Why Worthing's dame keeps on coming back for more

SussexWorld

Worthing-based Ross Muir is delighted be back in Worthing panto this Christmas where he will be our Queen Dorothia over the festive season.

Transcript

00:00 Good morning, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor for Sussex Newspapers. It's always

00:06 lovely to speak to Ross Muir, who is back in Worthing in panto for the third successive

00:11 time. Now, you live in Worthing, so that's a huge convenience, but you also clearly do

00:16 love Worthing Panto. What is special about Worthing Panto? What do they get right, do

00:21 you think, in terms of audience enjoyment?

00:25 I think what they get right is the casting. They bring together a diverse group of talented

00:32 performers from different areas of the entertainment industry. So you get some great singers, you

00:39 get some really good comics, and you get occasionally the odd classically trained actor like myself.

00:44 That's where you fit in.

00:48 That's where I fit in, to give some character acting performance. And I think they get the

00:54 script right. They hit the tone for Worthing perfectly, and the panto appeals to all ages,

01:02 you know, so it's very accessible and family friendly.

01:05 And obviously it helps, it's a really good solid loyal audience for panto in Worthing,

01:09 isn't it?

01:10 Oh, definitely. I mean, the ticket sales, I think, through the roof again. I mean, we

01:15 say every year they've exceeded last year's, you know, targets. But I think there's just

01:20 such a high demand for that escapism at Christmas. And of course, Worthing used to have two pantos

01:27 many years ago. But now it's gone down to one. I think the demand for tickets is even

01:33 greater.

01:34 And you say the demand for escapism. Well, you're a case in point, because as a classically

01:38 trained actor, here you are on the stage as the Dame, an upper class Dame, but a Dame.

01:44 Yes.

01:45 Why the Dame?

01:47 I love playing the Dame. I only played it for the first time last year, Dame Trott in

01:52 Jack and the Beanstalk. But I just really took to it. I love dressing up, always have

01:59 done, and putting makeup on and the false eyelashes and the wig. And I've become that

02:04 character. And it's great, because it gives you so much license to be naughty.

02:10 Oh, that's what it's all about, then, is it?

02:14 I mean, I try not to do too many ad libs, because I think there's always a danger of

02:20 the show overrunning. And there are professional comedians in the cast as well, who are likely

02:25 to do that. So I try to approach it more as an actor getting on with the story and comic

02:30 business coming out of the situation, the dramatic situation.

02:33 And that's your training. You see it as a character, don't you? That's the point.

02:38 I do. And I think this year's challenge is going to be interesting, because whereas last

02:42 year Dame Trott was working class, this year I'm Sleeping Beauty's mother, and I'm the

02:48 Queen. So I'm a high status character. So it's going to be interesting.

02:52 As befits you, I'm sure.

02:54 Yeah, yeah. I mean, I'll just be bossing everybody about, I guess.

02:58 But as the Dame, do you get a better rapport with the audience? You must have a closer

03:03 rapport with the audience than you do in, say, some other parts.

03:07 I think you do. I think you do to a large extent. I mean, everybody that goes to Panto

03:14 will always remember the Dame, you know, and I think they're always looking forward to

03:18 seeing who the Dame is. And I think last year, one of the nicest entrances was at the beginning,

03:25 just coming on on the milk float. And a couple of the ensemble helped me out the milk float.

03:30 And all I did was a little spin and put my arms out. And you just get a rapturous round

03:35 of applause, you know.

03:36 I'm always tempted to ask you to do that now. Brilliant. Well, always lovely to speak to

03:46 you, Ross. Good luck with this. And you're just finishing the tour at the moment and

03:49 restarting the tour in the next year of The Haunting with your own theatre company. So

03:54 clearly very busy times. Lovely to speak to you and good luck with everything.

03:58 Thank you so much, Phil.

04:00 Thank you.

04:00 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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