Star of stage and screen, but still Rotherham’s least celebrated daughter, Myra DuBois flings open her festive pantry at Soho Theatre next week for a Christmas show unlike any other. For starters, it’s in May. We offered Myra a mince pie in exchange for answering a few of our burning questions.
Songs, laughter and a fully stocked bar. That’s what punters can expect from one of my shows!
Hello Myra. We’ve got to ask – why are you holding your Christmas party in May?
That’s a very good question, Broadway Baby! Why not celebrate Christmas in May? The shops aren’t as busy and rather than starting it in November and it finishing in February (as Christmas often does these days) we can cram the whole thing into an hour so it’s over and done with before closing time at the pub! Now; is the show itself a deep probing into the capitalist nature of how we celebrate Christmas in the West, or is it a cheap attention grabbing gimmick? It’s one of the two: you’ll have to come along to find out which!
For any Myra virgins out there, what can the expect from one of your shows?
A spiritual bond! I make it my mission to personally connect with every single member of my audience. That’s why so many of them leave the theatre as life-long AdMyras. “AdMyras” being the pet term I give to my fans. Like Lady Gaga has her “little monsters” and Kate Bush has the ‘socially inept’. I have my AdMyras. And there’ll be songs, my goodness there’ll be songs! I can’t put myself on a stage and not sing for my people, it wouldn’t be fair. Songs, laughter and a fully stocked bar. That’s what punters can expect from one of my shows!
Tell us about your Christmases back in Rotherham when you were a little girl.
How very Dylan Thomas of you! A child’s Christmas in Rotherham! They were spent with Mother and my sister Rose, as Daddy was always away, so we three girls spent Christmases together. I’d often sing for the family; following them around the house as I belted out a medley of carols. I remember Granny DuBois would come round for Christmas dinner and tell us stories about being in the Yorkshire Resistance during the war. We were a small but happy family in a quaint Yorkshire terrace house which is probably still there. In-fact it’s probably a museum by now. I must look up and see if that’s true…
As you’re an authority on Christmas, could you tell us how to wrap an elephant?
Knock it out with a strong sedative and make sure you’ve got plenty of Sellotape, I should imagine…
What was the last present you re-gifted?
It’s the same gift that I re-gift to my audience at each of my shows, Broadway Baby; the gift of laughter and song. Also once I accidentally re-gifted the foot-spa my sister Rose bought me later the same Christmas morning. My short-term memory isn’t what it used to be…
What’s one of the most outrageous rumours you’ve heard about yourself lately?
That I might be appearing on the first series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK! Me! A cis-gendered woman appearing on a show where a bunch of men parade around in ladies' knickers! Not to mention that I’m ALREADY a very very very very famous celebrity and do not need a reality platform for exposure, thankyouverymuch.
Which venue has the best Green Room?
Well as this interview is to promote my show at the Soho Theatre I must say that the dressing facilities at this venue are second to none. At the time of this interview I’ve yet to see them, but I promise you; they’re terrific!
Is Barbara Dickson jealous of you?
I’ve never asked but I don’t believe so. This is in reference to my rendition of I Know Him So Well, of course, which has become my signature number. Now I know she knows about it, as Graham Norton told her about it on her his Radio 2 show. And of course, Sir Tim Rice knows about it as he tweeted to tell me that my version of that song was definitive. Elaine, on the other-hand, has maintained a complete and total silence on the matter so I can only assume that she’s furious.
Finally, will you be going home for Christmas this year?
Sort of! I WILL be returning to my native Yorkshire but rather than going home to spend Christmas with my sister I shall be going to Leeds to appear in Pantomime! Oh yes I will etc. I’ll be playing the wicked Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty and I can’t wait. Perhaps I’ll see some of your readers there?
Myra DuBois: We Wish You A Myra Christmas opens at the Soho Theatre on Tuesday 28th May and runs through to Saturday 1st June.
