Panto-time

Your first married Christmas can be tricky. Which set of family should you go to? Or should you just stay on your own?

Well, local actors Alice Jackson and Jeff Nicholson have had the decision taken out of their hands – but in a good way. They are spending Christmas in panto – together – and in their home town!

Jeff and Alice in rehearsal!

Alice and Jeff are appearing in Dick Whittington and his Cat at the Watford Palace although there maybe a few eyebrows raised when you see that Alice is playing Jeff’s daughter at one point!

Alice originally trained as a dancer at Gypsy Booth School of Ballet and Theatre Arts before undertaking a Drama Degree at Hull University and an MA in Classical Acting at Central School of Speech and Drama. She works regularly as a dancer, assistant choreographer, and dance/movement coach in Film and TV, most recently Lost in Austen (ITV), The Other Boleyn Girl (Sony Films) and Little Dorritt (BBC), although you may have seen her at the Palace last year in Jack and The Beanstalk.

Jeff was born in Watford and began acting at the Palace Theatre at the age of seven! He trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts graduating in 2005 with a first class degree in performance. Since then he has appeared in Les Miserables, Sondheim’s Assassains, Carousel and Twelfth Nigh to name but a few.

We caught up with them during rehearsals to find out the joys and challenges of working together and what it’s like to be married actors!

Which parts are you playing in Dick Whittington?

Alice: I play Persil, King Neptune’s daughter plus a Londoner and an octopus!

Jeff: I play Alderman Fitzwarren and then I play my new wife’s father – King Neptune! Which is kind of odd!

Right, so you are playing Alice’s father but in real life you are newly weds! Is that weird?

Alice: No it’s all acting, it’s all a laugh!

So you’re just the characters on a stage?

Jeff: Absolutely, your private life gets left at the door really even though she’s my wife. And we don’t have too many scenes as father and daughter, so we’ll see how it goes!

Alice, you were in the panto here last year and you were engaged then, when did you get married?

Alice: We got married in July and actually got this job when we were on honeymoon! We were on a beach when Jeff got the phone call and they said ‘by the way, we are going to be offering your wife a part as well’ so it was very, very lucky.

Alice in rehearsal!

So your first newly wed Christmas is going to be working together? In many ways that solves a little problem because that first Christmas you have to decide which family to go to but there’s no argument – they have to come to you don’t they?!

Alice: Yes – that’s exactly what’s happening actually!

Jeff : We’ve been to-ing and fro-ing each Christmas for years, but this does make our decision for us because as we only live down the road! And it’s not awful that we have to be here over Christmas - it will be great fun as well!

Alice: We could end up in back of beyond so to actually get something a 20 minute drive away is an absolute god send.

Jeff: For everyone I’ve spoken to it’s unheard of - to work with your partner and be able to live at home at Christmas as well! We’re very happy bunnies!

Did you meet working?

Alice: We didn’t actually, we did meet in Watford though, but through mutual friends.

Jeff : Then Alice worked in a bar for a while and I drank in there and we spoke over the small amount of time it would take to pour a beer! I got to know her that way really! We just got talking and then didn’t look back!

Alice: That was six and a half years ago. We went our separate ways for college but stayed together and did long distance and lots of driving between London and Hull and now, this is our first job together.

So how do the Neptune family fit into Dick Whittington?

Alice: Good question! The second half is under the sea, and without giving too much away it’s something to do with a villain! Let’s just say it’s not planned for them to be under the sea! It’s going to be lots of fun! If you think that last year the Giant was actually a friendly giant, then this is the twist this year!

Dick Whittington: Peter Holdway & Dale Superville

That aside, what else can people expect from Dick Whittington this year?!

Jeff: Lots of big costumes, big sets and great music. There are good song choices this year, really fun and popular and really ‘now’ as well. There’s going to be lots of energy and it’s going to be lots of fun for us and hopefully the audience too.

Alice: Yes, there’s lots of songs, current songs in the charts now and songs that parents will know from their youth like Beatles’ songs.

Jeff: King Neptune rocks out at one point so look out for that as well!

So did you both grow up in the area?

Jeff: Yes, I did shows here [at the Watford Palace] from when I was seven. I did a couple a year in a local dramatic company with my parents and my sister and it all went from there really. When I was 21 I eventually went to drama school after doing a BTEC in performing arts at West Herts College then a degree. And Alice did quite a lot here as well.

Alice: Yes, I did two seasons in the children’s chorus in panto here. I did Jack and the Beanstalk last year which I also did that when I was 15 I think! And I also did Puss in Boots here when I was 13, so it’s quite funny that the two shows I’ve done here as a professional performer are the same shows really!

But your paths never crossed then?

Both: No, not at all!

Alice: I went to a dance school and a lot of my extra curricular activities were dance related, although I started doing lots of acting in my later teens, but Jeff was more on the singing side.

Jeff: Yes, we had mutual friends who would have spent childhoods together but they didn’t really cross until later on in life. It’s only Facebook that puts it as a picture in front of you!

But clearly the Watford Palace has played a big part in both your lives. What are your feelings about it as a theatre in the community?

Alice: I can’t imagine Watford without it. I came to see shows here from when I was very little. I think it’s a vital place for the community to come and see theatre and create theatre for the youth of Watford and for community projects to go out into schools. For me it holds a special place in my heart, it feels like coming home when you’re here.

Jeff: It’s what sets others aside from all the other suburbs of London really because it’s one of only three, I believe, in the South East that’s an in-house production theatre. The Wycombe Swan is very similar bit they only accept incoming pieces. The Palace is the only theatre that actually produces its own stuff so it brings actors, professionals and a lot of interest to Watford and it is really important, whether you come to it often or not. Certainly after the re-vamp it’s a beautiful theatre as well and we’re very lucky to have it. It needs support because being without it (the theatre) would have a really detrimental effect on the area. But it is here and it’s bright and vibrant this Christmas!

As two actors living in the same household, is that a challenge with professional rivalry?

Jeff: If she was 6 ft 6 ins tall and had a beard and a baritone voice, then perhaps she’d be a rival but no – we only ever support each other!

Alice: Actually I think it helps because we understand each other. It’s not a conventional lifestyle and a lot of people would struggle with having a partner in the industry because you’re working irregular hours and going up for so many auditions but only ever getting one! So no, it works very well because we have that understanding and also we’re a resource to one another. My strengths are that I trained as a dancer and then went to drama school and Jeff did singing and acting so if I’m struggling thinking of a song for an audition Jeff can help me and if he’s got some movement he needs to do I can help him!

It has led to us working together before actually! I was Assistant Choreographer on Lost in Austen and we were in rehearsals in Leeds and one of our dancers just didn’t turn up. There was no way we were going to get someone up to Leeds to rehearse in time so I said “what about my fiancé?” So we rehearsed the dance in our front room and Jeff turned up on filming day and did it!

Jeff: It’s a support structure as well because being an actor is not always easy and we look after each other in that sense. If we come home a bit depressed after a dodgy audition we pick each other up.

So there really are advantages in having a spare at home?!

Alice: Absolutely!

And I suppose that as long as one of you is working that’s fine!

Jeff: And we both do an awful lot other than performing. We both teach acting, singing, drama and dance. We find ourselves doing all sorts of things to keep ourselves busy and pay the mortgage!

Alice: Yes – as long as you can do what you love. I set up a company this year called Shine on Stage. I had freelanced as a youth theatre practitioner for seven years so I set up the company and Jeff and I both teach there, so we get to do that when we’re not acting. It’s hugely rewarding to watch and help the next generation to get somewhere in the industry.

Jeff: And obviously with the hype of High School Musical, and things like that, it’s really brought theatre to the youth in a big way, so we’ve got a lot of people wanting to come to the schools where we teach to learn all the dances that they see and they love it! And there’s all the reality TV programmes as well – some people might screw their noses up at them but they do get people to the theatre, which is really important. Without people there it’s not theatre and if there’s no theatre there are no actors - so we’d have to find something else to do!

You seem to have got it really sorted?

Alice: We have actually, we’re very lucky indeed and we love what we do. And there’s not that many people who have that luxury so we feel very blessed! 

Dick Whittington and His Cat, written and directed by Joyce Branagh, is on at the Watford Palace Theatre from Thursday 27 November 2008 to Saturday 3 January 2009.