| High Society | Milton Keynes Theatre
25-30 October 2004 Evenings: 7.30pm
Matinees: Wed & Sat: 2.30pm
Box Office: 01908 60 60 90 |
To move from the cobbled streets of Weatherfield to high society Philadelphia may seem like a huge leap. But while Susie Blake, who has just finished playing the part of Beverley Unwin in Coronation Street, wanted to do something completely different, it may be that her latest role is not that far removed from last one after all! “To go from Corrie to this is a huge contrast” she says, and for the most part she is right! As the elegant Mother Lord in Cole Porter’s High Society, Susie couldn’t really get that much further away from barmaid Bev, who let’s face it, and to put it politely, was a bit of a ‘goer’! But what they have in common is that they both wanted their daughters to pick the right man. They just chose different ways to show it! Mother Lord leads by example and helps her daughter to choose the right man by learning about compassion. She forgives her own wayward husband after his affair with an exotic dancer, while Bev exposed the rogues to her daughter Shelley by sleeping with them herself! Fashionable Set in the fashionable world of 1940’s Philadelphia, High Society tells the story of Tracy Lord who is engaged to dependable George Kittredge. But the wedding plans are disrupted by the arrival of her charming ex-husband Dexter Haven and further complicated by Mike and Liz, two reporters from the tabloid press, who are keen to publish scandalous stories about Tracy's father! So, with three men in the mix and the wedding not cancelled, the story revolves round who Tracy will eventually marry.
 | | Susie Blake as Mother Lord |
“It’s not a big part” says Susie of her current role, “but her jigsaw piece is to so help Tracy decide who she should marry by teaching her daughter compassion because she herself forgives her own husband.” Susie recognises that this may not be seen as the modern way of doing things but insists that it could be seen as a lesson to us all. “A lot of new women will say that she’s stupid” she explains, “but actually at my great age I think it’s a great thing if you can make it work. “If somebody has learnt their lesson and has changed, then I think it’s great to have another go” she adds. In fact, Susie says that High Society is an “amazingly modern” piece of work for the 1940s when it was first written as a stage play called ‘The Philadelphia Story. Dealing with subjects such as divorce, extra-marital affairs and alcoholism, it didn’t sweep issues under the carpet like other musicals from a similar time. “But even more shocking” reveals Susie, “in the scene where she [Tracy] is really showing off she says to Mike and Ria ‘are you two living together?’ which in 1940, when it was written seems an incredibly shocking thing to say. “But I think it’s a very, very good play” she adds, before explaining how it has a very important message to tell, and one that none of us girls should ignore! Advice She reveals how the show depicts the different kinds of lovers that a girl can have in a lifetime and in doing so, it also suggests that there’s only one type that you should marry. And here Susie is adamant, and imparts her own advice on how to choose the right partner! “You could meet a stockbroker-type who can give you everything and you think that that will bring you happiness and it won’t. Then you’ll meet the lover who you think is going to make you into the princess of your dreams and that’s not going to work either, not when the wrinkles come! So you need somebody who is your friend first.” She explains how her stage daughter Tracy does what she hopes any child of hers would do, and that is get to know somebody as a friend before you have any other kind of relationship with them, because that is the one that will last. “That was the advice that I gave to my son” reveals Susie. | "The hardest work I’ve ever done." | | Susie Blake talks about Coronation Street |
“In the show Tracy does that but unfortunately I think she’s too young in the marriage to Dexter to know about compassion. She is cold towards him and he’s frightened of her and having been a friend he doesn’t know how to cross that bridge to being a lover. “Tracy is then going to marry an accountant which is what my mother hoped I would do and have a steady income so that I could play at acting rather than making a career out of it” she laughs. “But back to the show, George treats Tracy like a goddess and she learns that she needs more than that and it’s Mike who wakes her up. “That is the flamboyant romance where you just are besotted and obsessed and that person fills your world. In this production it only happens for 10 minutes! “It’s the person you should have a fantastic affair with and go to Paris with or go on a cruise but it’s not the person you should marry. For that you need somebody who knows you and who forgives you who understands you. Luckily, Tracy has that person in place. “And that’s my advice to the world” she adds. Wow! So in essence, Mother Lord has a similar relationship with Tracy, as Bev did with Shelley? They just want the best man possible for their daughters! Romance And despite, the high romance level in High Society, Susie feels that this show has something for everybody. “People of my age are going to absolutely love it and I think young people are going to enjoy it because of the colour and the amazing costumes and sets. “And the songs are great” she adds. “There’s something in it for everyone and the men are going to enjoy the dancing, the beautiful girls and the lovely Katherine!”[Kingsley, who plays Tracey Lord]
 | | The cast of High Society |
Susie reveals that she was attracted to ‘High Society’ by director Ian Talbot with whom she had worked before and enjoyed the experience very much. In fact he was on the phone asking her if she’d liked to do the show even before the press found out she’d be leaving the ‘Street’. “I’ve worked with him [Talbot] before” she explains, “and when I was chucked out of Coronation Street he was the first person who came to me and asked if I would like to do this. “You know that you’re going to have a good time if you work with him. He’s an old school theatre director and used to doing weekly rep so he’s very fast.” Nevertheless, she didn’t have to work as fast as she did for Corrie, which she admits was “the hardest work I’ve ever done”. “It’s really hard when you’re in a story line because you’re up at 5.00am and you don’t get home until 8.00pm” she reveals. “You have no time for a social life” she continues. “You do have Sunday but that’s the day you learn your lines for the next week. And at any one time there are 15 episodes being made. It’s mind boggling it was the hardest job I’ve ever had!” “In fact, this is easy peasy” she laughs. Schemer Despite all the hard work, Susie says that she enjoyed playing Bev, and defends the character who, by contriving to sleep with her daughter Shelley’s boyfriend Charlie, was not considered to be quite a mean schemer! “But was she?” says Susie intriguingly. “She went out with him [Charlie] first don’t forget and she did tell her daughter about it to try and protect her, so I was able to justify what she did. “She just couldn’t help herself. You get to a certain age and you’re jolly well glad of ANY advances coming your way” she jokes! “But she was fun to play, she really was” continues Susie, who also reveals that she is still being stopped in the street, and not by people who hated the character! “Yesterday I was in M & S and a lady said ‘Oh, I cried when you left’! “I thought that was so nice because some people say she was horrible!” Susie is very coy about whether or not she will go back to Wetherfield. At the moment she is thoroughly enjoying the variety that being back ‘out there’ is bringing and feels that even if she makes a return, she wouldn’t want to be in any soap for a long period of time. She does however accept that being in a prime time ‘continuing drama serial’ gives you more choices in your working life. “It’s been left open at Coronation Street so I’m saying nothing” she smiles. “And as long as I can keep doing theatre, I don’t think I could bury myself in a soap for too long. “But I’ve had the most dreamy time since I’ve left because I’ve been able to travel” she continues. “As well as doing High Society, I’ve done some Shakespeare on a cruise ship and I’m doing the most outrageous thing at Christmas. I’m playing the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz in Manchester. There’s a real contrast of parts but being in a soap does buy you the most amazing choice. Dangers However, she is also quick to warn of the possible career dangers that come from playing one part for so long. “I do think that you have to be quite careful because it would be very easy to become a ‘personality’ actor as opposed to a proper actor which is where my heart lies. I want to play different characters and never be typecast. “Also if you’re in something for such a long time you lose confidence in the outside world and you think that you’ll never work anywhere else.
 | | Elegant costumes in High Society |
“I wish they [the Coronation Street cast] would all have a bash at the outside world because they’re so good and so talented and they could always go back and. “If you’ve seen them in Stars in their Eyes or charity shows or something like that, you’ll know that they are so brilliant. I have so much respect for them and they work so hard.” What is clear is that Susie is thoroughly enjoying her life at the moment, although resists the ‘major star of stage and screen’ tag that the billing for this show has given her! “I wouldn’t take that seriously if I were you” she laughs. “I still see myself as ‘on the way up’ if you like because it’s a personal journey. “I hope that the challenges I face will get harder and harder and that I will keep fit enough to confront them.”
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