Marti Pellow talks about Witches of Eastwick

Oct 1 2008 Chester Chronicle

IT'S always fascinating to venture into the actors' inner sanctum and eavesdrop on a production in rehearsal.

Witches of Eastwick director Nikolai Foster is casting his all-seeing eye over one of the show's set-pieces, when the good people of Eastwick learn the identity of the new arrivalŠDarryl van Horne and Darryl himself, aka Marti Pellow, is sitting on the sidelines, leaning forward with eager attentiveness as if he doesn't want to miss a second of what Foster is saying or what his colleagues are doing.

It's obvious that Pellow is having a whale of a time and that he's taken to musical theatre with the same aplomb thatŠshot him and his partners in Wet Wet Wet to the top of the charts .

Afterwards, Pellow unwinds from the rigours of rehearsal and reflects on the unexpected twist to his career that has established him as a leading man in the musical theatre.

“I’ve only ever done one musical before, which was Chicago, and I've spent the last five years looking for something equally special. Then I came across The Witches of Eastwick and I went to see a production in Washington and I was very excited by it.

“The show was accessible and uplifting. To play Darryl is a real challenge and heŠhas whollyŠengaged my imagination. He suddenly appears in this 1950s suburban town of white picket fences and he completely disturbs it.”

Pellow is not the first major recording artist to make the cross-over into the musical theatre and transform himself from performer into actor. It's been a relatively painless transition, he says.

“When you're aŠlyricist, you try to inhabit the song as you write it as if you were a character. All the information you need to put over a song properly and in characterŠis in the lyric.

“Darryl comes into the lives of these three women and although he seduces each of them, part of the seduction is providing a sounding-board for them and contributing to the process of their empowerment.

“Alex, for instance, has always believed that she's overweight. Her experience with Darryl helps herŠrealise that she may be voluptuous but she's also beautiful.

“I never expected to get involved in musicals. It only happenedŠwhen I did a gig at the Royal Albert Hall and Ruthie Henshall was in the audience.ŠI saw her after the show and sheŠencouraged me to think about doing a musical.

“Then the Chicago people approached me.ŠI thought about the O J Simpson case and how it is possible that people can get away with murder. The whole subject resonated with me and since I've known a lot of sleazy lawyers in my time, playing Billy Flynn onŠBroadway and in the WestŠEnd was not too difficult.”

For the immediate future, Pellow has committed himself to a lengthy association with The Witches of Eastwick but in the longer term, he's already thinking about the next musical.

“I love Nine, the musical based on Fellini's 8 1/2. I especially love the darker aspects of such pieces. Rodgers and Hammerstein' wrote some beautiful songs but their work is not for me. As the years pass and the older you get, you learn to keep your eyes and your ears open andŠI certainly want to experience all the colurs which life can offerŠyou.”

As he looks back on his life, Pellow is struck by the randomness of it all and by theŠmetamorphosis of Mark McLachlan of Clydebank into Marti Pellow, the idol of millions, singer, songwriter and now actor.

“What would have happened if my elder brother, who was supposed to be looking after me, hadn't taken me with him to see Bowie as Ziggy Stardust? Would I still have found out that thisŠwhat I wanted to do? MyŠfather was a labourer and he earned his living digging in allŠweathers. If that was the reality, I wanted the make believe.”

Not that Pellow was an innocent. He and his colleagues in the band that became known as Wet Wet Wet knew that they were in for the long haul and took the appropriate action.

“We were canny lads. Even at the age of 17 or 18, we knew we should set up our ownŠpublishing company. There was a sense of dedication to what we were doing and that unity gave us our strength.ŠI'm now 43 and I'm still searching for new things to do, things that will take me outside my comfort zone, things like being on stage in a musical.”

There have been unspecified times, he admits, “when my enthusiasm has outweighed my talent” yet you feel that Pellow is always open toŠsuggestions. There was a significant meeting with the great Robert de Niro, for example.

“He’d seen my faceŠon a poster for theŠBroadway run of Chicago and he'd asked to meet me,” explained Pellow. “I read for a part in The Good Shepherd, the film he was directing. I didn't get it but this is all part of what I want to do. It's all about not being afraid to come a cropper.”

He's looking forward to a lengthy stint at the Edinburgh Playhouse, appearing in The Witches of Eastwick over Christmas and New Year. No doubt the good people ofŠAuld ReekieŠwill turn out in their droves, boosted by a contingent of family and friends making the journey across Scotland from Clydebank.

“Of course, I'm Marti Pellow 24/7 and yet I'm also stillŠMark McLachlan, an ordinary bloke from Clydebank. It's other people whoŠgive you the status. I'm still the same guy who saw David Bowie in concert and decided that this was what I was going to do.”

The Witches of Eastwick can be seen at the Regent Theatre in Stoke-on-Trent from October 7-11. Ring the box office on 0870 060 6649. It then moves to the Opera House in Manchester from October 13-18. Ring 0844 847 2484. The show will also visit the Liverpool Empire next year from March 31-April 4. Ring 0844 847 2525.