Hi ho, high low! Meet Snow White’s dwarf – he’s a giant on stage
Jay Lusted, 29, may only be 3ft 7in but he’s a giant on stage playing one of Snow White’s dwarfs…
There’s something magical about the first ‘High ho! High ho!’. As soon as the Seven Dwarfs march on to the stage singing, the audience – especially the children – are mesmerised.
I’m 3ft 7in, so you could say Snow White And The Seven
Dwarfs was written for me. This is my seventh year in panto and, yes, my seventh as one of Ms White’s Dwarfs.
I’ve played Sneezy four times, Happy twice, Sleepy once and this year I am Cheeky. It’s a great role. Because of copyright issues you can’t call them by their traditional names.
Every year the panto gets better. This production, at St Helens Theatre Royal, Merseyside, has Coronation
Street and Wild At Heart actress Lucy-Jo Hudson as Snow White and comedian Johnny Vegas as the Mirror.
To play a good dwarf, you have to have special chemistry with the other six, and we’ve got it in spades this year. We all know each other, as we’ve been on the panto dwarf circuit for a while.
Joking aside, we take the show very seriously. A good panto has just the right mix of baddies, dames and lots of audience participation. The jokes have to be topical and appeal to all the family – from the kids right up to Granny.
Pantomime is a part of many families’ Christmas traditions. It’s an honour to play a role in that, so I see it as my duty to make sure I give my all on stage.
Some days we do three performances – an early morning, a matinee and an evening show. Everyone who comes in deserves two hours of fun, they expect the best possible show, so you can’t be jaded.
Having said that, there’s lots of high jinks backstage. Four of us share a dressing room and there’s always a few pranks on the go. One of my mischievous fellow dwarfs is always hiding in the dressing room and jumping out, causing much laughter.
Being in pantomime means you get to be a part of lots of other people’s Christmases, but you don’t get a lot of time for your own. I get one day off in early December, then Christmas Day. By the end of the run, we will have put on more than 65 shows: that doesn’t leave a lot of time for my own family.
This is only my second year
as a married man. I married my beautiful wife, Chloe, in August 2016, but I have been in panto ever since she met me, so she is used to it.
Chloe is 5ft 7in, so 2ft taller than me. But the height difference has never bothered me or her. She is the woman of my dreams.
My parents, Dave and Dawn, are average size and there was no history of dwarfism in our family until my older brother, Phil, was born.
Later, tests showed both my parents were carriers of the rare genetic disease that causes the condition. They were told they had a onein-four chance of having another similar baby, but they wanted a sibling for Phil and that’s me.
When I was growing up, my mum told me it was OK to be different and that is pretty much my attitude to life.
I can’t think of any negative experiences; I try to see everything in a positive light.
Occasionally, I catch children looking at me curiously, maybe pointing, and their parents scold them. In that situation, it’s the parents who annoy me. Of course, now and then kids stare – I am a bit different, but aren’t we all? Isn’t that the lesson in life? We are all unique.
When I left school, I followed my dream to be an actor. Obviously, I love doing panto but I also work the rest of the year as a TV presenter and a motivational speaker.
I’ve just done a new series for S4C – the Welsh-language public-service channel – and I’ve been a UK champion badminton player. I’ve also recently been elected as a Tory councillor in our hometown of Rhos-on- Sea in Conwy, north Wales.
So, you could say my size has never held me back. I’m 29 now and I can honestly say that, if I had my life over, I wouldn’t change a thing. I’ve only achieved the things I’ve achieved because of who I am, and that includes my size.
But, right now, it’s back to work I go. Hi ho! Hi ho! Hi ho! Hi ho!