PANTO QUEEN MICHELE MCGRATH
Normally the princess, this year Michele McGrath is taking the role of the wicked queen – oh yes she is!
T he crisp winter wind blows colour into the cheeks of pantomime star Michele McGrath as she patrols the north county Dublin Strand with her dog. She has the determination of an old-time prospector, mining for a career in a market plundered by wannabes.
McGrath is no stranger to taking the celebrity plunge. She was at one time shortlisted in the final line-up of Louis Walsh’s ill-feted girlband Wonderland. She also featured alongside Donal Skehan in Industry, a pop group which failed to break into the mainstream. Finally she tried to get her girlband Liir off the ground. The Skerries native established the group with former You’re A Star winner Leanne Moore and Kim Hayden, who competed on The Voice.
But despite their beautiful harmonies and Celtic look, they could not attract a major music label and it went on the back burner. Having come so close and almost tasting the big time, you could understand if McGrath threw in the towel. But every Christmas the singer, who also works as a PR maven in Dublin, takes to the stage to entertain that most difficult of audiences: children. ‘I’m so used to being part of a panto that it just wouldn’t feel like Christmas to me if I wasn’t taking part in one,’ she says. ‘I know that seems crazy to people who look in from the outside because you are working so hard all the way through Christmas. But you become such a family and you get to influence people’s Christmas experiences, hopefully in a positive way, and that makes you feel good. I’m really looking forward to it. People have an opinion of panto that maybe it doesn’t have the same appeal as musical theatre but I work with the most hardworking people in the business who are extremely professional and I love being in that
creative environment.’ With her porcelain features and ebony tresses, at first glance Michele is a dead ringer for Disney’s classic Snow White. For over a decade she has been traditionally cast as the saccharine princess, beloved by the audience and ultimately rescued by Prince Charming.
But this is all about to change as Michele has turned heel and will play the evil Queen Malevolent in Sleeping Beauty.
‘This is the first time in maybe ten years where I’m playing the villain,’ she says. ‘I’m normally the princess but those days are behind me now that I have graduated to the wicked queen. It’s such fun to play the baddie – I’ve never played this kind of character before so it’s good craic. It’s a bit weird though, the prospect of being booed by hundreds of screaming children. If I’m honest though, I think I’m looking forward to it in a weird way because it will egg me on and allow me to really get into the character and be even more evil.’
Celebrating ten years at the Tivoli Theatre, and 20 years in total, the hugely popular Cheerios panto this year is the magical Sleeping Beauty. Starring Alan Hughes, who returns as Sammy Sausages, he and Michele will be joined by X Factor favourite Mary Byrne as Good Queen Mary. The six-week run kicks off on Thursday and Michele has been getting into shape for this for weeks.
‘You have to make sure that you’re healthy,’ she says. ‘You have to be eating correctly and looking after your body because it’s a long run and you’re doing two shows a day. But not only that, you can’t just turn up and phone it in, you have to have high energy all the time. You have to mind yourself because being sick isn’t an option so there won’t be to many nights out over the Christmas.
‘Industry [the band] was a very different sort of performance, we were performing pop music. In panto, you’re acting, singing and dancing, so it’s three times the work. You’re also playing a specific role or character and while you do play a sort of role in the band you are still very much yourself. It’s completely different with the panto because you are playing this exaggerated role.
‘Panto is fun but in a different way in that you have to be disciplined, maybe more so with panto. My background is with musical theatre and any job that I can land where I can act, sing and dance, I really enjoy. They are very different jobs but both enjoyable and I’m very lucky to have gotten the chance to do both.’
Working in such close quarters for a lengthy duration can take its toll on personal relations and Michele admits that you have to bond very quickly as a cast if you are going to survive the intense seasonal run. ‘We have a great team there and it is why I keep coming back to the Cheerios panto. I know I’m going to sound really old now but I’ve been part of it on and off for 11 years now, since it started off in Liberty Hall.
‘The camaraderie is so important and it’s actually why I go back all the time – you need to get on with people if you’re going to work that closely with them.
‘The team that we have now from Alan and Karl right down the line are brilliant and we always have great fun off stage, which is key,’ she says of the TV3 presenter and his husband Karl Broderick. ‘It has to be because you have in excess of 69 shows to get through. Those are the guys who will get you through a performance when maybe the energy levels are down or you aren’t in your best form.
‘You have to be able to turn it on, you need to have that friend or co-worker who will help you push through because children don’t care if you’re tired. You have to do it. I know it might seem
daunting playing for children but I actually love it. Children are your worst critic. If you are not credible or if you aren’t giving it your all, kids will just call you out on it. They have no problem standing at the side of the stage and shouting it up at you.
‘You just never know what is coming out of their mouths next so you have to give 110% and give that high energy. Plus we are all aware that it is an expensive time of the year and people are spending their money to have a Christmas show with us. That is a big responsibility and we all want to give them the time of their lives.’
Michele won’t be investing in any mistletoe this Christmas having come out of a long-term relationship with Cathal Pendred. The model and the former UFC star called it quits before Christmas last year and it was widely reported that the split was amicable, with no hard feelings between the pair. Michele insists that she has no time for romance and that for the next two months she is basically married to the job.
‘There is no man on the scene,’ she laughs. ‘I keep getting asked that and I have no time for a man anyway. I am going to live in a theatre for a couple of months. I have no time for romance.
‘I’m not opposed to it but I have no time. Babies are great and I love children but for now I’m just too busy.’
One of the major downsides that comes with panto work is a somewhat subdued Christmas period. You end up exerting all your energy, making sure the punters are in the Christmas spirit that you ultimately sacrifice your own. For a start, Michele only gets two days off within a six-week run, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. And while she does stay off the alcohol on Christmas Day, she says it’s a far cry from the like of professional footballers, who can’t even eat their turkey dinner with their families.
‘I go home to my family in Skerries and we have this big family dinner on Christmas Eve and then I will go and meet all my school friends for a few drinks in the local,’ she says. ‘Christmas Day is very chilled – it has to be because we’re back in the panto the next day. I help cooking the dinner and I take my dog to the beach for a walk and then it is on to the couch watching movies. It’s very quiet because we have two shows the next day.
‘It’s not the same as the Premiership footballers though who can’t eat, because I will eat everything! I indulge in the food because that’s what Christmas Day is for us – I just won’t have any alcohol. I usually go away for two weeks after the show ends to get some sun and just recharge the batteries. I probably will just take a week off this year because I have to be back for work but it’s more just to switch off and get away from the cold for a bit. You definitely need a holiday after the show – I just haven’t decided where.’
The acting world has been thrust into the media spotlight given recent accusations against Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey. And while Michele has been in the business for over a decade she has been lucky to avoid any such unwanted attention.
‘I’ve been so lucky, I’ve never experienced anything like that in Ireland, ever,’ she insists. ‘Anyone I have ever worked with over the years has treated me with the height of respect and I have never personally come across anything like that.
‘I’ve heard stories from people I know who live in LA or Hollywood that they have come across it but I can only speak for myself and I can only say that I have been really lucky and have only had really positive experiences.’
VISIT tivoli.ie for times and ticket details