Downton actress takes on Annie in T.O.
Lesley Nicol, who played Mrs. Patmore in British favourite, has had some practice being a villain
If you have trouble picturing the actress who played kind-hearted Mrs. Patmore in “Downton Abbey” as the child-hating villain in the musical “Annie,” may we suggest catching up with “The Catch?”
When the executive producers of the Shonda Rhimes drama decided to add more British actors to the cast a couple of years ago, they called Lesley Nicol, who hung up her apron as Mrs. Patmore in 2015.
“A very amazing writer called Allan Heinberg ... he wrote me an absolute bitch of a woman,” said Nicol, on the phone from Los Angeles: a London gangland matriarch who “would take you out in a heartbeat.”
So Nicol will have the nasty bit down when she comes to Toronto in April to play Miss Hannigan in “Annie” at the Ed Mirvish Theatre. What about the singing and dancing? Well, before Nicol, 64, became famous worldwide as the Crawley family’s cook on Downton, she had a career in musical theatre in her native England, beginning with “Jesus Christ Superstar” and including starring roles in “Mamma Mia!” and “Our House,” which featured songs from the ska band Madness.
She’s also currently developing an autobiographical one-woman show, featuring eight songs created by Mark Mueller (a veteran pop-rock songwriter known for the theme song from DuckTales).
“This is my trip back to theatre,” she said of Annie. “There’s still the ever-present slight fear of ‘Oh my gosh … will that be a challenge or will it be like getting back on a bike?’ I hope that’s what it will be like.”
Nicol is looking forward to playing the “very funny, crazy part” of Miss Hannigan, who runs the orphanage where Annie is living and conspires to prevent her from finding happiness with benefactor Oliver Warbucks.
“To make people laugh is a great feeling,” said Nicol, who has been rediscovering the “exciting” relationship of playing to a live audience with workshops for her one-woman show “How the Hell Did I Get Here?”
She’ll have another theatre engagement before she comes to Canada: a revival of the 1960s-set play “The York Realist” at London’s Donmar Warehouse in January, February and March.
“Then I get home for, I think, seven days and then come to Toronto.”
Her first time in this city was in September 2010 to promote the British film “West Is West” at the Toronto International Film Festival. “Downton Abbey” hadn’t started airing yet. (She also has been to Vancouver to film guest spots in “Once Upon a Time” and “Supernatural,” in which she had “quite good fun” playing a child-eating witch.)
It’s a safe bet that Nicol’s Downton pedigree will be a big draw for theatre audiences on this visit — and she’s OK with that. She and other Downton cast members were in New York recently promoting “Downton Abbey: The Exhibition” (which is there through January and then expected to tour other U.S. cities). A woman broke into tears upon encountering Nicol, who played her favourite Downton character, and Sophie McShera (who played kitchen maid Daisy) in Whole Foods.
Nicol has encountered Downton fandom as far afield as rural China, where she visited a farm as part of her work with the charity Animals Asia, which rescues moon bears from bile farms in China and Vietnam.
And, of course, Downton has opened doors to jobs in her adopted home of L.A.
“People show that they have a real emotional connection to (Downton) and to my character as well,” Nicol said. “It’s very, very touching as an actor to think that actually has an impact on them.”
“Annie” will be at the Ed Mirvish Theatre April 24 to May 27. Tickets went on sale Dec. 11. See mirvish.com for details.