Interview
with Coronation Street’s Nigel Pivaro who is appearing in The Commitments at
Darlington Hippodrome
Coronation Street ‘bad boy’ Nigel Pivaro stars in the
UK tour of The Commitments coming to Darlington Hippodrome in May.
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| Nigel Pivaro |
Returning
to live theatre for the first time in nearly 20 years, Nigel Pivaro admits:
“There’s a slight hint of apprehension.” But the Coronation Street legend
is thrilled to be starring in the 2022/2023 UK and Ireland tour of Roddy
Doyle’s The Commitments, enthusing: “What’s not
to love about it? It’s such an iconic show and I’ve always loved the story and
the music. It means I get to spend nine months going up and down the country,
and I’ll get to stretch my acting muscles again on stage.” He laughs. “In a way, it’s heralding the fact that I’m back in the
business.”
Having
worked mainly as a journalist for the past 15 years, the man who came to fame
as Terry Duckworth in the beloved soap hasn’t been on stage since 2003, when he
toured with fellow former EastEnders star John Altman in Bouncers.
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| Photo: Ellie Kurttz |
Nigel’s
journey back to the stage in The Commitments actually started in 2020.
“When it came along it felt like a golden opportunity, but then of course it
was postponed because of Covid, then last year it was postponed again. But here
we are now at the starting point, tantalisingly close, and I’m really excited
about it.”
In
the show Pivaro plays Da, the father of aspiring Irish music manager Jimmy
Rabitte. Based on Doyle’s 1987 bestselling novel and Alan Parker’s hugely
popular 1991 film adaptation, it revolves around working-class Jimmy’s bid to
transform a bunch of amateur musicians into Dublin’s finest-ever soul band,
much to his father’s dismay.
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| Photo: Ellie Kurttz |
“Da
provides the dramatic tension,” Nigel says of his character. “There’s lots of
friction between Jimmy and the members of the band, but the constant tension in
the narrative is between him and his Da. The latter thinks his music is a load
of rubbish because it’s not Elvis, basically. As far as he’s concerned, if it’s
not Elvis then it’s no good.” Without giving spoilers, the actor adds: “Let’s
say he eventually becomes open to persuasion.”
The
show is packed with great tunes like Try A Little Tenderness, In The
Midnight Hour, I Heard It Through The Grapevine and Mustang
Sally. Much of the singing is left to the younger cast members. But Nigel,
62, says: “I get to sing a few bars of Elvis rather than the old Motown and
Stax classics.” He laughs again. “That’s probably just as well really.”
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| Photo: Ellie Kurttz |
There’s
some common ground between him and Da. “You always find something in any
character that you can relate to. He’s a bit of a cynic and as I get older I
get more cynical too. I can seriously relate to that. At this age you’ve kind
of seen it all, which is where the cynicism comes from.”
The
Manchester-born actor studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, made his
stage debut in Short Of Mutiny in 1983 and that same year landed the
role of bad boy Terry Duckworth in Corrie. He left the soap five years
later but returned on a regular basis until 2012, with Terry causing all sorts
of headaches for his parents Jack and Vera (Bill Tarmey and Liz Dawn).
Nigel
has many fond memories of his time on the show. “It was so much fun behind the
scenes, especially with Bill and Liz, Michael Le Vell, who plays Kevin Webster,
and Brian Mosley, who played Alf Roberts. He was so funny off-set. He’d always
try and make you corpse when you were waiting to go on. He’d stuff a grape up
his nose and daft stuff like that. He was always one for practical jokes and he
was nothing like his stuck-in-the-mud character.”
Over
the years Pivaro has also done a lot of stage work and cites groundbreaking
drama Just Frank, about an AIDS sufferer, at the Theatre
Royal Stratford East as a personal favourite. He’s also been in Funny
Peculiar, A View From the Bridge and An Evening With Gary Lineker,
to name just a few of his stage credits.
Another
theatrical highlight was winning the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 1st award for No
Further Cause For Concern, of which he says. “That’s probably the thing I’m
most proud of. I found the play myself, put on a reading at Stratford, got the
money together to put it on in Wales, Edinburgh and then London, and it was so
well received.”
His
decision to embark on a second career as a journalist at age 39 might have
surprised his fans. “But I’d always been intrigued by journalism and good
journalists, and I’ve always been interested in history and politics.” After
finishing a postgraduate course, he worked for regional papers and now
freelances for national publications as well as making documentaries for the
BBC.
A
return to acting wasn’t on the cards but in 2019 Nigel bumped into writer Jim
Cartwright, who he’d worked with when he toured in The Rise And Fall Of
Little Voice in 2000. Cartwright asked him: “When are going to get back
into acting? We miss you.” That whetted Nigel’s appetite. He secured
representation, scored some auditions, and did plays on BBC Radio 4, including The
Corrupted opposite Toby Jones.
“I
thoroughly enjoyed it,” he says of doing radio work, “and it was a great
reintroduction into acting. There was no pressure because it wasn’t in front of
the camera or a live audience. From there I did a few adverts and a lot of
voiceovers. I really started to believe in myself again as an actor.”
Nigel
is now ready to step back on stage in The Commitments, which is an
all-new production of a show that originally opened in the West End in 2013
before embarking on a countrywide tour three years later. The West End
production at the Palace Theatre garnered such rave reviews as “Wonderfully
funny and touching” from The Daily Telegraph and “A sweet-soul, solid-gold,
five-star blast” from The Sunday Times.
The
actor is modest about starring in the new tour, saying: “The show, the story
and the music are the real stars. And the music is so beloved by people who
grew up with it and younger people who have been introduced to it over the
years. The songs are a major factor in its success, along with the skill in
which the music and the story are woven together without it ever being ‘Oh,
here’s an excuse to sing another great song’.”
Where
possible, he’ll be driving himself to and from the tour venues but he won’t be
relying on GPS. “It’s anathema to me,” he explains. “I’d rather look at a map
and plan my journey that way. And I do love an interesting drive. If I spot
something I’ll write it on the map, like ‘Nice 13th century pub here’ or ‘Good
cafe there’. It makes touring even more appealing.”
As
for what else he’s looking forward to about being back on the road for the
first time in nearly two decades, Pivaro says: “Theatres full of happy punters
who are having a rollicking night out and really getting into the show, letting
themselves go with the music, the story and the joy of it. and being able to
forget, at least for a couple of hours, what we’ve all been through over the
past two and a half years and all the problems that are still around. I’m sure
they’ll go away feeling uplifted.”
Tickets:
The Commitments runs at Darlington Hippodrome from
Monday 8 to Saturday 13 May . To book call the Box Office on 01325 405405 or
visit www.darlingtonhippodrome.co.uk
