West End star Luke Baker on playing Dick Whittington in Cambridge, appearing in Andor - and the hardest job in panto
Alex Spencer catches up with the principal boy ahead of the launch of the new Cambridge Arts Theatre pantomime.
West End star Luke Baker is ready to don the tights of leading man Dick Whittington in this year’s Cambridge Arts Theatre panto and can’t wait to get on stage.
He’s no stranger to pantomime, having been in four other productions, but this year he reckons he has it a little easier as he’s not playing panto’s notoriously hardest role, which invariably ends up being exhausting and prone to injuries.
“About six years ago I played Buttons, the Silly Billy character and it’s really hard work physically,” he says.
“But you’re also basically like a stand-up comedian and you have to be the kids’ best mate. And you fancy Cinderella, which doesn’t always go Buttons’s his way does it?
“This time it’s actually nice because I’m not playing that Silly Billy role that takes so much energy. The roles are spread out evenly between Alice, the leading lady, the cook and my cat, so it’s not like not like being in a musical either where it’s quite heavy on that leading character. It’s also a great script and there are some really nice musical numbers.”
As the leading man he will avoid the infamous “slosh” scene, too, where characters slip and slide all over the stage and go home with more than a few bruises. But he does have to suffer in one other way - there will be tights.
“I think there might be some tights in the finale,” he says, sheepishly.
“I’ve got a really nice costume, actually. It’s like an old classic, panto-style. Plus I’ve got a knapsack with a bit of a big stick and a sack on the back. The costumes are amazing. They’re really done well and this panto looks very classy.”
Luke has appeared in many West End and regional shows. Most recently, he starred as Tony in a production of Billy Elliot at the Leicester Curve theatre. This, he explains, was a part he had been wanting to play for years.
“It was the first time the show has been reimagined away from the West End. It has just won an award and it was always a dream for me because I’ve always wanted to play Tony, which is Billy’s older brother, who’s a miner. Previously, I was never around when they were auditioning. I was always employed or busy and I thought that part had passed me by in my career. And then I heard they were doing it in Leicester so I got in there. Everyone would always go, ‘I could see you playing Tony’. I was like - ‘me too!’”
Luke, who grew up in Wakefield, explained he was attracted to the story for several reasons - including representing his northern roots.
He said: “Some people asked how do you feel playing a baddie? I was like, he’s not a baddie; he is just a young lad that has seen his industry decimated and he wants to fight for what he loves and his family and his community. And we did loads of research going into Billy Elliot about all these mining communities where the mine was the heartbeat of every community and you tear the heart of anything and it’s going to die.
“The show I was in before Billy Elliot was Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, which is the next biggest British written musical after Billy Elliot, in my opinion. And that was set in a working class area in Sheffield and is based around Jeremy growing up to be a drag queen.
“But the show was actually more about the mum and son’s relationship and how he’s navigated his way through school and life and being 16 in this area where you don’t get a chance.
“For me personally, coming into this whole business as a working class lad it’s been hard for me there weren’t that many northern working class shows, really. You would either have to be a Londoner or American when you’re performing. So I was really lucky to do both of those shows. But yeah, I think it’s important. I always see my family react in a different way when they see me in these stories.”
Recently, Luke has appeared in the Star Wars spin-off Andor on Disney+, although he admits it was a small part.
“If you have really good eyesight you can see me in Andor,” he laughs.
“They had a massive cast and I’ve got a few friends that all did it. When I watched it I did spot myself and paused the show to say, ‘that’s me’. I was hired as ‘Running Soldier’, so they didn’t even bother giving my character a name because I was literally a soldier that runs across this massive bridge, obviously late for something. But that was amazing. I got the part during lockdown, which was a bit of a breath of fresh air and I went and filmed it in the highlands in Oban. So we stayed there for a week just to shoot one scene, which was lovely.
“There were four of us. We flew up there and then we all stayed in the hotel. I had a bit of a laugh and we all got pulled in to film our bits at different times.
“One of my best friends was in it and on a different scene as well. It’s cool to be part of that Star Wars family in a very tiny way. I’m not an obsessive Star Wars fan, but I have seen them all and it was exciting to take part.”
Luke’s other recent screen role was in Masters of the Air, a sequel to Band of Brothers for Apple TV, which stars Austin Butler. The production is run by Tom Hanks and Spielberg. It’s set in World War Two and is about the B17 bombers.
Luke says: “Basically, the Americans came over and helped us win the Second World War by doing targeted bombing, rather than what the British were doing was just sort of like carpet bombing and ruining whole towns and cities. They were doing it at night because it was safer for the soldiers, but they weren’t necessarily hitting their targets. And the Americans quite boldly said we’ll do it in the daytime and in formation. And we’re going to target places specifically. But the survival rate was grim because if 10 planes flew out, probably only three wouldn’t come back. And the soldiers agreed to 25 missions. If you complete 25 missions, you can go home.
“My character survived because he got captured and was put in a prisoner of war camp. I’m more visible this time as I’m in some scenes with Austin but I was wearing a gas mask at points so who knows if you can see me!”
Luke believes that if he had listened to career advice at school he would never have become an actor.
“In my careers advice session they asked me what I wanted to do and I said I didn’t know,” says Luke.
“And then they just gave me an Army leaflet. I was talking about this with one of the military supervisors while I was filming with Masters of the Air and he said if I’d joined the Army at that point I would have been sent to Afghanistan. So I’m glad that didn’t happen.”
Instead, a teacher suggested he do a BTEC in musical theatre and after that he went to drama school on a scholarship.
“When I when I found out people got paid for singing, dancing and acting I thought, I could do that.”
My family were always supportive. My dad just told me, ‘If you’re going to do it just make sure you are really good!’”
Dick Whittington and his Cat is at Cambridge Arts Theatre from December 1 to January 8. Tickets, from £19, are available from the box office at cambridgeartstheatre.com.