Panto season is here

A sit down with Wicked Queen, Su Pollard!

She’s behind you! Su Pollard chats exclusively to Sunderland Vibe about the magic of panto season and her villainous role in the new production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs arriving at Sunderland Empire this winter...

Su, after such a long time away from the stage, how good does it feel to be back on the Sunderland Empire stage?

It has felt like decades away from the stage. You miss doing warm-ups, learning music, you long for everything that goes with the production - it all adds to the excitement of being back again! We’ve just had the launch event for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and it was lovely meeting the cast. The best part for me was being in the Empire, it’s a fantastic theatre!

What makes Sunderland Empire so special for you?

I love it! It was great being on stage and looking out onto that beautiful auditorium again - it’s the West End of the North East, isn’t it! I have to say a special thanks to the cleaning ladies at the Empire - they are tremendous! Do you know how much brass there is? And I don’t mean money! They’re forever polishing and it just gleams fabulously.

Any standout memories when performing at Sunderland Empire?

I think one of the first theatre trips I ever made, nearly 50 years ago, was to the Sunderland Empire. We were performing in Godspell at the time! The Empire has always been known as a theatre that’s a top date on tours and it really is. Everybody looks forward to visiting, because the dressing rooms are beautiful, and the audiences love to join in. Which is their right, especially in panto! If they don’t boo me, I shall be upset! I love it when the first child has to be carried out crying. Not in a cruel way of course!

What do you think makes a good panto?

First and foremost, a good story! People have got to have a good narrative to follow, because if the story is really good and told properly by everybody in show, the audience will just love to follow it. People want to see 'spectacularness'! They want to see beautiful colours, they want to see fabulous costumes, beautiful bright lights and they want great music. I do believe we’ve got all of these elements in this show... so there are several reasons why you should come see it!

You’ve played the Wicked Queen a few times now, what is it about this character that makes you keep coming back?

Well, I’ve been very lucky in that I started off as a principal boy. You see I was quite young and it was all fabulous! I then got a slightly older and they said, 'look, Su, you can’t keep thinking that you’re 28', so they said let’s do the Wicked Queen - that’s the next step along. I try to make it fun, but when I’ve got to be evil and mean to all my staff, like Muddles, and especially Snow White, I don’t mind that, it’s fun to act. If you’re going to be evil it’s no good being Mandy Pandy, you’ve got to scare people!

CATCH SNOW WHITE & THE SEVEN DWARFS AT SUNDERLAND EMPIRE FROM FRIDAY 10 DECEMBER 2021. TICKETS PRICED FROM JUST £13 AND ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT

ATGTICKETS.COM/SUNDERLAND

What can people expect when they come to see Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at Sunderland Empire?

They can expect to be surprised, lots of ‘ums’ and ‘arrs’, lots of joining in and just tons of fun! People can come out and forget all of their worries that they might be going through at the time and have a fabulous night. They’ll go home feeling like they’ve had a lovely time!