Blooming Jason

JASON Manford can now add touring musical star to his list of achievements after stand-up, writer, actor and radio and TV presenter, following his decision to take on the role of downtrodden accountant Leo Bloom in the new version of hit show The Producers.

With his latest massive comedy tour, First World Tours, recently completed and sales of the DVD version going well, the Salford-born performer has every right to sound a little breathless as he dashes off a series of interviews about The Producers visiting Sunderland Empire in May.

A phone call seeking an availability check was Manford’s first indication that he was in line for Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan’s musical, which has collected 12 Tony awards and three Olivier awards.

“I was asked about next year and I knew I wouldn’t be doing a comedy tour for 18 months to two years, so I was free. They said, ‘Would you like to do The Producers?’ and it’s a show that I love and it was really exciting. I went for a meeting and did an audition using the accent and the songs and it was, ‘Let’s do it’.”

Manford feels that the US accent isn’t really a problem for the English now. “Most people can do one. Even my kids are fine and they do all the dialogue from Frozen in an American accent. There’s the odd word here and there that you have to think about, but I’ll be fine.”

He jokes about the “chemistry meetings” that lie ahead when his co-star Max Bialystock is cast for the tour involving two cash-strapped Broadway producers trying to stage a certain flop to scam investors.

“The meetings are to meet other actors to see if you’ve got chemistry with them. They’ve obviously got a few people in mind,” says Manford.

He does know that eccentric celebrity dancer Louie Spence will be part of the cast staging the fabulously awful Springtime For Hitler.

“I don’t know if I count that as a blessing or a curse, but to be fair to him I’ve met him a couple of times and he’s a brilliant dancer and he’s obviously very disciplined when it comes to performing and he’s well thought of in the theatre world. His song is Keep It Gay and who can you think of, other than Louie Spence, to bring that song to life. I’m looking forward to what he brings to the show,” laughs Manford.

Does Manford have a future in musicals. “Well, let’s not go that far. I’ve got at least a six-month future in musicals. I’ve always loved musicals ever since school when I did Bugsy Malone, Annie and Oliver and then, because of the stand-up, I sort of forgot about it because it wasn’t the world I’d gone for,” he says.

Then, victory in ITV’s Born To Shine led him to join Alfie Boe on tour and then go on the West End stage in Sweeney Todd with Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton.

“Sweeney Todd went really well with good reviews and people said nice things about me and then I was just biding my time and waiting for something else to come up,” says the comic who agrees that it was a tough decision to try another kind of entertainment career when it might have been easier to stay with comedy and TV success.

“I mean, it is hard because I did a Christmas show for charity with an orchestra and the gear-charnge from stand-up into a song is quite drastic, especially when you’re trying to sing the song properly and not putting any comedy into it,” he says.

Manford, who began his career in 1999 and was voted The City Life North-West Comedian of the Year six gigs later, has few thoughts of slowing down at the moment.

“Maybe it’s a way of avoiding my four kids, but to be honest at least 50 per cent of the time they are on tour with me. No, I think it’s an odd thing when people talk to you about taking a break after a big comedy tour. It’s my job isn’t it? I look at people who work nine to five all week and wonder, ‘How do you do it?’ So it’s relevant,” he says. However, in Manford’s case each tour he undertakes has millions of pounds at stake, which is a little different to the average nine to fiver.

“Even, while I’m doing The Producers I’ll probably be writing the next tour. I don’t know what I’m going to call the next one, and it’s scary because I’ll have my agent phoning me up and saying ‘We’ve sold another 5,000 tickets’ and I’m thinking ‘What for? It’s something that doesn’t exist yet.”

Prompted on the accounting powers of Leo Bloom, Manford admits that he’s no figures expert.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be rich with my family. I sign whatever I’m asked to sign. To me, I come from nothing – probably below nothing – and we got our school uniforms from a women’s shelter and we were given the money for our only holiday in Wales. So, when you’ve come from that much nothing to doing all right and being able to look after your parents and grandparents and be comfortable is fine. I couldn’t enjoy my life if I see people around me struggling. For me, I just think you have to take it while you can.

“The tap on the shoulder will happen and I’ll be told, ‘Go back to the call centre’. You never know. If you pick the wrong show that’s it.”

Manford hasn’t picked apart The Producers tour, which begins in Bromley in March and ends in Dublin in July, in terms of venues but views Sunderland “as a big old space” and is looking forward to his home city of Manchester.

“That’s where my family will be coming to see the show. I always look forward to the North-East because it’s one of those special places and has a rich heritage of comedy. I’ve been in the dressing room that Sid James used (the night he died at the Empire) and they tell you all about it just before you go on. Great... and I’m about to go on in ten minutes.

“There’s a respect you get from the North-East for being up there in the first place. It can be tough. In the early days it was a tough gig, but once you’ve got them on your side they’re with you. That’s what I’ve always loved about the North-East.”

• The Producers, Sunderland Empire, Monday, May 11 to Saturday, May 16. Box Office: 0844-871-3022 or atgtickets.com