Encore after 52 years
Actor Nick Wakeham returns to his am- dram roots in Ayr
It is indeed great to be back, my life has gone full circle. The new show is an absolute hoot
His acting life has turned full circle - after a rather long road of 52 years.
It was as a wide- eyed 13- year- old that George Miles signed up for the Ayr Civic Theatre stage with the Victor Graham Players, joining Ayr Fort Players two years later.
He has spent just about all of his pro theatrical career in England.
Doing everything from being in Aladdin with Lulu to looking after the wardrobe of drag queen Danny La Rue for three years.
Now aged 66 and with his stage name Nick Wakeham, he’s finally back in Ayr.
And Nick said: “It is indeed great to be back, my life has gone full circle.
“I think there is one long- time lady member of the audience I worked with who still remembers me from all that time ago.
“I can’t wait to meet her.”
Nick, a former pupil of Belmont and Carrick Academies, is now in rehearsal for ‘ Don’t Get Your Vicars in a Twist.’
He was with Ayr Fort from 1968 to 72 under his real name George Miles - appearing in three plays - before he went south to drama school.
His debut with them was as Johnnie Kerr in a Scottish comedy ‘ Toom Byres.’
After a spell on Skye, he now calls New Cumnock home.
Nick credits all his early work in Ayr including four years with the Ayrshire Philharmonic, with being ahead of the game before drama school at Manchester Poly.
He recalled: “I already had my equity card, which really pissed them off! They ended up moving me into second.”
Training in acting, opera and costume design, his career has been filled with dramas, TV ads including Murray Mints and Skol lager, modelling, opera, pantomime and musicals – appearing in as well as directing.
He is a veteran of many pantos in all sorts of UK theatres, including his first pro gig in Glasgow, ‘ Babes in the Wood’ with Jimmy Logan and Russell Hunter.
His career has taken many twists and turns, and while he never made it “big,” he was always able to carve out a living.
“As long as the money was coming in, I didn’t mind what I was doing,” he noted.
Nick ran all publicity and merchandising for The Rocky Horror Show for eight years before becoming general manager at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London.
He then worked as a copy writer on all publicity leaflets and brochures for Dewynters, one of the biggest theatre marketing companies in the world.
Since retiring last year, it’s unsurprising he’s beenlured back to theatre, albeit the more relaxed amateur arena.
Nick said: “I got in touch with the Fort Players and it just so happened a week later they were doing a read through for casting the new play.
“I got cast as an old Shakespearean actor in ‘ Don’t Get Your Vicars in a Twist.
“It is a farce set in the 1990s when female vicars began to be ordained.
“I am playing Ronald Harvey who has a drink problem. “The show is an absolute hoot.”
The show is on at the Ayr Gaiety between March 12 and 14, tickets available now.