His Majesty’s panto legend Alan McHugh will hit a major milestone during Peter Pan tonight – his 1,000th time on stage as the theatre’s much-loved dame.
It’s a moment the actor – who also writes and directs the panto – will relish, because when he first took on the role 19 years ago, his main hope was just to be invited back the following Christmas.
“It feels nice that I have done that many performances and they keep asking me back,” he said. “Familiarity can breed contempt in some environments, but fortunately it doesn’t appear to have so far.”
“My first year, back in 2004 in Snow White, they took a chance on me, because they hadn’t had a regular dame at His Majesty’s,” said Alan who had been dame at the Adam Smith Theatre in Kirkcaldy for eight years prior to that.
“I was only thinking one year ahead then and thought ‘if I do a job here, there’s a chance I could be back next year’.”
Alan McHugh has worked with big names in His Majesty’s panto
Fast forward and this will be Alan’s 18th year as HMT’s dame – one year was missed due to Covid. That makes him one of the longest-running resident panto dames in Scottish theatre, second only to Allan Stewart who has racked up 24 years at the King’s in Edinburgh.
And Alan has loved every minute of being at HMT, sharing the stage and the festive joy with famous guest stars ranging from Jimmy Osmond to this year’s headliner, Strictly icon Brendan Cole.
“We have to mention Elaine C Smith, obviously, because we had Elaine for eight years and she became part of the identity and fabric of that panto. Those years with Elaine were great because we set up that team with me, Elaine and Jordan (Young),” he said.
“But if you had said to me I would be sharing a stage with someone like Jimmy Osmond for six weeks, nothing in my life would have prepared for me to deal with that. The guy is a global superstar. He turned out to be one of the humblest, nicest, most generous human beings I could hope to meet.
“We have the same this year with Brendan Cole, we had the same with Lee Mead, the same with Alan Fletcher – Dr Karl Kennedy from Neighbours. These guys were all exceptionally lovely, nice human beings, total pros who came along and were great team players. And you can’t ask for anything better.”
Alan’s stand-out memories come down to the HMT audience
But other than working with some of the biggest talents in the entertainment world, Alan’s memories come down to one simple thing – the HMT audience.
“The standout things are at the end of the show when you get that audience reaction,” said the Glasgow-based actor, who this year is starring as Dame Maggie Celeste, with Brendan as Captain Hook.
“You can’t fool an audience, they’ll let you know if they’ve done a good job for them. So it’s a feeling of satisfaction when you go down and take that curtain call and they’re on their feet and they’re cheering. Then you know you’ve given them their money’s worth.
“So for me the standout moment is the satisfaction of knowing you’ve given that audience a good night. And all the individual moments in each year, in each show, built up to that moment.”
Alan’s first appearance as His Majesty’s panto dame wasn’t actually at the Rosemount venue, but in the University Of Aberdeen’s theatre at the Hilton Campus, as HMT was closed for renovations.
Not only was he invited back, Alan was also put on script-writing duties – something he has done every year since, to the delight of the thousands of people who have now seen him in full dame flight.
Relationship with Aberdeen and HMT audience built over 19 years
“I think over the past 19 years, I’ve built up a relationship with the city of Aberdeen and with the HMT audience and fortunately seem to have tapped into something we all like. I keep the audience happy and they keep me happy,” he said.
And it is also clear Alan has a deep love of pantomime that shines through in every script, every show, and every performance.
“It’s the bond with the audience. You’re in that world on the stage and there is no fourth wall, you go on there, you talk to the audience and they talk back to you. It’s their show as much as it’s our show,” he said.
“You go on a journey with that audience, twice a day for two and a half hours. Nothing can beat that, it is just a joy and a privilege.”
Alan has no intention of hanging up his outrageous dame costumes
And he has no intention of hanging up his outrageous wigs and costumes any time soon.
“You don’t spend 19 years and 1,000 performances building up this bond… you cannot beat this.”
Peter Pan is at His Majesty’s Theatre until Sunday January 8. For tickets and information go to aberdeenperformingarts.com
WATCH: Take an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the making of HMT’s panto Peter Pan
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