Craig Revel Horwood has always been characterised as the on-screen villain in Strictly Come Dancing. His brutal, but perhaps the most honest, judging style on the show often rouses hisses and boos from the studio audience in the true spirit of pantomime.
The 57-year-old will finally be debuting one of his most famous pantomime roles at the Bristol Hippodrome this year after a three-year wait. He’s primed to play the panto dame, the Wicked Stepmother, alongside Alison Jier as the Fairy Godmother, Bristol’s own Lauren Hampton as Cinderella, Daniel Norford as Dandini and panto legend Andy Ford as Buttons.
It will be his third time playing the role in his 16-year pantomime career, but each version has been completely different with the cast shaping the core of the character and each time brings different nuances, Craig explained. Despite his experience, he admitted it’s still a huge challenge that he welcomes, and said pantomime performers must be skilled in acting, singing and dancing.
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“Each city changes the whole cop sometimes,” the star told BristolLive. “That’s why it’s wonderful having Andy here who is known by everyone in Bristol and a regular of the panto.
“He’ll be able to take me through it and we’ve never worked together before, it will be great to develop something that’s funny together through a relationship where we can provide comedy where he’s the good cop and I’m the bad cop, which is always the case.”
For Craig, the Wicked Stepmother is an incredibly misunderstood character (and a much more entertaining role to play). She’s a character with a motive, looking for her bloodline to run into royalty to reap fame and riches, along with a passionate hatred for her youthful, attractive step-daughter Cinderella.
“What I love about playing her is not the fact that she is a real woman in that way but in panto you can break the fourth wall. I can become Craig halfway through a scene and then back to being her. You can have a lot of fun because they do have a dark sinister side that doesn’t really belong to you.
“There’s so much more scope in playing the villain than there is playing the love interest. The love interest is sometimes two dimensional but with the wicked characters, you can really get your acting shoulder behind the part and invest in it.”
And he can really make the character his own in more ways than one. He spends an hour doing his own hair and make-up before showtime, along with essential vocal and physical warm-ups.
“That’s what makes playing these characters so much fun - and plus I get to wear high heels, makeup and fabulous costumes. It’s like dressing up at home!” he laughed.
Horwood is able to bring his own Strictly sparkle into the character and choreograph his own moves, but he has to be careful after a double hip replacement. “I can’t do jump splits for instance,” he said.
“I have to choreograph it within the realms of what I can do and what the audience expects. I’ve got a bit of Ballroom and Latin in there for people. There is some fun dancing as well, we’ll be doing ‘Single Ladies’, fun stuff like that.”
He’s undeniably one of the busiest people in the business and shows no signs of stopping. The intensity of pantomime is more demanding than the West End, he explained, with 12 shows a week for Cinderella. "I’m also working seven days a week with Strictly Come Dancing. I’ve got to film that every Saturday which means I have to get up early, go to London, do the show and come back at 1am."
The pantomime is closely followed by the Strictly live tour in 2023 and Annie the musical, reprising his role of Miss Hannigan which he is sharing with Paul O'Grady.
“It’s going to be a full-on 12 months playing women bizarrely,” he contemplated. Craig enjoys the pressure of having a really tight work schedule - something he’s relished after a long break during the pandemic - although admitted it took him six months to readjust.
“You don’t trust yourself, you think - ‘can I still direct, can I still sing and dance?’ When you’ve not done it for a couple of years it can be really frightening. I’ve always liked being busy, I’m not good if I’m just sitting at home doing nothing. That’s why I’ve got five books out.”
Craig promised that the cast and crew are working hard to ensure it was the best pantomime anyone has ever seen. Tickets are on sale from £13 each.
Cinderella comes to the Bristol Hippodrome from Sunday, December 4 - Saturday, December 31
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