Chesney Hawkes ready for his stage musical debut

Aug 8 2008 by Vicky Anderson, Liverpool Daily Post

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Vicky Anderson talks to 90s star Chesney Hawkes about taking to the stage for the first time

CHESNEY HAWKES is, as you’d expect, a very nice guy – one of life’s Gary Barlows, perhaps.

He may have had a rough few years seemingly in the showbiz wilderness, and become, through a young Coronation Street character, a byword for the Nineties zeitgeist.

But it’s no surprise to find he has been beavering away behind the scenes and could be on the verge of the sort of second-time-round success the British public loves so well.

Now 36, and with the days of Buddy’s Song, the film that made his name, and its runaway hit, The One and Only, topping the charts nearly 20 years in the past, he is taking to the stage for the lead role in new show Can’t Smile Without You.

The fledgling musical is the brainchild of theatre impresario and Everton Football Club chairman Bill Kenwright and is based, sure enough, on the songs of Barry Manilow.

It opens in three weeks, coming to the Empire from September 15 to 20.

As of today, the cast are into their fifth day of rehearsals.

“It’s my first-ever show like this, I’ve never done anything like it,” Chesney explains. “It’s a pretty huge production, with a nine-piece band, horns, backing singers, a massive set and 30 songs to learn – and I’m also playing piano and singing.

“I’ve been overwhelmed, but it’s going to be great. It’s very theatrical and is going to really work in the spectrum of musicals.”

In the show, Chesney plays Tony, a successful musician on the way to the top, who is attacked and left remembering nothing but his dream to make it big, and his love for a girl called (you guessed it) Mandy.

It’s one of those “feelgood” shows that is unlikely to see poor Tony ending up penniless and alone, of that we can be fairly confident.

Of course, there will be a contingent for whom the premise of Can’t Smile Without You might really sound like a living hell.

But Chesney’s having none of that.

“To be honest, anyone who takes the mickey out of Barry Manilow is not really being fair,” he says, good-naturedly.

“He’s sold 40m albums or something like that, and I defy anyone who puts on his greatest hits not to sing along.

“The songs are great, he’s a very special artist. I’m a fan, and I certainly wouldn’t knock him.”