Why Mike Lawlor is stepping out of retirement and back into a frock for the pantomime season
Indomitable Dame Mike Lawlor is back in his frock and back on stage for panto season having hung up his apron to retire from the role just a few years ago.
Mike, who has played the part of Dame across our region for some four decades had become synonymous with the genre and was a huge attraction for audiences each and every year.
Many will be familiar with his Dame, with countless numbers having been entertained by him down the decades, with many missing him since his retirement.
For following a school panto tour and a major effort to bring panto ‘home’ to Mossley and the George Lawton Hall a few years back, Mike felt the time had come to hang up his apron and take a step back from the character he had made his own and finally retire, having achieved he felt all he could.
He became a Greater Manchester Federation adjudicator instead, so was still guaranteed his yearly panto fix.
But after a couple of years rejuvenating he ultimately found he missed the part so much, he had to return.
“Never say never,” says Mike from Audenshaw, who steps back into the Dame’s shoes, this time in Ensemble Theatre’s pantomime ‘Sir Laughalot and the Twelve Knights of Christmas’ as Aunt Polly.
Mike is a pantomime traditionalist, so you will only find him in the most traditional of shows where he guarantees to take audiences with him on the panto journey, performance after performance.
“Being the Dame is part of who I am,” he says.
“I don’t wake up in costume and talking in a funny voice, but it is a part of me.”
Mike’s return to the role means audiences will enjoy the very best of panto practice, with plenty of participation and a guarantee that you will leave with a smile on your face.
‘Sir Laughalot and the Twelve Knights of Christmas’ is written by Ensemble’s Janet Fagan and has all the magic panto ingredients and characters, while adding a medieval twist - and even a dragon.
With Global Grooves also adding a sprinkle of their own musical and puppetry spirit into the occasion, plus a cast of almost 50 aged from seven to 77 years, this is one pantomime you can be sure will put you in the Christmas mood.
The production plays at The Vale in Mossley from Friday, December 5 to Sunday, December 7. Evening shows on the Friday and Saturday start at 7pm with matinees on the Saturday and Sunday at 2pm.
Then the show heads to Denton’s Hope Church community centre on Stockport Road on Thursday, December 11 at 7pm and Friday, December 12, at 6pm.
For tickets visit the Ensemble Theatre Facebook page.
LISTEN: Mike Lawlor tells Tameside Radio reporter Nigel Skinner why the time was right to return from 'retirement' and of his love for panto.
