Owen Evans has some big shoes - high heels, to be completely accurate - to fill. This Christmas, after 23 pantomimes, Richard Gauntlett is swapping playing Norwich Theatre Royal's dame for Buddy's father in Elf the Musical.
It will be the first time that actor Owen, loved by Norfolk audiences as one half of the Nimmo Twins, has played the dame - and he describes his new role in Aladdin as 'exciting and scary in equal measure.'
'I've seen Richard many times, who is a brilliant dame,' says Owen. 'I hadn't even considered doing panto - although friends had said that I would make a good dame - and out of the blue I got a call from Stephen Crocker, who runs the theatre, asking if I would like to give it a go.'
We speak a few weeks before rehearsals are due to start. While he's not performing this year, Richard is still involved behind the scenes as he's written the script for Aladdin.
Owen is playing Dame Molly Piecrust, alongside Joe Tracini, who is returning for a fifth year, playing Aladdin's brother, Reg - and there will no doubt be mayhem as the pair try to save the family's ailing pie shop.
They are joined by The Bill star Lisa Maxwell as the Evil Aunt, and musical stars Tarik Frimpong as Aladdin and Meesha Turner as Jazz.
Owen's had a sneak preview of the script, and fans of The Nimmo Twins - who affectionately send up life in the county - will be glad to hear that he's promising to 'crowbar in as much Norfolk as I possibly can.'
He's also been for his costume and wig fittings - and is getting used to wearing the dame's outlandish gowns, which are the creation of brilliant costume designer Kirsteen Wythe and the talented team.
'You have to get used to how the dresses move - when you do a twizzle or a turn, half a second later the dresses catch up,' he laughs. 'I've also had a wig fitting - I had my head wrapped in cling film and sticky tape to make a mold of my head, which was an experience.'
And he'll need to get in training for the lightning-quick costume changes.
'You've got to get off stage, whip one dress off, whip another one on, maybe change your wig and get back out there without smearing your make-up. I've worked in theatres for many, many years and managed to avoid putting any make-up on until now, and I've got to put it on with a trowel,' he laughs.
Owen grew up in Cromer and trained at the prestigious London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) where his contemporaries included actor Julie Hesmondhalgh and Rufus Norris, who will shortly be stepping down as artistic director and CEO of the National Theatre.
Pantomimes had given him his first taste of the theatre, but he didn't take up acting until he went to Paston Sixth Form College at North Walsham after a turbulent couple of years in his mid teens.
'I had terribly bad agoraphobia for a few years as a teenager and missed my last couple of years at school. I went to college at 16 to try and get my life back in order again, so I did O levels and failed them and then did them again and passed and then did A levels - I ended up being there for four years.'
On Wednesday afternoons, students had the chance to try creative pursuits - Owen started out taking a pottery class, but finding it boring, he swapped to drama.
'There was a girl that I quite liked that was doing drama and said that it was quite fun, so I went along the next week, thinking I could just shift some scenery or something, and I suddenly found that wow, I could do it. It helped build my confidence to be able to speak to people and get out of the house and I've been using it as my therapy ever since.'
At LAMDA, Owen had the opportunity to study with the Moscow Arts Theatre School ('My first time abroad, it was amazing').
'We had a great tutor at LAMDA, Brian Astbury, who was a South African theatre practitioner who set up the first multi racial theatre company in South Africa during Apartheid. When we finished at LAMDA he mentored us and we took over a basement area in Paddington, built a theatre there and put on fringe theatre for quite a few years. I did a production of Taming of the Shrew with Julie Hesmondhalgh as my Kate.'
He got involved with the Norwich community theatre company Crude Apache - and it was there that he met Karl Minns, and they formed their much loved comedy duo back in 1996. The Nimmo Twins have a huge following and you have to be quick off the mark to snap up tickets for their Normal for Norfolk shows, which feature much-loved characters including She Go, Vern and Ken at Norfolk Council, Anne the Poet and Billy Boy.
'Norwich is traditionally one of the toughest comedy crowds in the country,' says Owen. 'But the audiences just love the fact that they can tell we're locals, we're not outsiders taking the mickey out of Norfolk, we're real people who have an authentic accent. We don't even have to make a joke when we come on - we just say "ar yer orrite?" and you get your first big laugh. It's such a joy to perform to your home crowd, especially at a place like the Playhouse and the Theatre Royal.'
Owen has appeared in countless plays and theatre productions, including with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
He often works with his drama teacher from Paston College, Rob John, who is another of his mentors.
'He's a lovely fella,' says Owen. 'He still writes plays for me to perform, which I do with a company called fEAST Theatre - we tour around Norfolk, very small venues, doing new plays by local writers.
'I've been very blessed in my career that I got in with writers - I've got Rob who writes the drama and serious plays and Karl who writes comedy for me. That keeps me happy: the drama keeps my artistic side satisfied and getting up on stage with Karl every year and making audiences roar is just an absolute joy.'
Aladdin is at Norwich Theatre Royal from December 7-January 5. Box office: 01603 630000/norwichtheatre.org
