This show is just a dream job... it is a joy to be doing it
SOAP FAVOURITE MICHAEL STARKE TELLS MARION MCMULLEN HOW HE IS DREAMING OF A WHITE CHRISTMAS
Have you been perfecting your American accent to play army General Waverly in the UK tour of White Christmas?
(Laughs) All I play now are Americans of a certain age in shows like Anything Goes, Hairspray and Waitress, so I’m quite used now to the accent. I used to drive my kids wild if I spoke with an accent when we were out.
They’d say ‘You’re an idiot, people know who you are’, but I think I could go into a shop now and try an Irish accent or one I had been in contact with that day and I would be fine.
White Christmas is such a classic musical. Is it the perfect present for the holidays?
It’s just a dream job. It really is. It’s a love story, it has all those great Irving Berlin songs, director Ian Talbot and the cast with Lorna Luft and (The Wanted’s) Jay Mcguiness is amazing.
And, at the heart of it, is the General and they are doing everything to help him. It’s just a joy to be doing it. It’s a bit special.
I’m an emotional peanut. I cry like a baby, but I want to tell the story and move the audience.
Does the tour mean you escape Christmas shopping this year?
(Laughs): I don’t think so. The tour ends back home for me in Liverpool and we have three young grandchildren now.
We have Buddy who is 22 months old and he’s like Wreck-it Ralph. He is angelic-looking with long flaxen hair and beautiful blue eyes and big chubby cheeks and then he rushes in and kicks down all the building blocks. He just giggles all the time. And there is Ripley, a good north Yorkshire name. My wife and I are there for babysitting duties at the drop of a hat.
Could there be a third generation of actors on the way?
There could be. My granddaughter Flora is three-and-three-quarters now and will be coming to see White Christmas. She’s never seen her grandad perform before and I hope she’s going to be delighted. She watches her mum (she is also an actress) in rehearsals and her other grandad says ‘I can’t see her being an engineer’.
I do think acting is in the genes. Look at Lorna Luft (who plays Martha Watson in the tour) and her legacy. She’s Judy Garland’s daughter and a legend in her own right. She looks great and sounds great and is so funny. We were talking with her about great musicals and songs and asked, ‘Did you ever work with Frank Sinatra?’ and she just said ‘He was my godfather’. It was a jawdropping moment. We are just loving the stories. You look at Lorna and you are one step from Broadway and all that great history.
You made your mark in soaps like Brookside and Coronation Street. Could you go anywhere without being recognised?
At the time, living it, it was difficult to go and pick up my children from school or go to the shops. I would say 99.9% of people were just friendly and wanted to talk about my character. I was lucky in Brookside that I was playing Sinbad, who was likeable, but it could be a little bit smothering. I remember Anna Friel, with the whole Jordache storyline of the body under the patio, and I thought she handled it really well. Brookside was big in Scotland, London and Ireland. I was very lucky and then I did Coronation Street.
I used to say people don’t really believe the characters are real, but people would come up and start talking to me and would know everything. They would say ‘You know what’s going to happen to you? That bloke is going to run off with your girl’. And they were right. They were always one step ahead.
It was mind-boggling but it’s the greatest compliment in the world when people come up to say how much they’ve liked your work on a character. People love the soaps and you can see that in their faces.
Was it a relief getting back on stage again after the lockdowns?
I went along to audition for Waitress just so I could be around people again instead of only seeing someone on Zoom or Facetime. Then I got the part. My mum had just passed away but I didn’t say anything the first week of rehearsals. It took me some time to acclimatise and the songs in that show are heartbreaking. It was emotionally charged. White Christmas is also emotional. People are going to be sitting in the audience and just transported. The show gives everyone such a lift.
People love soaps and you can see that in their faces.
Michael on meeting Brookside and Corrie fans
You’ll be 65 this month. Any birthday plans?
(Laughs) I could be on my own stuck in a bed and breakfast. I’ve picked out my own present. I don’t like vouchers but the family say ‘you’re so hard to buy for’ when it comes to birthdays and Christmas. I don’t feel older. In my head I’m about 40.
I’ll be on tour for my birthday so I’ll probably go out somewhere to celebrate.
■ Visit whitechristmasthemusical. co.uk for ticket details