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Interview
Adam Cooper
By Phil WilmottThe latest person to follow in the footsteps of Ewan McGregor and Nigel Harman and play the romantic gangster Sky Masterson in the current hit production of Guys and Dolls is ballet star and choreographer, Adam Cooper. He shot to fame as the sexually aggressive swan in Mathew Bourne's celebrated re-imagining of Swan Lake, a role usually taken by a woman. His talent combined with his heavenly good looks ensured a lot of press coverage and he's successfully branched out into musicals whilst also running his own classical dance company. I caught up with him before a Saturday matinee in dressing room 1 of the Piccadilly Theatre.
Q: So was this the dressing room you had when you were in "Swan Lake"?
A: No, it was a quick change room then because it's nearest to the stage and then when I was here dancing in "Cinderella" Lyn Seymour had it. It's my turn now. But, you know, it is swings and round abouts - I've got the nearest room to the stage but now I don't have a window.
Q: What's that easel thing in the corner?
A: Oh, that's Nigel Harman's from when he played Sky. They used to have darts tournaments in here and write the scores on it.
Q: How did you feel coming to work today, having to do the show twice?
A: I don't mind two-show days. I know some performers don't like them but I really enjoy the matinee audience. They tend to be slightly older people for whom a show like Guys and Dolls means a lot. They're really receptive and it's a pleasure to perform to them.
Q: You've been doing a lot of choreography recently. I think after you choreographed "Grand Hotel" for Michael Grandage lots of people supposed he'd asked you to also do this. Was that ever on the cards?
A: No Rob Ashford was on board as choreographer before Michael and I worked together. He was taking a risk with me. I don't think he'd ever seen any of my work. Maybe he saw "On Your Toes".
Q: That was your first shot at choreographing a musical. It's a big dance piece and amazingly you were also playing the lead. You must have been exhausted.
A: Yep, that was a really stupid thing to do. My agent's bright idea. I didn't sleep for four weeks. Fortunately I was able to refine things when the production came to the Royal Festival hall and then in Japan.
Q: You're very big in Japan aren't you?
A: (Laughs) Yes, I seem to have been going over there every couple of years for most of my working life. First with the Royal Ballet, then with Mathew Bourne's shows, "On your Toes" and then recently with my own company.
Q: They're obviously big dance fans.
A: They love it. Also, fortunately, they really love dancers who look like me. David Beckham's a god over there.
Q: You should do "Beckham the Ballet" in Japan, you'd make a fortune. Ewan McGregor was the first person to play Sky in this production. He's not a dancer, obviously you are. Have you put in any extra dance bits to make things more interesting for yourself?
A: Actually no. It doesn't feel right for the character. Sky is a gangster, very grounded. He's just not a big "dance character". They did put in a little extra at the end of the song "I've never been in love before", when Nigel Harman took over the role, but apart from that it's the original show.
Q: Is that nice - not having to dance so hard?
A: Oh it's great. For once everyone else is sweating buckets.
Q: Where do you see your career going next?
A: I'm always so scared of getting stuck in a rut so I like to try all kinds of things. For instance last year my wife and I did a play together down at Seven Oaks Playhouse. It was about ballroom dancing. I had to mater a dodgy Australian accent and a dodgy moustache.
Q: How was working with your wife? Some couples find living and working together difficult.
A: Oh we love it. It think that's because we've done it so often and it's always worked out well for us. We've been working together ever since our days in the Royal Ballet and we danced opposite each other in Cinderella... sometimes it's trickier when I'm in charge, But no, not really. We love it.
Q: Did you know "Guys and Dolls" before you joined this production?
A: No, I think I must have seen the film and I'd heard about the legendary National Theatre production but I didn't really know the show.
Q: Michael Grandage's directing is a lot more straight-laced then that famous version. When I saw a preview I did wonder if he'd made it too gritty but it's obviously worked a treat. He really seems to have reinvented it for a whole new audience.
A: Yes, he's brilliant at finding a new take on things. This production doesn't hide from the fact that it's about the underbelly of New York, about gangsters, so there's some tough looking guys on stage.
Q: Did you get to rehearse with him much?
A: Actually not much, a little in the evening. The Associate Director, Jamie Lloyd, took our rehearsals. But apart form nine people it's a completely new cast so we were encouraged to approach it as a new show and make it work for us rather then copy the way things had been done previously. That must have been difficult for Kelly who plays Sarah because she's previously played opposite both Ewan and Nigel.
Q: When you worked in ballet, did you like musicals? Isn't there snobbery about show dancers amongst ballet dancers?
A: No, I don't think so. The thing is that ballet dancers get so wrapped up in their own worlds that they don't really think about much else. I just wasn't aware of musicals although it was old musical films that made my brother and I want to go to dance classes when we were 8 and 10.
Q: That's really young to know you wanted to dance.
A: I suppose we wanted to be like Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly. So we went to tap lessons but after a while our teacher persuaded us that if we wanted to get serious about dance we should take ballet. I think my brother was more easily convinced then me but eventually we both tried it and were hooked.
Q: Does your brother still dance?
A: Yes, he dances for the Ballet Rambert now.
Q: Have you ever danced together?
A: We were both in Swan Lake for a while. In fact he took over my part from me when I injured my foot.
Q: What's your favourite bit in Guys and Dolls?
A: Oh it changes every night. Sometime I look forward to the comedy, sometimes I'm up for the romantic bits, sometimes I think "wow, that was a great sewer scene". It changes every night. But I do love that it's a team show and not just resting on my shoulders. It's great to be working amongst such a great cast.
Q: How long are you staying for?
A: I'm here for six months.
Q: Then is the production of "Promises, Promises" that you choreographed at Sheffield being revived?
A: Unfortunately no, but I'll be touring with my own ballet company.
Q: Japan?
A: (Laughs) Of course. Then I hope to do the play again.
Q: You're obviously a theatre animal through and through. No desire to try TV or Film acting?
A: That'd be great. I love to mix my careers up as much as possible.
Go and see Adam Cooper in Guys and Dolls at the Picadilly Theatre. Book here.
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