CURTAIN CALL: Manningtree's Alan Wheeler

Did you take part in any productions at school?

I can remember being taken to the theatre by my mother as a child. She loved to go to the cinema and to live performances even more. My father was never one to stray far from home, my brother was away in the RAF and so she took me. Sometimes, it might just be when the circus came to town but her real love was going to the theatre, particularly in London’s West End and most particularly musical shows. One of my earliest recollections was accompanying her to see a rare London appearance of one of her favourites, Judy Garland, at the Dominion Theatre in Tottenham Court Road in 1957. I was just seven years old then but I still remember it quite vividly. Her love never dwindled and for her 65th birthday she treated the whole family to see Yul Brynner in The King and I at The Palladium. This too, has special memories for me as my mother and I had both seen the film production together some 20 years earlier.

Are or were any members of your immediate family involved in the theatre?

My mother used to play the violin and piano but not professionally. I have two nephews, unidentical twins, who have both performed on stage. Steven Wheeler danced with the Northern Ballet Theatre and since retirement he has worked as a choreographer. His brother, Kevin, spent many years working as an entertainer on cruise liners in the summer and playing the dame in pantomimes out of season. He is now living near Bristol and still heavily involved with theatre in the West Country both on and off stage. My first wife Chris, used to be a make-up artist at The Manifest. Sadly she died in 2000 after a long debilitating illness. I was lucky enough to find love again and married my present wife, June, in 2004. She studied ballet when she lived in Harlow and as a young girl often performed there at the Playhouse Theatre. Her highlight was dancing with Wayne Sleep. She is now heavily involved with the Manifest theatre Group as publicity officer. She has also appeared on stage, been our prompt for many productions and is production manager and prompt for our current production of The Railway Children.

Who is the most inspiring person you’ve worked with and why?

After my school years I did not perform again until 1992 at the Manifest Theatre. I had joined the Manifest Theatre in 1987, just after I moved to Manningtree from Rayleigh. That year my neighbour, Debi, was appearing in Pool’s Paradise and invited me along to see the show. She introduced me to Val Taylor, one of the group’s founder members. Val and I became great friends and she constantly urged me to audition. But, at that time I was still travelling to London where I worked in advertising. I often worked late into the evening so I was unable to guarantee I would be able to make rehearsals. I stopped working in London in 1991, at which time Val was preparing to produce and direct The Sound of Music. After quite a bit of prodding, Val persuaded me to audition for a small part in the production. As a result of this I played Franz, the butler. Needless to say, I was a more than a bit rusty and lacking in recent experience but Val coached and encouraged me. She helped me enormously to gain confidence and become part of that production. Since then I have seen her work this magic on many others. She is truly gifted as an actor, director and mentor of new talent. She received the best director award at this year’s North Essex Theatre Guild awards evening recently for her production of Alan Ayckbourn’s Role Play.

What formal training have you done?

Absolutely none. Just the school of hard knocks.

Do you have any specialist skills – anything from stilt walking to dress-making – which you work into your repertoire?

Not really. My darling wife, June, says it is my personality and the characters I am able to create that help me to portray the many different roles I have played. She is biased, of course. Off stage I am quiet and unassuming.

Which experience/role do you regard as the highlight of your career to date?

I am not sure whether they can be termed highlights but I do have favourite roles I have played. I really enjoyed playing Al Lewis in Neil Simon’s The Sunshine Boys, portraying the aged American comedian, part of a once popular comedy duo. Another of my favourite roles was the middle aged alcoholic university lecturer Frank in Willy Russell’s Educating Rita. But by far my favourite has to be the part of Rene Artois in the stage production of ‘Allo ‘Allo.

What has been your most embarrassing moment on stage?

I suppose I have been lucky never to have disgraced myself badly in a production but there were two incidents, both very similar, that occurred in the mid Nineties. In the first, cast members including myself were on stage expecting the arrival of another actor who had missed the entrance completely and we were frantically ad-libbing to cover the hiatus until their arrival. In the second instance soon afterwards, I was playing The Phantom of The Opera in Martin Downing’s comedy thriller, The House of Frankenstein. I was waiting in the wings behind a secret, revolving doorway thinking about my lines and waiting for my cue to surprise the cast on stage. I became aware of an eerie silence and realised immediately that I should be on stage. I quickly spun the door and burst on to the stage to surprise the other actors and the audience.

Which actor (s) performer (s) do you most admire and why?

I have great admiration for the late Ronnie Barker. He was an extremely gifted writer and performer. Although best known for his radio and television, he first began to develop his skills working in repertory theatre. His comic timing, talent for accents, voices and verbal dexterity is still well known and he is still greatly respected by his fellow professionals for his extraordinary abilities.

What role would you most like to play and why?

There are one or two I would like to play. Antonio Salieri in Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus would be one and I would also like to play Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot. Both are great character roles written by two great writers.

Ever corpsed on stage? What happened?

Fortunately, only in rehearsals and when it happens I find it hard to recover as do most actors.

Any big plans for the future?

I suppose the next logical step for many actors is to either direct a production or turn an idea they have into a play of their own. I hope to be able to do at least one of these if not both.

Any tricks for remembering your lines or other useful tips to pass on to other actors/directors?

There is no shortcut to learning lines, you just have to read and practise, read and practice, read and practice. My advice to directors is to plan carefully and delegate wisely. Try to do everything yourself and you will find it hard to achieve your goal.