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There is nothing Myra DuBois is looking forward to more this Christmas than being roundly booed by hundreds of youngsters every night. As the Wicked Stepmother in Cinderella at Manchester Opera House, the comedy star takes it as the ultimate compliment. “If I’m not satisfied with the level of boos when I first come on I’ve got plenty of tricks up my sleeve to make sure I get them,” said Myra.
“It really frustrates me when I go to a panto and the villain doesn’t work hard at antagonising the audience. “It’s actually an investment - if you make sure you get the boos you want, they will just grow and grow throughout the show. Also the more you get the audience to hate you, the more they will laugh when you make them laugh because they are not expecting that.
” Myra Dubois, Ben Nickless and Jason Manford (Picture: Phil Tragen) Myra is back for her second panto in Manchester - rejoining Jason Manford and Ben Nickless with whom she starred in Jack and the Beanstalk last year. “Yes, somehow we’ve all risen from the ashes of last year’s panto,” she laughed. “But I’m absolutely delighted to return.
I now live in Manchester so it’s a home gig for me which is great. It means I can be back home in bed before the band stops playing. “But also I get to be part of this wonderful team again.
Last year I had to slot in with Jason and Ben who have such great chemistry together and it worked so well. “This year I know what I can get away with - and if I don’t I’m sure the audience will let me know.” In her own comedy shows, Myra can be outspoken and at times outrageous and fans can rest assured that she isn’t going to change in panto.
“It’s one of my pet peeves at the moment, people complaining that ‘you can’t say anything any more’,” she said. “But you can and I do. Children aren’t idiots and families aren’t idiots and we all love the thrill of toeing the line.
As long as you know what that line is and how to land something so that everyone in the room enjoys it, that’s fine. “If there is anything in there that’s a double entendre I make sure that it’s funny for the kids too so that the innocent version of what has just been said is also funny as well as the slightly adult version “But cast your mind back, children are not all sweetness and innocence until 16 hits. They love feeling like they are in on the jokes like the adults.
As long as you have respect for the audience I think you can get away with more than you expect.” Myra is revelling in the idea of being the villain of the piece. “You have such licence to enjoy yourself,” she said.
“You can argue with the kids because they want to have a row with you. Read also: Ben Nickless on how panto got him hooked as a child “I remember hearing a seasoned panto performer say that the villain always has to present themselves in a way the audience thinks they could take them on. Then they’re on the journey with you.
That’s absolutely right. “I think there is a bit of a misconception that the villain is there to frighten the children when in actual fact, the only person in that room who thinks that person is scary is the villain. Everyone else thinks they can take them on.
“It doesn’t mean that the villain doesn’t pose a threat or can’t have their own way. But it’s like looking at a maze and being able to see the route out of the maze. “That’s how I like to play it.
But I also want to audience to actually secretly like me a little bit too - it’s about finding that balance between the comedy and the story. “Characters in pantos are stock characters; they ready and waiting for whoever inhabits them to put themselves into it. When people come to see a panto with me in it especially if know my work, they want to see me do the things I do so you have to look at ways of bringing that to the character.
” Myra is passionate about panto and cannot relate to anyone who thinks that the traditional panto has had its day. Myra DuBois (Picture: Phil Tragen) “One of the things I love about panto is how long it has been going,” she said. “You only survive as a genre and as an art form if you evolve.
You’ll get people saying this or that is killing panto, but the only thing that will kill pantomime is if you try to preserve it. If you do not let panto shift with culture and society it will go; it’s not a museum piece “If you had time machine and went back to the 1900s to watch Dan Leno what you were looking at would be immediately recognisable and yet totally unrecognisable at the same time. “If we went back another 100 years to watch Grimaldi, the same thing – it would be instantly identifiable but we wouldn’t have a clue what was going on.
“So it’s up to us as performers to maintain those panto traditions but to do it for a modern audience. “There is something baked into our DNA as people about storytelling and that’s why Cinderella is such a great pantomime - it connects with a young audience. “Every child knows what it feels like to not be able to go to a party they really wanted to go to.
We all know what it’s like to feel like an outcast. That’s why the Wicked Stepmother is a truly evil character and why Cinderella resonates so much with people. “I think we need to see people who do bad things get their come-uppance.
There is a point in seeing there is good in everyone and that rehabilitation is possible but if you do that in a panto, the villain has to be shown the error of their ways rather than it all happening with a wave of a magic want to make them good. “I also think it would be really funny if I was dragged off to the dungeons then at the final encore I’m there in my community service outfit picking litter in the aisles. “Not sure that’s going to happen though.
” Cinderella, Manchester Opera House until Sunday, January 5. Details from www.atgtickets.
com.
