4:55pm Friday 12th October 2007
By Nancy Groves
When it comes to a night out at the theatre, nothing beats a traditional family show, says Tommy Steele.
And he should know, he's starred in enough of them. From a title role in 1960s musical Hans Christian Andersen, via Half a Sixpence, to his recent stint in Scrooge, the 70-year-old showman is the embodiment of old-school family entertainment.
And now the cheeky cockney is back in a national tour of Doctor Doolittle, the smash-hit musical about the vet who can talk to animals, which arrives at New Wimbledon Theatre on Monday for a two week run .
"It's all my dreams come true," says Steele. "Ever since I did Anderson at the Palladium , I've been looking for another show like it. And here it is! It's absolutely wonderful."
Steele is speaking from his Thameside apartment on Albert Embankment, incidentally in the same block that houses the rather less family-friendly Lord Archer. "Though we haven't seen much of him lately!" jokes his neighbour.
It's only a few miles from where he grew up, but every time Steele looks out over Big Ben and Westminster, he is reminded of how far he has come since his days running around the streets of Bermondsey as part of Hicksey's Mob.
These days, the gang would probably be armed with guns. But all the more need, says Steele, for fantasy shows like Doolittle to exist.
"It's got Walt Disney written all over it," he says of Leslie Bricusse's revamped production, which features a huge company of singers, dancers and puppeteers, colourful sets and bags of special effects.
"Doolittle is your traditional famly show, only with all the tricks we now have in terms of lights and sound. By the time the animals come on and start talking, audience have accepted it totally."
First featured in Hugh Lofting's classic children's books, Doolittle has been played by both Rex Harrison in the 1967 movie, whose Oscar-winning score features in this show, and more recently by Eddie "The Cad" Murphy in the slick Hollywood remake and sequel. Which performance does Steel most aspire to?
"Neither," he says emphatically. "It's my version. I do it the Tommy Steele way and that's the way I play it."
Now in his seventh decade, he puts his boundless energy down to a healthy lifestyle - he trains up to two hours a day - and the right partner. Unusually for a showbiz couple, he and his wife Ann have been together for 47 years, ever since they met backstage at one of his shows in the late 50s.
And when Doctor Doolittle opened at the Churchchill Theatre in Bromley a few weeks ago, Ann and the rest of the Steele clan were out in force.
"They all came - my daughter, my nieces, different parts of the family from all over the country and the Bermondsey lot, too, of course.
"It's like Walt Disney said: I do the show for the adults. The kids just come along for the ride."
Doctor Doolittle, New Wimbledon Theatre, Monday, October 22 to Saturday November 3, 7.30pm, Thur/Sat mat 2.30pm, £12-£32, family discount £90 for 4 tickets, call 0870 060 6646, visit newwimbledontheatre.co.uk.
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