be getting up at 6am, sitting in make-up by 6.30am and then it can be 12-hours plus.
“There’s more adrenaline on stage in panto, though, you’ve got to be quick, and working with people like Tommy and Bobby I have to be careful they don’t make me laugh because I’m playing a straight character.”
Michelle started off on The Royal when she was 25 and did eight series in all. In fact, she worked with Bobby Ball on one story while he was doing straight acting.
Working with Cannon and Ball is a privilege and a pleasure, she said: “It’s natural to them; they are such professionals. It’s been a good mix of laughing and not too much messing about.
“It’s fabulous for me because when I was younger I wanted to go to see them. I did have red braces that said ‘Rock on Tommy’ on them, but I haven’t dared tell them that!”
In panto, of course you can get away with any slip-ups. But not so much when Michelle is on stage by herself or in a two-hander.
That’s why her musical numbers are so important, because she up there on her own and the audience can share her love of music.
“I’m not a trained singer,” she said, “I’m an actress who can hold a tune! I enjoy singing, and if you enjoy something it makes it so much better.”
She’s all for traditional panto, and happy there’s a female principal boy as Aladdin, and that last year when she was in a Cinderella, there was a female prince, in Dandini.
So what’s her panto highlight this season? “For me it’s the scenes like the one where I am choosing the lamp and the kids are going through the roof – it’s the reaction from the children, being on stage and bringing them in to the show. It’s magical.”
First published in the Lincolnshire Echo.
