Liam Mellor: "Pantomime has got a really special place in my heart"

Image Source: LinkedIn

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Provided By: Liverpool Empire Theatre

Continuing our preview of Snow White this winter at the Liverpool Empire, we spoke to Liam Mellor, who plays Muddles in the show. Liam told us about who Muddles is and why people can relate to his character, as well as some of his other experiences and his love for theatre and pantomime ...

To begin with, how did you get involved in Snow White?

Well, I was here at the Empire last Christmas for Dick Whittington, and after the show finished, the producer rung me and said "Would you like to come back this year for Snow White?" And I was like, "Yeah!" It was as simple as that.

Tell us about your character Muddles.

Muddles is Snow White's best friend. It's normally the character that I play He's in love with the Princess, he never gets the Princess; it's just a character that's always up for fun and laughter, and love as well. But to be honest, the audience mainly fall in love with Muddles; that's the love I get back if I do my job right. I play my character like a child in a big body, like Jack (in the Robin Williams film). That's the way I play it, all childlike, and my humour is mainly for the kids. Obviously, there's stuff for the adults as well, but mainly I interact with the kids to keep them happy.

What would you say is your most unusual experience from participating in panto?

I don't like to write a lot of the comedy; I like to do off-the-cuff humour and see what happens with the audience. I do a lot of ad-libbing; just ask the cast! (Laughs) So, I like to go with the flow and see what happens. I've never had anything where anybody has reacted badly, but I did have one situation last year where we did Whip and Nae Nae and we teach the kids how to do it, and this one girl turned around and said to me "Eh! That's not how you do it! This is how you do it!" And she did it and was amazing, and I was like "I've just been mugged off here by a four-year-old!" But I like it when people give me stuff back; I like to have a bit of banter, because at the end of the day it's all fun and laughter. And I like the shows to stand out; I'm not a big fan of what we call cod corpses, where something is messed up but it was supposed to be messed up, but the audience doesn't know that. I don't like that; there's always a mistake that happens in every show, so I like to go along with that and then make a big thing out of it.

What are the other highlights of your theatre career?

Well, I'm also a writer; I write a lot of pantomimes over in St Helens. This is my 11th year in pantomime, and I've been doing it since I was 17. I also went to China with a pantomime last year for 3 ½ months with Aladdin, so that was a new experience for me; that was quite good fun. But I mainly do theatre and a lot of comedy, whether it's a comedy play or whether it's a pantomime; either way, I love theatre.

You mentioned the Aladdin show in China; did you have to tailor your performance a little differently given that you were playing to a new audience?

Yeah. Well, for me, I was lucky because over there they like a lot of visual humour, so they like a lot of slapstick, which is my favourite sort of humour anyway. Also, all of the lines were translated, and there were boards above the stage and to the side of the stage that translated the language. So sometimes you'd be there performing to them, and they're looking up to these boards, or they're looking to the sides at the boards. But I put in a bit of Chinese as well, which the translators did for us, so it helps break that barrier with the audience. So my first line was "Ni hao everybody!", which means "Hello everybody!" It's amazing because if I did that, I got a really big round of applause because you've spoken their language, which was really nice. The people were lovely, and they're really respectful to people over there, so it was good fun.

Do you have any future ambitions in theatre?

I will definitely not give up doing pantomime at Christmas for anything; no matter what I was doing, whether I got a TV role or a film role, I would make sure that I would always get to do a pantomime. My granddad took me as a child to watch pantomime every year at theatres in Sheffield, and that was a very special time for me. I always used to make my granddad wait and we would be the last people to leave just because I never wanted to leave. So, pantomime has got a really special place in my heart, no matter what I do or no matter what I might like to do. I've started writing pantomimes now, which is fantastic. I've also just become an executive producer for a company on their pantomimes which I love. But I'd never give up actually performing in pantomimes.

Finally, what can the Liverpool audience expect from Snow White?

They can expect the same as last year (in Dick Whittington) but with extra jokes, extra pizzazz, extra foolery; basically, everything x 100. They loved everything I did last year which I'm very grateful for, so this time I've got to bump it up and do even more, and then maybe they'll want me back the year after.

Snow White will be delivering festive fun at the Liverpool Empire from Saturday December 10 to Saturday December 31. To book your tickets, click here.

Dick Whittington

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Format: Pantomime
Genre: Comedy
Date: December 15 2015
Location: Liverpool Empire Theatre

The Liverpool Empire is in panto season, and its festive production this year is Dick Whittington, starring a good number of famous faces and featuring plenty of funny scenarios and eye-catching moments to ensure that theatregoers of all ages would love this show.

The plot is a little less clear than in other shows, as the story takes some unexpected twists and turns, but the main story arc is that Dick Whittington (played by Kurtis Stacey) and his cat Tommy (Hayley Goold) have arrived in Liverpool looking for work, and not only do they find a job quickly working at a shop belonging to Alderman Fitzwarren (Pete Price), but he also finds love in the form of the shop owner's daughter Alice (Leanne Campbell). The city has a problem with rats, hence why the cat is of great use to Alderman, but King Rat (Warren Donnelly) still has plans to spoil everybody's plans.

For, as the main characters prepare to embark on a long trip across the sea, King Rat manages to hypnotise Dick into taking money from the Fitzwarren safe and hiding it in his travel bag, thus seeing him blamed and sent away when the discovery is made. However, Alice manages to convince her family to let Dick and Tommy join them for the journey. But this takes an errant turn too when King Rat strikes again and causes a ship-wreck, leaving the characters to swim their way to safety. They make it to Morocco (where they meet the Sultan of Morocco, also played by Pete Price), where a stand-off occurs between Dick and King Rat. Can Dick clear his name? Will King Rat get what he deserves? And will Dick and Alice get the opportunity to live happily ever after?

I really enjoyed this show: all the characters do a good job in their respective roles, with Eric Potts being the highlight of the show due to his over-the-top portrayal of Sarah the Cook, which includes some over-sized costumes that get as many laughs as the character wearing them, and a number of risqué jokes (including some involving sausage pies). Liam Mellor also provides some giggles as Idle Jack with some deliberately awful jokes, his laid-back approach to the problems that come up, and his local slang which makes some of his lines sound funnier than they are. Kurtis and Leanne are effective in the leading roles, and display their singing talents via some modern hits which had the audience clapping along and dancing. The backing dancers (some of which were dressed as rats) performed well too in their limited scenes, and we also had Sally Lindsay starring as the Fairy Fazakerley.

Perhaps the most memorable parts of the show were the spectacular scenery, from a suitably old-fashioned town setting to a glittery, opulent Moroccan palace, and the unique 3D video which was shown during the second half. The video looked at the adventures of a turtle (carried out by Idle Jack throughout the show) after the ship wreck, as he encountered fishes and even a shark. Due to the 3D effects (complete with 3D glasses for the audience) and the cool artistry of the scene, it enhanced the show as a whole, and took the production to a level above your everyday (well, every Christmas) pantomime. The opening video to the show was also unexpected, as it charted the history of English pantos and even had an X-Factor-esque intro, complete with a sing-along countdown.

Overall, I feel that this is a must-see panto for the family this Christmas. Adults will recognise the older names and will get some jokes that may fly over the heads of younger ones (one double entendre in particular was really funny, if a bit awkward in this setting), whilst the kids will love the special effects, the colourful characters, the superb settings and the general feel of this show. Make it a priority to see Dick Whittington this Christmas at the Liverpool Empire; it's a first-class Christmas extravaganza for all.

Overall Rating: 9/10 - Outstanding

Sally Lindsay to make panto debut at Liverpool Empire

Sally Lindsay

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Provided By: Liverpool Empire Theatre

Popular TV actress Sally Lindsay to make panto debut at the Liverpool Empire – Oh yes she is!

First Family Entertainment announce all-star casting for Dick Whittington

Popular TV actress Sally Lindsay, known for her roles in Coronation Street, Mount Pleasant and Ordinary Lies has never performed in a pantomime before but that’s all about to change as she’s starring in Dick Whittington this Christmas at the Liverpool Empire! ‘Oh yes she is!’

This year’s exciting all-star cast also includes Radio City’s Leanne Campbell as Alice Fitzwarren, Pete Price as and Alderman Fitzwarren, Eric Potts (Coronation Street) as Sarah the Cook and Kurtis Stacey (Emmerdale) as Dick Whittington. They will be joined by Warren Donnelly (Shameless) who makes a welcome return to the Empire this Christmas to play the villainous King Rat after appearing as Abanazar in Aladdin last year.

Sally, who will play the magical Fairy Fazakerly in this year’s production, is best known as Corrie barmaid Shelley Unwin and Lisa in Sky Living drama Mount Pleasant. Sally more recently appeared on screens in the critically acclaimed drama Ordinary Lies.

Sally commented: “I’m nervous but excited about being in my very first pantomime. The Liverpool Empire is one of the most beautiful theatres in the country and I can’t wait to be sprinkling some fairy magic there this Christmas. We’ve got a really strong cast, some of them I’ve worked with before, and I know Liverpool audiences are always up for a laugh so it’s going to be a great show. I’m really looking forward to the panto season!”

Eric Potts, also known as Coronation Street Baker Diggery Compton, will delight audiences as the hilarious dame, Sarah the Cook. Although it’s the first time Eric will perform in a pantomime here at the Empire, he is certainly no stranger to the tradition having spent the last 16 seasons appearing in pantomimes. Eric is currently writing scripts for First Family pantomimes up and down the country including this one.

Eric added: “I love writing panto scripts. Pantomime is very often a child's first visit to the theatre and it’s great that I get the chance to create an experience that they love and want to repeat. I love the great British tradition of pantomime and am honoured to be a small part of that history.”

Dick Whittington is the ultimate tale of rags-to-riches telling the story of an adventurous young man who sets off to seek his fortune on an adventure to London. But, things don’t go exactly to plan and Dick must take on the evil King Rat in his quest to win Alice’s hand.

Join Dick and his feline friend Tommy on his fun filled quest for fame and fortune! Will the streets really be paved with gold? Will he win the hand of the lovely Alice – and will he defeat the dastardly King Rat? There’s only one way to find out – come along for panto, the purr-fect way to celebrate Christmas!

This year’s pantomime is produced by First Family Entertainment, who are no strangers to the Liverpool Empire having produced previous panto extravaganzas Cinderella, Peter Pan and Aladdin.

Diane Belding, general manager at the Empire, said: “First Family are known for putting on the best quality pantomimes and we’re confident this year’s will be even bigger and even better. So, if you’re going to watch a pantomime this year, make sure it’s at the Empire. It will be here before we know it so I’d urge everyone to snap up their tickets as soon as they can!”

Dick Whittington is a fun-filled family show that promises to take audiences of all ages on a rip-roaring ride with brilliant sing-along songs, hilarious characters and lots of laughs, Dick Whittington comes to the Liverpool Empire from Saturday December 12 2015 until Sunday January 3 2016.