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It is Christmas so that inevitably means that it must be time for another puntastic musical comedy at The Liverpool Royal Court penned by Fred Lawless. Following on from hits such as Scouse Pacific, Little Scouse on the Prairie, A Nightmare on Lime Street and last years mega-hit, Scouse of the Antarctic, this year’s offering is Pharaoh Cross the Mersey which has seen almost unprecedented anticipation and, also, the return of Andrew Schofield to the Yuletide company manger at the theatre.
“Drew’s been busy doing other stuff since 2012 so it’s really nice having him back because not only is he a firm audience favourite, he’s also great to work with,” Fred explained. “Over the years we have had a great pool of Christmas actors, with Michael Starke, Lindzi Germain, Danny O’Brien, Haley Hampson and Michael Fletcher all taking part again this year and who have all helped make the Royal Court Christmas show what it is.
“Of course there have been others along the way as well, such as Mark Moraghan, John McGrellis, Stephen Fletcher, Anthony Watson – who stepped in at the last minute when David Gest had to drop out during Nightmare – Rachel Rae and Lynne Clarke, who did such a fantastic job last year stepping in for Helen Carter who contracted pleurisy. There’s a whole host of others front of house, backstage and actors who have all helped making the Royal Court Christmas show become something of a Liverpool tradition,which is really nice, and it’s a bit like working with an extended family, really.”
With a title such as Pharaoh Cross the Mersey and with Lindzi playing the part of Nefertiti, audiences might be forgiven for assuming a trip to Birkenhead’s shopping centre is on the cards and that some fun might be had with the late queen of the Nile’s name. Not a bit of it. “We’ve sort of steered clear from a lot of the more obvious jokes about Nefertiti simply because the name itself pretty much guarantees a laugh in its own right and some of the stuff is a bit close to the knuckle anyway.
“It’s odd that some years there can be a fair amount of swearing in the show and then in some there’s hardly any. It depends on who gets to say which line because some actors can deliver swearing in a harsher, more offensive way than others, which isn’t really what we want. It’s all about timing, opportunity and delivery at the end of the day because I know how the actor will deliver the line and roughly what fits.
“As to those good folk from the Wirral, they can relax a bit. Taking the story to Birkenhead was on the drawing board but it never happened in the end. What we’ve done instead is started out in modern day Cairo, with Boris and Daisy – who met in the Antarctic last year – on their holidays before being magically transported back to ancient Egypt in an Indiana Jones kind of fashion. We’ve laced it with loads of modern references but also provided a bit of a history lesson, because I like to slip a bit of reality in amongst the silliness.
“The main thing that the audience can expect, though, is a great laugh, some great songs and, hopefully, a really entertaining night out, watching what genuinely is the best Christmas show around by a Nile.”
Pharaoh ’Cross The Mersey will run from Friday 27 November 2015 to Saturday 16 January 2016. Tickets and information are available from www.royalcourtliverpool.com or on 0151 709 4321.