BWW Interviews: The Legendary Jim Dale, Talking About His One-Man Show!

With decades in showbusiness behind him, Jim Dale is heading back to the UK for a limited run in his one-man show - already a hit in New York. UK editor-in-chief Carrie Dunn talked to him about his plans for his time in London, his career, and his tips for young performers...

"It's been such a long, long time [since I was last in the West End] - it was when I was in Oliver! playing Fagin for a year, and I haven't been back in a long time - and not as myself for 40 years!"

This is veteran actor Jim Dale, known for his roles in musicals including Barnum and The Card as well as his straight theatre work in the West End and on Broadway - and now about to present his solo show in London.

"I thank God I have a character called me," he says. "You can use the mask of a character in a play, but in a one-man show it's you up there. My show has a pianist on stage with me - but it's really a three-hander, because if you're doing comedy you need an audience to react to it. When I go on there, there's three entities - me, the pianist and the audience and I hope we can all bond together very quickly."

Of course, to a British audience, Dale is perhaps best remembered for his appearances in the Carry On films - but that's a section of his history he didn't mention when he performed the first incarnation of this show to American audiences.

"It's no good talking about it - it's a waste of your time and theirs, they're not even shown on television over there," he explains. "But coming to England, I had to add that, but also take out something already in the show to make way for it - that has to be thrown on the back shelf."

He says he's looking forward to returning to the Vaudeville Theatre, where he performed earlier in his career, and to London - he's now based in America, and used to visit London regularly when his grandchildren were younger - but now they're teenagers, they prefer to visit New York.

"I've neglected coming over to England," he admits.

He'll have no chance for catching any shows, though, while he's in London because he'll have no time off - he'll be doing eight performances a week for four weeks. As he points out, that's a challenge for any actor - but in a show like this, he's got 12,000 words to say every night.

"In narrating, there's only so long I can keep talking," he says. "Going hoarse is the last thing you want in a one-man show, because if you lose your voice, the show comes off. You have to be very careful about not pushing too hard, and definitely not wasting your voice talking unnecessarily.

"You have to pull back and let other people do the talking, otherwise you'll lose the most important instrument you own as an actor. It takes it out of you - listen to the advice of your voice teacher. Don't push it so loud, don't forget you're miced up most of the time so you don't need to raise your voice. Trust the mic if you're on it - if you don't, take it off. I'm miced up, because I speak softly deliberately on some occasions. As a stand-up comic in music hall, the only mic we had was one that came out of the floor - do you believe that? The person at the side of the stage adjusted it to your height - but then you were trapped in front of that mic. I was a mover , I moved all over the stage talking - I never had the mic. I had to project to the back of the second balcony without appearing to shout. That's how you learn it."

He talks about challenges a lot during our conversation - and it's a little surprising to hear someone who's achieved so much in his long and varied career spanning over 60 years take that stance, talking in the present tense throughout

"If it's a good play, a good writer, a good cast, I'll go off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway. There's material out theere, there's the opportunity of challenging yourself - that's what's life's about. If it's not a challenge, I'd rather give it up and allow someone else to be given that challenge who hasn't had the opportunity before," he says.

Is there any role or any show he feels he's missed out on? He says not.

"The stuff that I've turned down is stuff that I knew would never make it. A lot of people can't see that - they invest millions of dollars into something and then on the opening night 47 critics give it the thumbs down. You'd think that somewhere along the line in the rehearsals, some bright spark would have said, 'I don't think we've got a hit here,' and done something about it," he says.

So what next? He's not sure. He's been working with his creative team for nearly four years, developing this show, and it's clearly an incredible joy to him.

"I can't think of anything I'd rather do than this show," he admits. "Where else can I do such a wonderful short season? To come back to London with this show - it's the peak of my career, I think."

Jim Dale appears in Just Jim Dale at the Vaudeville Theatre, London from 26 May - 20 June. For tickets visit: www.justjimdale.com