9:51am Thursday 27th November 2008
Viv Hardwick catches up with Pete Hillier and Ian Reddington on the second day of rehearsals of Jack And The Beanstalk at Darlington Civic Theatre.
IAN Reddington has been busy preparing to become the most hated man in Darlington, as Fleshcreep in Jack And The Beanstalk, by playing a baddie in Robin Hood.
Having bowed out of ITV’s Coronation Street as lovelorn Vernon Tomlin, his next project was a trip to Hungary to cross swords with Jonas Armstrong’s Sherwood Forest hero.
After the first day’s rehearsal for Darlington Civic Theatre’s forthcoming six-week pantomime run, Reddington chatted alongside BBC CBeebies star “Boogie” Pete Hillier, who plays Jack, about preparing to be booed or cheered on a daily basis.
Reddington says: “Robin Hood was a great warm-up for this because I was playing a sheriff-style baddie part. It was great to go from Corrie to do that. It was a really good warmup for Darlington.
“I suppose my performance was just this side of panto and we were all in full medieval costume and I was busy reading the Jack And The Beanstalk script out in the village they built.
“My character is classically evil. It’s actually one of those parts where he gets his just desserts and is sent packing from the village.”
Asked about the good and evil clash being planned for North-East audiences, Reddington points out that the plot doesn’t involve the two facing up to each other too often.
Hillier says: “We’ve known each other for a long time. It’s really nice to work with a villain who’s good at being a villain and can act really well.
Sometimes you get these villains who are personalities on television but they can’t actually pull off the panto thing. It’s nice seeing a welltrained actor that is believable.”
Reddington praises his costar and adds: “Peter is an absolute master of what he does and it’s something that I don’t know if I can do. The part of Jack is for an all-rounder and takes a lot of skill and Pete’s certainly got that. I’m hoping to learn from it. I’ve done four pantos before, so I’m not a newcomer to it, but to watch the speed of the way the panto regulars work is fascinating.”
Hillier feels it is nice when the two characters do oppose each other on stage because the audience then see the complete difference between them.
“The audience are the important part because they’ve made their decisions probably within two seconds of the curtain going up about who they want to support. Don’t forget that as much as people love Jack there will be some awkward buggers out there who will be booing him and think the evil one is great… and Ian has a way of creating a likeable villain,” he says.
Trying to get the audience on his side for local gags is the aim of Reddington, rather than challenging them to hate him for everything he does as the ally of the evil Giant.
“I’ve played parts on the darker side for years and years on the telly and you must always show them as slightly fallible or slightly weak because that’s what then makes it interesting,” he says.
Playing the hero is a departure for Hillier, who is normally cast in the comedy roles of Wishee Washee or Simple Simon.
“The thing I’ve got now is trying to be the hero. I’m not the typical lead, a six foot fourinch lad who is going to pull all the women. I’m more the comedy idiot who gets everything wrong, so it’s kind of different playing Jack because my character is going to get a lot of things wrong, but there is a serious side to him as well,” he explains.
Reddington, who has one song so far, teases Hillier over the repertoire he’s been asked to perform.
“Peter will be releasing an album and then a video called Hits Of The Beanstalk,” jokes the former soap star.
Hillier responds: “No, I think I’ve got too many musical numbers. In fact there’s a danger the audience will be get bored and want to get Jack off.”
Reddington adds: “I’ve got one singing number and for me that’s a major thing. He’s got something like five songs.
Actors come into panto and think it’s a doddle but it’s never, ever the case.”
He admits he’s already overdone his evil laugh “by trying to show everyone what a loud voice I’ve got” but promises to be in full cry for next week’s move into the theatre for next Saturday’s opening night.
“We’ve got about seven days to crack this show… and that’s a week more than TV,” he quips, having also played evil Tricky Dicky in BBC1 soap EastEnders.
Reddington talks about disappearing into “that great soap triangle” as far as TV is concerning while he revives the play, The Lemon Princess, in London. It began life at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds three years ago and features the tragic storyline of a family coping with their eldest daughter developing CJD and taking part in the government inquiry into the “mad cow” food crisis.
■ Jack And The Beanstalk runs from December 6 until January 18. Box Office: 01325- 486555.
Billingham: Forum, Goldilocks And The Three Bears, stars Darren Day, Ken Morley and the Patton Brothers. December 6-January 4. Tickets: from £10.50. Box Office: 01642- 552663 www.forumtheatrebillingham.co.uk
Consett: Empire, Snow White, December 10-January 4, stars Juliette Kaplan. Tickets: £12. Box Office: 01207-218171
Darlington: Civic Theatre, Jack And The Beanstalk, December 6-January 18, stars Ian Reddington and CBeebies star Pete Hillier. Tickets: £11- £18.50. Box Office: 01325- 486555 www.darlingtonarts.co.uk
Durham: Gala, Aladdin, December 2-January 3, stars Neil Armstrong and Donald McBride. Tickets: £13.50. Box office: 0191-332-4041 www.galadurham.co.uk
Middlesbrough: Theatre, Aladdin, December 5-January 4, Diane Youdale from Galdiators and Big Brother winner Craig Phillips. Tickets: £11.50-£12.50. Box Office: 01642-815181 www.middlesbrough.gov.uk
Newcastle: Northern Stage, Hansel & Gretel, runs until January 10. Tickets: £5.50- £18.50. Box Office: 0191-230- 5151 www.northernstage.co.uk Also: For six and unders, The Goblin Who Saved Christmas, runs until January 10. (many performances are already sold out).
Newcastle: Theatre Royal, Robinson Crusoe & the Caribbean Pirates, December 2-January 17, stars Clive Webb and Danny Adams.
Tickets: £6.50-£25. Box Office: 08448-112121 www.theatreroyal.co.uk
Newcastle: Tyne Theatre, Cinderella, December 5- January 3, stars Brendan Healy and Maxie & Mitch. Tickets: from £8.50. Box Office: 0870-145-1200 www.thejournaltynetheatre .co.uk
Richmond: Georgian Theatre Royal, The Sleeping Beauty. Tickets: £7-£17. Box Office: 01748-825252 www.georgiantheatre.com
South Shields: Sunderland, Goldilocks And The Three Bears, December 2-January 4.
Tickets: £7.50-£15. Box Office: 0191-454-1234 www.customshouse.co.uk
Sunderland: Empire, Aladdin, stars Paul Michael Glaser and Sheila Ferguson. Tickets: £7.70-£21.50. Box Office: 0844-847-2299 www.SunderlandEmpire.org.uk
York: Grand Opera House, Jack And the Beanstalk, December 12-January 4, stars Leah Bracknell, Tickets: £9- £17. Box Office/Ticketmaster: 0844-847-2322 www.grandoperahouseyork.org.uk
York: Theatre Royal, Dick Turpin, December 11-Jan 31, stars Berwick Kaler. Tickets: £10-£23. Box Office: 01904- 623568 www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk
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