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Annie star Craig Revel Horwood: “Playing Miss Hannigan, I fell in love with the character”
As the West End production of Annie prepares to grace Cardiff this month, Amy Wild spoke with Strictly star Craig Revel Horwood about his experience playing its iconic character Miss Hannigan.
With four portrayals of Miss Hannigan under his belt, Craig Revel Horwood’s interpreta- tion of Annie’s Miss Hannigan – previously brought to life by renowned names such as Miranda Hart and Paul O’Grady among many others – has evolved and adapted throughout various performances. Reflecting on his expe- rience, Horwood shares, “I think I learnt more about the role after I finished playing it. Every cast is very different, so every performance is going to be different. When I started in 2015, we were all sort of making it up as we went along – I guess we devised the show that way.”
The transformation from Horwood’s everyday persona to fully embody the character of Miss Hannigan is overseen by the actor himself – skills, he says, that “I learnt in Le Cage Aux Folles in 1985. We were taught to block out our eyebrows – like in RuPaul’s Drag Race, but way before that!” With Annie set in 1930s New York, Horwood employs a more stern makeup approach with a smoky look: “At 58, I need that kind of look now to soften my face!”
Playing Miss Hannigan, Horwood developed a soft spot for her. “I play her a little more love- able because I fell in love with the character – she’s either drunk or hungover in every scene! She’s not hitting the kids or anything like that,
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she’s just really not pleasant to be around or be with – she makes them work too hard. Every- one knows a Miss Hannigan; I don’t think it scares a young audience, because they can see themselves in the children.”
Horwood is known as the stern judge on Strict- ly Come Dancing, but his approach to the role has evolved over the years. “I was a lot harsher in the first two series. People just didn’t want to hear the truth! Then the audience got on my side a little more, and now I think people look forward to it. I play it a bit more tongue in cheek nowadays.”
On the dancing side of things, Horwood’s proved resilient in the face of two hip replace- ments. “I really did think my dancing career was over – I had no idea I’d still be dancing at this age! That is because of my two titani- um hips and my wonderful surgeon Professor Cobb, who got me back onstage and dancing pain-free.” He might not be able to do the splits anymore, among restrictions in certain other dance moves, but Horwood embraces adapt- ability, including in his Annie role.
“As Miss Hannigan, it’s all character-driven dancing, which I find fantastic. I love perform- ing live, there’s nothing better than it. I love
when Strictly is live – pre-records tend to go on for an age, because everyone wants it to be perfect, but Annie is different every single night because we have different kids all the time, changing cast if people are off ill. You’re working with different people and that changes the energy. Similarly, I mix it up a little bit to keep the show fresh.”
As to what we can expect from seeing this production at the WMC? “Fantastic singing, fantastic dancing, a gorgeous set, brilliant cos- tumes, incredible performances from all the children. They’re just amazing really, they’re so professional and so well behaved. They bring a lot of fantastic acting to the stage. And of course, we have a multi-talented team of ensemble and support leads which is just in- credible. That always makes for a good show. I always say this on Strictly – when you’ve got the costumes, the idea, the concept, the cho- reography, the acting and everything comes together it’s amazing.”
Annie,
Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, Mon 3-Sat 8 July. Tickets: £18-£81. Info:
wmc.org.uk
Paul Coltas
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