Today [Tuesday 2 July 2019], stars who worked with the late great Gillian Lynne will come together for one night only to celebrate her incredible career in the special tribute show To Gillie With Love. The event will take place, fittingly, at London’s Gillian Lynne Theatre.
Widely regarded as one of the world’s most innovative and creative choreographers, the Bromley-born former ballet dancer was made a dame in 2014 in recognition of her contribution to theatre and dance. Lynne’s professional partnership with Andrew Lloyd Webber began with Cats at the New London Theatre in 1981 and also included the hits The Phantom of the Opera and Aspects of Love.
Acclaimed on both sides of the Atlantic, she worked on over 60 shows in the West End and on Broadway and won two Olivier Awards during her career, a Golden Rose of Montreux Award for her work on TV’s Muppet Show, and a BAFTA for the BBC dance drama A Simple Man. It will be a year and a day since Gillian passed away at the age of 92.
Lynne’s husband, actor and singer Peter Land, will also be launching the Lynne and Land Foundation during the evening, a scheme to help talented young performers reach their full potential by providing grants and scholarships.
Actor MICHAEL HOWE (playing the lead role in Jerry Springer – The Opera at Manchester’s Hope Mill Theatre this summer) worked with Gillian on multiple occasions, most notably as Rum Tum Tugger in Cats. Here he tells Musical Theatre Review contributor Tal Fox all about the concert and shares his special memories of the extraordinary director/choreographer.
Tell us about the show?
My relationship with Gillie went back quite a few years. I actually did the first German-speaking version of Cats with her in which I played Rum Tum Tugger. Then I went on to do some television specials with her, followed by the role of Alfred Jingle in Pickwick (starring Harry Secombe) which was a huge deal. I worked with Peter [Land] on Pickwick as well.
(clockwise) Peter Land, Michael Howe, Gillian Lynne and Susanne Howe
I think she was an extraordinary person. She was inspiring. I am an actor who moves rather than a dancer first and foremost, and she was wonderful at working with actors like me. She recognised my raging passion, but she dared me to go further. I just thought she was the most incredible person to work with, a joy. She lived and breathed her work and had great integrity and class.
And what they’ve done with the To Gillie With Love, Peter has cleverly incorporated some of her best production numbers and solos. I’m very honoured to have been asked to do this. I’m not doing any of the roles I’ve played, I’m in a production number that Gillie did on Broadway. The evening is going to be rich with a lot of talent and plenty of colour from the lady herself. I think there are some special treats but I’d probably be shot at dawn if I gave those away.
She was one of those very special beings, I couldn’t speak more highly of her, an artistic guru. She’d talk to everybody in the same manner, with the same respect. She carried her experience around her neck like a string of pearls, not a heavy chain. Quite exceptional, irreplaceable really.
We will all be celebrating the spirit of her work and, of course, recognising the Lynne and Land Foundation which has been founded to help those beginning in their careers. Gillie exuded passion for the business so I think that the foundation is a wonderful legacy.
Do you have any nice stories from working with Gillian?
It was the night before the opening of Cats in Germany and it was just myself, Gillie and the late Steve Barton (he played Munkustrap) onstage. The full orchestra played ‘The Rum Tum Tugger’ three times and we performed it three times into an open auditorium. We collapsed with laughter and there was this electric excitement about being part of the production, even though I was a tad nervous because I was having to do the whole thing in German! But we were like kids in a sweetshop.
At the beginning of the Pickwick rehearsals, Gillie had just had surgery on her hips. She appeared with walking sticks, but within two days they had gone and she was walking. I had had keyhole surgery in my knees because of an injury, but I thought I had better not start playing up because she had thrown her sticks away!
Michael Howe playing Rum Tum Tugger in Cats
And I remember we were doing The Look of Love in Liverpool and we discovered that Gillie was lying on the floor (it was concrete!), having a five minute break. Then at the beginning of the day she would get everybody to do a warm-up – including the director, the designer, the assistant! If you were in the room you would be doing the warm up. She expected everybody to put everything on the line, so incredibly motivated.
She was always very funny when she was showing us different movements. She never got embarrassed with her body, especially doing Cats. She said: “It’s not about dancing, we’re cats.” I remember us getting put through our paces and realising it wasn’t the movement, it was what was behind the movement. And this is what inspired her work so much.
She was a highly creative collaborator. There were no sides to her, the only thing she expected you to do was to work very, very, very hard. She kept pushing, all the time,. To Gillie With Love is going to be full of people with incredible memories. There are some people that have this special gift and can communicate, and Gillie could communicate with everything.
If she believed in something, Gillie would also stand her ground and argue a good case, but there was no ego. It was just all about the work. Zen-like in that respect. And Peter was terrific too. They made a lovely couple and I know she’s irreplaceable. I think this is a huge love letter to her. I think it will be a hugely emotional night for him, but he’s done extraordinary things to gather everybody together.
It sounds like being in this show means a lot to you?
Yes it does, you don’t realise until you do other jobs, and I’ve been fortunate enough to have a whole career in this crazy business. You look back and realise there’s one or two people you have worked with who were absolute diamonds, and she was one of them. And of course you learn from that, not only in your work, but it influences the way you carry yourself, as a person.
Obviously, there’s the movie version of Cats that’s coming out and, unfortunately, they don’t have Gillian to give them guidance, so what advice do you think she would have given them?
They did another film if you remember and I was going to be in that. I’d landed the role of Rum Tum Tugger but I just could not get out of a contract I was in. Now, that was her movement and, of course, what happens with new work is that there’s always this need to want to change things.
Gillian Lynne, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Michael Crawford and Cameron Mackintosh at the 30th anniversary of the West End production of The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre. Picture: Dan Wooller
Things have to adapt, but it will be hard not to compare it with Gillie’s work. I will be interested to know what the movie is like. I know they’ve been trying to do it for a while, it is a great shame that Gillie couldn’t be more involved. She did many things but I think Cats was the jewel in her crown.
Is there anything you can tell us about Gillie that we wouldn’t necessarily know?
I think she loved her clothes, she dressed immaculately, even when she’d be in dancewear. Somehow, she’d sweep in as if she was on the catwalk. I’d say: “What is it about you?” She just had great style.
She had incredible patience. She gave me a wonderful picture of a cat and a little elephant which I have in my office and the message reads: “For my clever Mike, you are tremendous and I hope you will enjoy every minute of Cats in Wein. Love and admiration, Gillie.” That’s very, very special.
The last time I worked with Gillie was a few years ago. She mounted a show at Her Majesty’s Theatre in aid of Ian Adams, a wonderful voice coach. She was a very kind person and she took no nonsense, you didn’t get away with a thing. There would be a moment when she’d be meticulous but there was a wildness to her too. She wanted you to explore… to take it further, make it happen. She was just ageless. She had teenage energy. Extraordinary.
It’s wonderful to work in an atmosphere where it isn’t about ego, it’s about the work and trying to get it right, and if you are uncomfortable about something, you talk it through.
MICHAEL HOWE is well known for playing Sebastian in the BBC series Solo opposite Felicity Kendall and Mr Wilson, the barrister, in Hollyoaks. He has played many leading roles and starred in numerous London West End productions; Reverend Shaw Moore in Footloose, Sydney Carton in A Tale of Two Cities, The American Chess Champion Freddie Trumper in Chess, Cassio in Othell and Billy Lawlor in the 42nd Street UK premiere. He will be playing the title role in Jerry Springer – The Opera at Manchester’s Hope Mill Theatre from 8-31 August 2019.
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