With the hugely successful revival of Funny Girl now on a UK Tour, we get the chance to chat to one of the stars of the show, Martin Callaghan who plays Mr Keeney.
You’re a well established actor having appeared in many shows and tours. Do you prefer ‘town or tour’?
Oooh that’s a time relative question. If you’d asked me that a few years ago I think I would have said Tour, because I was footloose and fancy free. Now that I’m married I’d prefer Town as I miss my hubby when I’m on tour. Hopefully he’ll be joining me during most of this amazing tour though.
Other than missing loved ones, what, are the specific challenges faced for an actor with a touring performance?
Lack of free time! Today I’ve had my first free afternoon since we started rehearsals two months ago. If you open on a Tuesday and you’re doing weekly touring, the venue wants its 8 shows and quite rightly so, but that means an extra weekday matinee, on top of cover rehearsals etc. It can be knackering!
How would you sum up Funny Girl to someone who had never seen it?
The best 2 and a bit hours you can spend in a theatre in your life!!! Sheridan’s performance is astonishing. A Masterclass in acting.
What do you think the lasting appeal is about the show?
The songs! It’s one memorable number after another. “I’m The Greatest Star” followed swiftly by “People” followed by “Don’t Rain On My Parade” You know them all! Plus even though it’s a theatrical story it has a universal theme… LOVE!
Touring doesn’t give a lot of time to relax, what do you do to keep yourself calm and focused?
I used to run, and that helped a lot…but these days a boy of my age and weight can’t just put on a pair of shorts and hit the pavements…not without breaking a gas pipe anyway. Sleep is important, I have several apps that help me sleep. “Calm Radio” is the best!
And in the moments of free time you get – what do you like to do?
Well today I’m off to the TATE Liverpool and if I have time I may get on a sightseeing bus. I like to do touristy things, it makes it feel like you’re on holiday. Plus I have to go and buy a Liverpool Keyring and Fridge Magnet for my hubby as he collects them.
You’re a proud Mancunian – what do you miss most about Manchester when you are away?
Well I haven’t lived in Manchester for over 15 years, the past 3 of which I spent living in Brazil, but I do love being back to see family and old friends. Manchester is a fast moving city. Every time I go back something new has been built or is being developed. I still haven’t seen Media City yet!!!
If you could play any theatrical role, which would you choose and why?
Oh God! There’s so many. Edna in Hairspray, Max in The Producers, Valjean or Thenardier in Les Mis (I’m not fussy, I’ll do either) a few I want to do again like Tevye in Fiddler and Amos in Chicago.
But I think one that has become my new ambition, is to play Herbie in Gypsy opposite Sheridan in the future…any producers reading???
There’s a lot of debate again going on about audience etiquette and behaviour – have you witnessed anything particularly bad?
I’m torn about the new “Ordertorium” app. As a punter, I love the idea of having drinks and snacks brought to your seat, but I don’t like the idea of them offering popcorn. It sounds like someone munching through a roll of loft insulation to us on stage.
I’ve only had one bad case of mobile phone rage and that was when not only did it ring but the audience member answered it AND had a conversation about the show!
Have you ever done anything during a performance or rehearsal you are particularly ashamed of or / embarrassed about?
Of course! I’m only human. I fell flat on my arse during a dance number once in performance and instead of picking myself back up and carrying on like a professional, I crawled off into the wing and proceeded to laugh and cry at the same time.
Oh and I fell during the bows of Superstar too. I was wearing very little and David Burt had to come on and help me up. I wasn’t hurt I just couldn’t stop laughing. Myself and another performer almost dropped a piano off the stage during Merrily. It had gallons of fake champagne on top of it so most of act one was spent singing whilst mopping up.
Plus I’ve had to be naked on stage…it’s not the freeing experience everyone says it is!
What’s the last show you got to see as a punter rather than performer?
The Hubby and I only got back to the UK recently so we’ve missed so much great theatre, but we are so thankful we got to see She Loves Me, Half A Sixpence and Much Ado About Nothing just before Christmas. They were all truly magical experiences.
Do the company all get along while on tour, and if not, would you tell us!?
Of course we do. I’ve met some of my best friends while on tour. Everyone gets along because you have to be respectful of everyone while working.
It’s part of the job.
Who in the company cheers everyone up?
That would be Gillian Parkhouse and Tom Partridge. They are like naughty schoolchildren!! It keeps our energy up.
What would you say to anyone considering a career in theatre? What’s the best and the worst thing about it they can look forward to?
The worst thing about it can be loneliness. You have to fight very hard for your relationships to work, but it’s worth it. The best thing is knowing you have 30 people who have got your back if you need help. Thankfully, actors are a very supportive bunch of people.
If you’re thinking of a career in theatre DO IT! I doubt you’ll regret it.
Finally, question we ask everyone at the moment – your thoughts on the new US president …?
You mean the Mango Mussolini? Well nature hasn’t been very kind to either him or his puppet master Steve Bannon has it. How either of them can believe they are superior beings is beyond me.
My husband is Brazilian and what Trump said about South Americans is truly reprehensible. Thankfully they both seem to be making too many mistakes to stay in power. Here’s hoping impeachment approaches rapidly
Many thanks to Martin for his time and wonderful answers to our questions. Thanks also to Rosie for her help in arranging this interview.
Images by Johan Persson
are from the Savoy Theatre production
Funny Girl is touring the UK & Ireland until August – for full details about the show please visit:
After five UK tours the original British musical, Miss Nightingale by Matthew Bugg, finally enjoys an extended London run six years after a small-scale production of the show was first seen in the capital.
Miss Nightingale, The Musical transfers to The Vaults for an eight-week residency from 30 March to 20 May. We got to speak to one of the stars of the show, Miss Nightingale herself, Tamar Broadbent …
This is your musical theatre debut and you are in the process of developing your own musicals. What’s the appeal of the musical to you and does this mean you’ll be hanging up your comedy hat?
I’ve always loved musicals and I’ve always loved comedy. The two aren’t mutually exclusive in my book. I mix the two together in my solo shows and love my musicals best when they’re funny. I will continue to work in both areas and I’m especially excited to be making my musical theatre debut in Miss Nightingale because it is exactly the sort of new musical I would want to see; it is unconventional in the best sense.
The central love story is between two men, and Maggie is a fiery, loud and outspoken female, much like myself. I only want to be involved in playing and creating interesting female characters, and I love shows that challenge the traditional boy meets girl plot that we see everywhere. Matthew Bugg’s show does this wonderfully.
I made a decision quite early on in my career that I wanted to do as many of the things I love as often as I possibly could, and I’ve been lucky enough so far to do just that. This is an exciting new chapter.
How does working with a full company compare to your solo shows?
It’s so lovely to be a part of a cast again – I enjoy collaborating as well as working individually, but it’s great during this rehearsal process to have people to joke around with (I mean, work hard with), and to hear someone laugh at my jokes who isn’t me. Everyone involved in Miss Nightingale is so nice and there’s a real sense that we’re part of something special.
Your CV lists a ‘clown course’ as one of your studies. Have you ever needed to put your clown skills into practise in an everyday situation?
Clowning is basically about being joyful, silly and positive on stage, as well as in life (it’s not necessarily the red nose, big shoes and water-squirting flowers that spring to mind). I do a clown course every year to remember to stay positive and keep being silly. Life often teaches us to take ourselves too seriously, and I think everyone could benefit from clowning around every once in a while! I recommend Mick Barnfather (www.mickbarnfather.com), he’s my favourite teacher in town.
You’ve got quite an impressive CV of work – yet you have yet to have the ‘must have’ for all actors’ biographies … ‘Midsomer Murders’ … If you ever did an MM would you prefer a ‘Copper, Criminal or Corpse’ role?
I’d be a copper and show some criminals what for! I’m pretty tough (can’t you tell?) and Maggie’s pretty tough. It’s one of the reasons I like her so much.
With the 50th anniversary of partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in the UK – do you feel there is a special pertinence in bringing the show back to London this year to where it is based?
The show feels sadly relevant today, in times when intolerance is rearing its ugly head more often than one would like or expect, but Mr Bugg Presents as a company are very much about giving people the benefit of the doubt and not pre-judging anyone’s reaction to it. I know they’ve disappointingly had some homophobic comments on tour but they have never let that affect their journey, and the majority of feedback to the show has been overwhelmingly positive – audiences have loved it.
As well as gay rights during the war, Miss Nightingale addresses a range of social issues like class prejudice, changing roles of women in society and the treatment of refugees, which are set in 1942 but still feel resonant with today’s issues. The show manages to do so in an entertaining and unobtrusive way, which is part of its brilliance.
Did you have to do a lot of research for the ‘saucy raunchy singer’ part of the role?
Haha – sort of! I’m more of a silly dancer than a sexy dancer when out and about, so you’ll certainly be seeing a rarely seen side of me in this show. (Not that side. Behave!).
What can the audience expect from the show?
To laugh, to be moved, to want to dance and sing along… to think, to feel, to take off all your … I’m getting carried away. But at the very least, they can expect a bloody good time.
Describe the show in just three words
Funny, charming & (totally) raucous.
Given that you write, act, sing, dance, play keyboards – you seem to always be busy – what do you do in your free time when you ever get any?
Drink a lot of cups of tea. Think about how I’d save the world if I had time. Wonder if I could be a ‘hat’ person. Drink a lot of glasses of wine. Name the frogs living in our pond. Compile mega playlists of all the best songs from the noughties. See my 94-year-old Grandma and assure her I’m really too busy to be getting married and settling down at the moment, but that’s fine because it’s 2017 and let me show you pictures of all the handsome men I met on holiday.
If you could play any theatrical role, which would you choose and why?
Annie from Annie Get Your Gun.
Miss Nightingale feature a completely original score, whereas the trend at the moment is juke box musicals and film musical adaptations with a few new songs added in. Do you personally think that there are too many juke box shows around?
I like a good jukebox musical – Rock of Ages is my fav. I don’t think there are too many jukebox musicals, I just think there aren’t enough good new musicals being given seasons. As a writer I know how hard it is to even imagine getting to this stage. You often have to to take your destiny into your own hands and make things happen for yourself – like Mr Bugg did. And look how fantastic a journey they’ve had – five UK tours, being placed in British Theatre’s ‘Top 100 Greatest Musicals of all time’ and finally a London transfer to The Vaults. There is hope yet!
Given that the audience probably won’t know any of the songs from Miss Nightingale, what can they expect? Are there any particular tunes that will stick in their heads?
I adore the score. The style is a mix of musical theatre and cabaret, that harks back to the 1940s but has a fresh new flavour. The harmonies are lush, the numbers range from comic to heartbreaking… and they’re all currently stuck in my head!
The question we ask everyone at the moment – your thoughts on the new US president …?
You never think these things will happen, until they do. We’ve been here before. And we we seem to keep ending up here. When you’re a tiny person in a big, flawed world it’s hard to know how to do anything about it apart from drink tea and sigh, but there are little things you can do.
The one I’m trying at the moment is to challenge things in everyday conversation. “I’m not homophobic but I fail to see how two men kissing counts as entertainment…”, “I don’t normally find women funny but you were good…”, I used to let these things go, but if you don’t question it, even gently, then nothing changes.
I’d rather not get invited to dinner parties any more than keep quiet. It’s one of the reasons I no longer get invited to dinner parties.
What was the last production you got to see?
A production of my and John Victor’s musical, Club Mexicano at Edge Hill University. We workshopped it there in conjunction with Perfect Pitch Ltd for two weeks with the fabulous director Julie Atherton and choreographer Stuart Rogers-Quish. It was a great deal of fun – more plans for the show are scheduled this Autumn so keep an eye out!
Your costumes for the show look a lot of fun – are they? Do you enjoy dressing up for a part?
I never get to dress up – I’m quite casual when I perform stand-up comedy so I can’t wait to get the fishnets and sparkly gear on again. There’s such a stylish, sexy, and comic range of outfits – Maggie dresses up as a Pearly Queen, a factory worker, an old woman, an American soldier, Noel Coward(!) and a classic 1940’s showgirl… Let’s hope I manage all my quick changes!
You are a skilled pianist – who would you most like to perform a duet with on the piano
Probably Hugh Laurie. But Hugh Laurie playing House.
What can we expect from you later in the year?
In June, I am performing my play Split, which I co-wrote with the brilliant Emma Pritchard, at the Brighton Fringe. I will also be touring my musical comedy show Get Ugly to Berlin! The birthplace of cabaret… which feels wonderfully appropriate after performing Miss Nightingale.
Have you ever done anything during a performance or rehearsal you are particularly ashamed or / embarrassed about?
I have just got back from touring my show Get Ugly to the Perth Fringe in Australia. During one of the shows, a man I had gotten up on stage said “you’ve got lipstick on your teeth, that’s why everyone is laughing at you”. For a moment I was mortified.. and then I remembered I’m a strong, powerful woman who doesn’t get embarrassed about having lipstick on her teeth, so called him a ‘bearded c**t’ and made fun of him for the rest of the show. (Don’t worry, we’re friends now!)
And finally, is there a cast recording going to be available?
I hope so!
Many thanks to Tamar for her time today and thanks also to Matthew and Tobias at Mr Bugg Presents
If Tamar’s glowing recommendation about Miss Nightingale isn’t enough, writer and director of the show, Matthew Bugg says:
“Miss Nightingale mixes a gripping story with satirical comedy and lots of saucy innuendo to give people a great night out with lots of laughter, cheers and ,maybe the odd tear or two as well. It’s rather different from most ‘new’ musicals because it’s not based on an existing book, play, film or greatest hits collection. It’s a new and original show. And we don’t have a separate band, our wonderful cast act, sing and play all the music cabaret-style. They’re a very talented bunch! At the same time the show explores prejudice – antisemitism. homophobia and misogyny – in World War Two London when Britain was fighting against this very thing in Nazi Germany. It was inspired by a belief in the need to stand up for what you believe in and not to take hard-won equal rights for granted. Given recent events both in the UK and overseas this message sadly seems even more relevant than ever in 2017! The arts, performance and satire in particular seem like some of the best ways to counter the alt-right – across Europe, the State and elsewhere – and its propaganda of hate, fear and separation. So come, have a bloody good time, then stand up and resist!”
