An interview with Melanie Walters AKA Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother in this year’s pantomime.

Q: Have you done pantomime before?

Melanie: Yes I have, I think this is my sixth or seventh year.

Q: What keeps you coming back?

Melanie: Panto is hard work, but the audience love it so much that it keeps me coming back. I mean it’s always a joy to be in a comedy at the theatre, but with panto there are the kids. When you have that link with a young audience I think it’s great. As a child it is your first introduction to live theatre and I want to make that experience a really good one for them and what better way than with something magical. Music, singing, fairies, what could be better?

Q: If you had your own fairy god mother what would your one wish be?

Melanie: Total happiness I think, yes what else can you ask for?

Q: Who are your favourite pantomime hero and villain?

Melanie: The villain would have to be The Wicked Queen from Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs because I played her once and I adored her. As for a hero, I think I would have to say The Fairy God mother. Only because she’s one of those characters that makes everybody’s dreams and wishes come true. She’s such a heroine.

Q: What is your favourite thing about Christmas?

Melanie: Family, definitely. I think that is the difficulty with pantomime and being this busy over Christmas. So for me, it is so important to get home for Christmas day however long the journey is. Panto is non-stop, which is fine, but that Christmas day is such an important day. I didn’t start doing panto until my son was eight for that reason I wanted to spend that time with him and you can’t do that working away from home. The timing was important when he was younger but now he’s old enough and ugly enough to look after himself.

Q: What is the best Christmas gift you have ever received?

Melanie: I will probably sound really soppy now but my son was born on the 30^th of November so I always remember that Christmas, he was three weeks old on Christmas day. There is actually a picture of him from that year where we put him on the bed and put these red fairy lights around him and put a Santa hat on his head.

Q: What would be your dream role to play?

Melanie: Do you know as long as I like the script and she is a strong female character then I don’t think I have any specific ambition. If you give me a good strong female character whoever that is I’ll be happy to do that as long as I’m interested in it. There isn’t a character that I think, “oh I must play her”.

Cinderella is at The Grand Theatre, Blackpool from the 5 Dec-7 Jan. For more information or tickets, click here!

Interview by Grand Young Journalist Bethany Easton