| From bras to stars - to welcome a guest who certainly fits that description. he's enjoyed huge success in the pop charts in west end musicals like "Cats" (Picture) and "Jesus Christ Superstar" (picture). He's even turned his hand to and theatre production with hits like "Saturday Night Fever" and "Grease" | |
| And he's no stranger to our TV screens either - he's probably best remembered for being very charming (Picture) and in fact charming Jan Francis and millions of viewers as the loveable rogue Vince. That was in the hit TV series "Just Good Friends" | |
| Well actually he's back on the boards of the theatre and putting those roguish talents to good use once again in "Run For Your Wife 2". And I'm happy to say he's joining us right now please give a warm welcome to "Paul Nicholas" | |
Mr Nicholas enter to large applause |
| | Oh Lovely | |
| There are a lovely audience aren't they - great to see you Paul and great that you've taken time out of rehearsals - hows it all going then | |
| | Well its going fast and furious in fact I've just come here from rehearsals - I had slightly more sloppier gear on but its great - its the first time I've done a farce which as you said is "run For Your Wife 2" which is of course a follow up to "Run For Your Wife" the original which I think was done in 1983 and we open next week so we're sort of at the end of our rehearsal period and its all getting a little bit - Ha - little bit nervous. Please god - its a great script and a great show - and hopefully people will enjoy it | |
| Especially when you think there's never enough time to rehearse | |
| | Good point you do feel that a bit - we had a 3 week rehearsal period - if you'd done a musical for example you'd have six or seven weeks - I think the show is 2 hours 10 at the moment. Its a little bit long but where gonna cut it. So there's a lot of dialogue and a lot of things to take in. In fact it is the hardest thing I've ever done. Because you've got the added ingredient of doors you've got to come in and out of cos its a farce - its crazy - bells going off and all the acting is slightly more heighten that you'd normally play - so it is very fast and furious and the timing is of course essential. So technically it is extremely difficult - luckily we have Ray Clooney who has written the piece is directing and is also in it so he's very very helpful to me as I'm a first timer as far as farce is concerned. | |
| Do you think there's a bit of debunking needs to be done about farce as we still in this country think of farce as drop your trousers - end of the pier. And yet other farces say "Noises Off" are touring with the most incredible cast - people love to do them. | |
| | And as I say its is extremely difficult to do. We go and see a Shakespeare play and stuff and tend to think of those as being the most difficult. But things like farces are very exacting you have to get the comedy and timing right and as I said all the technical stuff. I think its particular common to England that we have a tradition in this. So there's a very high standard but I am with the master - Ray Clooney is the master of farce - I am in good hands - I just wish we had a little longer | |
| Do you think what you said is true of all comedy - its looks great fun and everyone imagines the cast having a great time going out for drinks all the time - but actually its very tough to get just right | |
| | I think it is. You mentioned "Just Good Friends" - sitcom is particularly difficult cos you get the script on a Monday - you learn it throughout the week and on Sunday you face an audience - just like we have this evening - with cameras - trying laughs out for the first time - sure you can re record it - but it is a pretty difficult thing to do to time laughs and to get it right is not an easy thing to do. But when it does work you get the benefit of the laughter - like we're having here this evening. | |
| Click your fingers and they'll laugh try it | |
Audience laughter and clapping |
| | They clap as well - wonderful | |
| We'll bus them over to Windsor when your on | |
| | Yes Please. | |
| I have a confession to make - when you were making the last series of "Just Good Friends" I was recording something next door to you at "TV Centre" and I used to wander in every Sunday and watch you rehearse. And I thought "he's a miserable old so and so he is" cos you used to look so glum. I thought it would be a barrel of laughs but you used to look miserable. | |
| | Well it was always terrifying it was the end of a week - as you would know - being in a studio that long is very tiring - so what you have to do is conserve your energy for the performance in the evening plus the fact I am a complete misery anyway. That was probably what and technical things like setting up cameras are exacting and tiring so I think its always best to save yourself for that little bit extra at the end of the evening. | |
| What he (PC) actually said was there he is the luckiest man in the world working with "Jan Francis" and he still has a face on him | |
| | That's true she is gorgeous - and remains gorgeous. I worked with her not too long ago we did a thing together. The wonderful thing about "Just Good Friends" was that Jan and I got on extremely well as people. When I first met her we walked in the TV studio to audition - and there she was this wonderfully beautiful looking girl - but also a girl we shared the same sense of humour and we got and didn't take it too seriously and that certainly helped the show - the fact we connected as people cos I think that came across on the screen - and I think that helped to make it successful. | |
| Absolutely - we're talking about farce and comedy and how difficult that is - lets move a way to move difficult roles - the villain - Lets look at you in "Burnside". | |
Clip: of Burnside |
| | Paul that was the guy you saw in the studio that Sunday Morning | |
| Typecast | |
| | That really is me | |
| When you did "Just Good Friends" and before you did this - you were the hottest thing at the BBC at this time. Now in drama if your the hottest thing what happens is the other channels come in offer you a contract for a year for millions of pounds and thats it. Did you not get that cos comedy's the poor relation in acting terms | |
| | I think comedy probably is but I think things have changed a lot. Perhaps the same as it is with Eastenders - soap stars tended not to get used. But I think now that people in Television do realise that if you have the success - and success in TV quite difficult as you know comedy shows there aren't really that many big hits - but if you are good in something people tend to use you a bit now in other things. In those days I think they used to think that maybe I was just playing myself or that was one off. I did actually did go and do a show for ITV thereafter. Once you get out of TV - and I tended to go off and do musicals its sort of a difficult thing to get back into because you become flavour of the month and its quite easy to become not the flavour of the month. | |
| Did you get a lot of satisfaction from playing the villain there | |
| | Not particularly - but I thought thew show was good - Chris Ellison who plays Burnside is a popular figure from "The Bill" and he I think he deserved the show - and the show I think generally got well very received and it was great for me to show a slightly darker side and I was very glad of the opportunity | |
| Debbie was mentioning earlier you produced "Grease" - "Saturday Night Fever" etc I can understanding wanting to do that because you're in charge of your own destiny - you order other people around rather than directors ordering you around | |
| | I never order anyone around | |
| I bet you do - I've seen you miserable - you've got the potential. I can understand an actor wanting to do that - be in charge of their own destiny - what I can't understand is once you've done that and tasted that and been a success at that - why still leave yourself open to get approval or otherwise from audiences why carry on acting | |
| | Because basically I'm a performer before I'm anything. I started in 1968 in a show called "Hair" and have done really musicals most of my life - it has been my bread and butter. And after 25 - 30 years of doing that you learn something about it so it seems stupid not to put that to some use. Now I was lucky enough to meet a fellow actor called "David Ian" who was like minded in the fact that we both wanted to do something and together we were able to produce shows. I was able to bring my experience and ideas to the project and he was able to bring he business and organisation skills and together we succeeded. I got a lot of pleasure from seeing things like "Grease" and "Saturday Night Fever" work. Its great to see something work - even if your not on stage but the bottom line is I am a performer | |
| You need it | |
| | Yes I think I do cos otherwise I get a little crazy | |
| Do you need approval | |
| | Yes I think I probably do - Oh please shall I lie down | |
| There you are a very successful man - why do you need approval. Is it a childhood thing - does it go back to your relationship with your - | |
| | I had a dreadful time | |
| Oh - | |
| Cry if you want | |
| | I will in a minute. The bottom line is that if you are a performer you do need to get those demons out. There are demons within you and if you don't have that facility to exorcise those demons then you become a little bit frustrated and although I enjoy looking at people doing "Saturday Night Fever" and I get a great high from those things working the actual process of performing is very therapeutic both physically and mentally. | |
| Do you miss being a pop star - do you miss all of that | |
| | No | |
| I've got another confession to make - the very first time I was in a television studio so were you - you were doing "Dancing With The Captain" at Granada on the "Arrows" show and I was one of those girls screaming - do you miss all that | |
| | No - I had started off a piano player with "Screaming Lord Sutch" years and years ago and had grown up with that pop thing and so had always wanted to have a hit record - that was my ambition. So I got to my later twenties and decided to try and do that. I went out and looked at loads of songs and finally came up with a couple and had some hits - so I achieved that ambition but it wasn't something that I wanted to do - as I wasn't that fulfilled by it. But the amnbition was there to have the hits and I did that. I sound like Hitler | |
| Do you evber look back on some of your contempoaries from the top of the pops days and think "come on guys get a life - its a bit sad now still to be leaping about try to get girls screaming at your age". Or do you think "good on you" what cant someone that age do it | |
| | I Think good on you. People like "David Essex" loves being a pop singer and he enjoys doing it - he enjoys the process of making records and going out and doing it - and if it makes them happy - and there are audiences are for people - you get a load of people coming over on these revival tours the "Bobby Vee"s of this world and they still love to perform and there is an audience for those people so why shouldn't they do it. | |
| Exactly. Lets bring it back to where we started - goop luck for next week its the opening of "Run For Your Wife 2" in Windsor - we wish the best - Ladies and gentlemen "Paul Nicholas" | |
| | Thank you | |
Large applause |
![[John Sulllivan's Just Good Friends]](/justgoodfriends/cr_tit.png)
![[Paul Nicholas on Open House]](/justgoodfriends/pn_all.jpg)
![[Open House]](/justgoodfriends/oh.jpg)
![[Debbie Greenwood]](/justgoodfriends/dg_head.jpg)
![[Paul Coia]](/justgoodfriends/pc_head.jpg)
![[Paul Nicholas]](/justgoodfriends/pn_head.jpg)
