Much-loved musical Annie's on its way to the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre. John Byrne catches up with its star turn, Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood, who plays baddie Miss Hannigan.
Craig Revel Horwood doesn’t come cross as someone who rests on their laurels. Indeed, you’d wonder if he ever rests at all. He always seems to be up to something.
A long-running judge on the BBC’s much-loved Strictly Come Dancing (he’s been there since the show’s inception in 2004 and has missed just one episode - and that was due to Covid), he’s also noted for being an author, a dancer, a choreographer, a conductor, a theatre director.
His CV also includes his time as a drag queen - which goes some way to making total sense of his current stint playing the villainous Miss Hannigan in a touring version of the hit musical Annie. Let's face it: he knows what he’s doing here.
And he’s done it before too. The Australian-born star played the role to critical acclaim in this the West End production, adding to his London Theatre credits that include Munkustrap in Cats, Miss Saigon at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and Harry in Crazy for You at the Prince Edward Theatre.
Just for good measure, Craig directed and choreographed Strictly Ballroom the Musical which is currently touring the UK and Ireland, and the 2016/17 tour of Sister Act the Musical, as well as the Strictly Come Dancing Live tour. He also choreographed the film Paddington 2.
As I said: busy lad.
Returning to Dublin as part of the Annie tour means he can reacquaint himself with our capital city, along with a cast that sees the title role of Annie shared by Zoe Akinyosade, Harlie Barthram and Poppy Cunningham. They are joined by three teams of young performers who play the residents of Miss Hannigan's orphanage.
Set in 1930s New York during The Great Depression, brave young Annie is forced to live a life of misery and torment at Miss Hannigan’s orphanage. Determined to find her real parents, her luck changes when she is chosen to spend Christmas at the residence of famous billionaire, Oliver Warbucks.
But spiteful Miss Hannigan has other ideas and hatches a plan to spoil Annie’s search.
Oddly enough, Craig is in anything but Miss Hannigan-like when I catch up with him ahead of the show's run at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre. In fact, he’s full of the joys. "Im winging my way to loverly Dublin for two fabulous week and we can’t wait," he insists.
John Byrne: And we can’t wait to see you guys in Annie! What is it about it? It’s one of those shows that touches audiences over the generations - is it the songs, the story, or what?
Craig Revel Horwood: It has relevance. There are always going to be orphans, or children that need adoption, and there’s always going to be something like the 1930s’ Depression - which we’re all going through at the moment with the cost of living crisis.
So many people can’t afford their electricity, their gas, and people are living in poverty. It’s really relevant.
The beauty about Annie is that I think it’s really uplifting. It gives people hope. And escapism as well. It’s a lovely story there you laugh and you cry - and the villains get put away.
Talking about villains, that’s pretty much your forte these days, between your role on Strictly Come Dancing as the tough-talking judge and in Annie as the evil Miss Hannigan.
I’d rather play the villain than the love interest. There’s a lot more depth to the character. And for me, it’s sort of all I’ve played since I came on Strictly Come Dancing. I think that set me up as a villain. I’m sort of a bit typecast.
But of course the beauty of playing Miss Hannigan is that she is just a woman who’s looking for love and would do anything to get out of her dire situation. I think that’s so for a lot of people.
She’s an alcoholic, she’s drinking in every scene, and that’s what makes her so much fun to play.
Quite often, a bad person on the outside is a sad person on the inside.
I think that’s quite true, and certainly in her case. She’s stuck in an orphanage, she’s looking after those kids. She’s running a workhouse, basically . . . and she’s living off the state. It’s a pretty dire situation. And she just wants a man to take her away from it all.
And there’s some wonderful tunes in there. It’s such a well-written show as well. The beauty about it is that people know and love the story as well as the music and the songs. And everyone at the end is always singing along to Tomorrow. So there is hope and there is joy.
Hope and joy brings me on to another matter. Right after your stint in Dublin with Annie, you’re straight into the new run of Strictly. Presumably you’re looking forward to getting back into the swing of the show?
Oh I can’t wait. And the cast looks fantastic. I’m really looking forward to it. You’re always thinking?; How are they going to beat last year? But they always seem to. Yo just don’t know what’s going to happen, do you?
From an Irish perspective we’ve got Angela Scanlon as one of the contestants. Would you have any advice for her ahead of the show?
Well I haven’t seen anybody even move yet. I normally can tell as soon as they coming walking down the stairs if they’ve got rhythm or not. (Laughs.)
That’s one of the keys to the show’s success, of course. You can see that there re people if got a natural rhythm, and then there’s somebody who can’t even cross their legs - but they give it a try.
People do surprise you. I can go all the way back to Mark Ramprakash [in 2006]. He was absolutely hopeless when he first came in. And then, by the Saturday, something clicked in him and it was amazing. He went on to win it, of course.
As I said, people do surprise you!
Annie plays at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre from August 22 to September 2. Tickets available from Ticketmaster.
