Star interview: Bill Kenwright brings Evita to Liverpool

Apr 25 2008 by Michael Green, Flintshire Chronicle

To mums of a certain vintage, he is still remembered as dishy Gordon Clegg from Coronation Street.

For soccer fans, he is the devoted chairman of Everton Football Club.

For most of us, though, Bill Kenwright is one of the big three when it comes to giants of musical theatre in Britain.

But while Andrew Lloyd Webber may be a lord of the land and Cameron Mackintosh is a knight of the realm, Kenwright defiantly remains a man of the people.

This was amply demonstrated by his recounting of an incident during his train journey from London to Liverpool, the day prior to our conversation, when he was travelling up for Everton’s Thursday night clash with Chelsea.

“I’ve never planned anything in my life,” Kenwright explained. “Normally I drive up with a friend but he wasn’t well so we took the train. Someone sitting opposite me asked me how much I’d paid for my ticket and I told him £350. He said: “You could have got it for 28 quid if you’d booked in advance”!”

While planning may not be something he is able to indulge in, killing two birds with one stone is certainly something he can see the advantage of.

So to recover from the disappointment of seeing his side’s 1-0 defeat the previous night, Kenwright held court at the Liverpool Empire to talk about his eagerly anticipated Capital of Culture production of Evita, which opens next month.

Kenwright is such an influential figure in this world, he doesn’t have to name drop but it is still a little disconcerting to talk to someone who can speak so familiarly about such iconic figures as Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.

“I sat down with Tim and Andrew back in October and told them I had always wanted to do Evita and was keen to produce it at the Liverpool Empire during Capital of Culture year and they were both really excited about it,” he recalls.

The scale of the task was daunting even for someone of Kenwright’s stature: “The Empire isn’t really a producing theatre. It’s used to staging big musicals, of course, but to create and rehearse a show from scratch is a massive prospect, but they were all for it.”

Kenwright fell in love with the show way back in the 70s when Rice and Lloyd Webber unveiled it as their follow-up to the all-conquering Jesus Christ Superstar and decided to cast Kenwright’s friend, Elaine Paige, as Eva Peron.

The role brought Paige international stardom and subsequently inspired Madonna to produce arguably her only decent performance on the big screen in Alan Parker’s successful film version, which Kenwright credits with paving the way for other hit movie musicals such as Chicago and Hairspray.

All of which leaves him with the single biggest challenge he faces with the new Liverpool production: finding an Evita for the 21st century.

It is possible by the time you read this he will have announced who that person will be but last Friday, he was still playing it close to his chest.

“Eva is a huge role. You need someone who can dance, act and sing in an almost operatic style. We have got it down to the last two or three and we have been seeing everyone from unknowns to names that will be familiar to everyone. We expect to make an announcement next week.”

One name he is willing to reveal is that of Seamus Cullen, who will play the narrator’s role of Che Guevara, played by David Essex in the original West End show and by Antonio Banderas in the film.

Kenwright’s involvement in the Any Dream Will Do TV series has already provided big breaks for finalists Craig Chalmers and Keith Jack, who are currently starring in his touring production of Joseph.

And Cullen is another graduate of that TV series who made quite an impact on the impresario: “Seamus was older than many of the others who made it to the final, he’s 32 or 33 I think, but I always felt he had the most fantastic voice and when he auditioned for Che, he blew my and Andrew’s socks off.”

Unlike some people in the business, Kenwright is generally an advocate of the recent trend of using high profile TV shows to find major new musical theatre talents (“although I don’t think we should get carried away with it”).

Having seen such a spotlight fall on shows like The Sound of Music, Grease, Joseph and now Oliver!, Kenwright has no hesitation in singling out one genuine star to emerge from the process.

“Lee Mead worked for me before he went into the Joseph series. He worked for me as an understudy and he did Pharoah for me in Joseph and he will be a star for a long time to come.”

He has no regrets about not being able to use the TV process to find his new Evita for one simple reason: he doesn’t believe in regrets. And he is is hopeful that the Liverpool Empire Evita will be one of the highlights of a Capital of Culture year he now believes is going to be a big success.

He said: “I did have a few concerns last year but since Phil Redmond took charge, he has been doing a great job. I am thrilled Liverpool has got it as it’s a city that has been neglected for years.”

Evita can be seen at the Liverpool Empire from May 22-June 7 before embarking on a UK tour. For booking details, contact the box office on 0844 847 2525 or visit www.LiverpoolEmpire.org.uk