Ska-ed For Life
Taken From Sunday Express Magazine April 27 2003
Suggs starring in a musical - surely that's madness?
Not so, he tells Pauline McLeod. In fact his stage debut has helped him face some demons from his past.
Funny how it happens. Suggs had originally intended to guest-star in just one charity performance of Our House, the irresistibly sunny West End Musical, loosely wrapped around his own band's mighty back catalogue of North London ska. But the show's shrewdly persuasive producers pointed out to the genial Madness front man that if he was going to do one night, then why not do a week? After all, they said, he would have to put in just as much work and rehearsal time for a single appearance as he would for eight.
And so it was, on a roller coaster of fear and excitement, that the fledgling thesp played the small but pivotal role of the ghost of Joe's murdered dad in the highly-acclaimed production which scooped the prestigious Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical last year.
He pulled it off, making such an impact that he's now back, with his name in lights at the Cambridge Theatre for 10 whole weeks. It would be a tall order for anyone. But with material so deeply personal and resonant with Suggs' own past, it's an even greater challenge for him.
Don't get me wrong. Our House, written by the award-winning Tim Firth, is truly joyous - light as a cotton ball. It featuures two specially written new songs by the group as well as all the best-loved hits, such as Baggy Trousers, It Must Be Love, Driving In My Car, House Of Fun and Night Boat To Cairo. It's been described as pacy and hilarious by the critics. But with its split narrative, plus almost imperceptible streak of melancholy, this touching tale of one boy's coming of age is much, more than simply a showcase for Madness' greatest hits.
Its theme is right versus wrong: will young Joe, who never knew his father, go off the rails? or will he stay on the straight-and-narrow? "In a loose and roundabout way it is semi-autobiographical," says Suggs. "And for me, playing the father I never knew..." His voice trails off. It's not that he's shying away from difficult subject matter but there are other people to consider - his mum in particular, plus lead actor, Michael Jibson, who plays young Joe.
"When I started the rehearsals, Michael and I went out for a cup of tea and during our first conversation he told me he had some similar personal problems, to the point that it was getting difficult for him because at the end of the musical, where he says to me, 'I really miss you dad', he was finding it very hard. I find that scene hard, too, so maybe we'll both end up blubbing up there on stage, because I am sure there are issues about my father that I haven't completely dealt with."
Indeed, Suggs - born Graham McPherson but Suggs (after jazz musician Pete Suggs) since his teens - has no sense of who his father, William, was at all. He simply walked out of the family home when his son was three, leaving his wife, Edie, devastated. He never returned or made contact and, to this day, Suggs hasn't a clue where he is.
"Coming into the theatre has brought thoughts of my father to the forefront, definitely," he says. "For a long time there has been no reason to think about him. "Also, a big part of my emotional life is devoted to bringing up my own family, so I don't have time to worry about that. "Acting is about getting as close as you can to your real emotions. I'm getting there, definitely, but up to this point the acting has been tempered by a huge amount of terror, so I'm just approaching the notion that I might be able to feel some real emotion. "But I am sure I have dealt with it enough in the past for it not to sort of explode in my head. Obviously, if I was to meet him today it would be very poignant but haven't thought about because I don't think it's going to happen. "It was difficult when I was growing up but, having said that, a lot of my generation - and a vast majority of the band - came from a single parent background. I can radiate something really positive that maybe I wouldn't have been able to if I hadn't had those difficulties I had when I was young."
Suggs' mum has been to see the show. "She cried throughout the whole thing," he says. "She really enjoyed it. Everybody has a certain fracture in their lives, some more than others, and I hope it touches people's hearts." He laughs like a drain, not remotely maudlin. "It sounds so luvvie-ish to go on like this," he says - and starts sending himself up, trying to get his tongue around the word "daaahling". Not too successfully, thank God.
The ink barely dry on the contract he signed an hour ago, the 42-year-old musician is on irrepressibly perky form as he arrives at the splendid art deco theatre that is to be his second home until mid-June.
"I've heard that Steven Spielberg is interested in turning Our House into a movie," he reveals. "But I can't work out if it's a rumour based on fact or fiction. I thought about getting a clause in my contract that states I get first option. But only if Spielberg directs, obviously."
Obviously. What is not so obvious is why he wants to put himself through the nerve-racking nightly experience. "I talked with producers and realized a proper run would have to be for a certain length of time or there would be no point in doing it," he explains. "I've resigned myself to my sentence and am now just puttin' me 'ead down and doin' me porridge. "It throws me a little bit when I walk on stage because my instincts are to say something like, 'Good evening, Leicester! How are you doing?', but I have to stand there doing nothing and that's disconcerting. "But otherwise it's a very similar discipline to being on the road in that the hours are the same. But in the band you are on the move all the time, whereas this is the Groundhog Day version. "What's the worst that could happen? That I don't get a standing ovation every time I come on stage," he jokes breezily.
Suggs is a man who likes to keep busy. As well as the musical, he's been writing a sitcom, appearing in the Radio 4 comedy I Think I've Got A Problem, with Bob Monkhouse, and Madness recently headlined a massive charity gig for the Teenage Cancer Trust at the Royal Albert Hall.
He's a devoted family man who's lived for 18 years in the same north London street with his wife Anne and their daughters, Scarlett, 20, and Viva, 17. The family have a second home in Italy, and Suggs has lately been brushing up the lingo. "We've had a chap come round every week to give us Italian lessons," he says. "Anne is doing much better than me. Memories of school keep flooding back. I find myself breaking into a cold sweat and going top sit at the back of the class."
In a way, Madness is Suggs' second family. The band had 21 top-20 hits between 1979 and 1986, split up in 1988, and then did a comeback gig in 1992. Now they are looking forward to some 25th anniversary celebrations next year. "We're going to get a mini-bus, go to Eastbourne and sit in a lay-by eating our sandwiches," claims Suggs. "We'll maybe then go for a game of bingo, and as long as everyone doesn't get too over-excited we might just go to the pictures. And, in the next 20 years, it looks like we could pull our fingers out enough to record a couple of new songs."
Our House is at the Cambridge Theatre (020 7494 5399)
