For two years on the trot, husband and wife duo, Aljaž Škorjanec and Janette Manrara, professional dancers from TV’s Strictly Come Dancing, bewitched audiences in their show, Remembering Fred, dedicated to the peerless Mr Astaire.
It was an original idea of Steven Howard, from the TCB Group, whose recent productions have included the aforementioned Rip It Up: the 60s, starring Louis Smith, Harry Judd and Aston Merrygold. Now Howard, together with show director Gareth Walker, has dreamed up Remembering The Movies, which offers a much larger canvas on which to draw.
Janette says: “We met him over dinner and as soon as he mentioned Remembering Fred, we knew we had a little gem on our hands. And when we found out the tour would include a show at the London Palladium, I think we both shed a tear. It was a dream come true.”
They feel just the same about this new venture, which comes to Watford Colosseum on Wednesday, April 24.
So which movies can the audience expect to see represented on stage?
“We had to do The Greatest Showman and La La Land,” says Janette, “because they’re modern classics. Then there’s Singin’ In The Rain, Chicago and Cabaret. One of the most exciting segments is a whole James Bond section. Aljaž is going to be my James, the most handsome Bond ever. And we couldn’t not include romantic films like Casablanca and Titanic.”
Performing live is a completely different experience, says Janette, from appearing in front of a Strictly studio audience.
“Yes, you have the idea in the back of your mind of all those millions of people in front of their TVs at home. But nothing compares to the buzz from a live audience in a theatre.”
Aljaž agrees: “And no two performances are the same. Without quite realising it, you feed off the people out there in the auditorium and each audience is different.”
But all the tours and personal appearances would never have happened, of course, if it hadn’t been for the biggest show on British TV.
“We both joined Strictly in 2013,” says Janette, 35, “and it changed our lives completely – and 150 per cent for the better. Up until then, our careers were in a sort of limbo. So to get to do the best TV show in the UK with my boyfriend and then fiancé and now husband… well, it doesn’t get much better.”
But it means they’re living and working together 24/7. Doesn’t Aljaž sometimes get on her nerves?
She laughs. “Absolutely not. He makes me smile all the time. And we were friends first which I think is important.”
Aljaž, 28, says: “It took me a year to persuade to go out on a date.”
Does either of them experience even a tinge of jealousy when they see their other half wrapped around someone else on the dance floor?
“No,” says Aljaž, “because any passion is manufactured. Dancing is acting. It’s telling a story with conviction. But it’s not real.”
Now that the Strictly tour is at an end, their concentration is focused on rehearsing the Remembering The Movies tour.
“The movies week on Strictly is one of my favourites,” says Janette.
“And the lovely thing,” adds Aljaž, “is that, if it’s the success we’re sure it’s going to be, we can do it again the following year and feature different films. This one could run and run.”
Watford Colosseum, Rickmansworth Road, Watford, Wednesday, April 24, 7.30pm. Details: 01923 571102 watfordcolosseum.co.uk
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