Burping or farting on stage is a performer’s worst nightmare, but in Shrek The Musical it’s a highlight of the show and one which actress Joanne Clifton looks forward to in every performance.
“I just revel in the applause because when else in my whole life am I going to get hundreds of people applauding and cheering for me doing a fart?” laughs the former Strictly dance professional.
The role of Princess Fiona, in the stage adaptation of the popular 2001 Dreamworks movie about a green ogre and his sidekick Donkey who save their land from an evil lord and rescue a princess from a terrible fate, is something Joanne has dreamt of playing.
“It’s such a high energy show, it’s so much fun to do every time. It’s not your usual fairy tale, you’ve got all the unexpected characters and a lot of things go the opposite way to how you think they should.
“It’s got amazing one-liners, but it’s got a message behind it as well that you should just be who you want to be and not try to live up to the expectations of what other people think you should be.”
The role of Princess Fiona is one in which former world champion ballroom dancer Joanne can fully relate to.
“She’s a princess, but she isn’t your typical princess. She’s quite feisty and although she tries to be elegant and graceful and act like a princess, towards the end she’s actually an ogre and being true to herself.
“Being a ballroom dancer and also world champion, people have an expectation of how you dress, act and speak. I’ve never been like that,” adds Joanne, saying that Princess Fiona is a “great role model” for young girls in today’s image-obsessed world.
Joanne also knows what it takes to overcome adversity, having been diagnosed with osteoarthritis back in 2015.
“I’ve arthritis in both knees, which is understandable from my dance training all my life. But I still managed to win Strictly and dance eight times a week in musicals. If you follow the doctor’s advice and look after yourself you can still achieve your dreams,” says the positive thinking 40-year-old.
Joanne started dancing ballroom and Latin as a child in her home village near Grimbsy, taught by her parents, former world number ones Keith and Judy Clifton. She competed nationally and internationally as a child, initially partnering her brother Kevin, another former Strictly star.
“We danced together until our early teens when we had to do the rumba, the dance of love, and it was nah,” she giggles.
In 2000, Joanne moved to Italy, to train with Team Diablo, the biggest dance school in Europe, and went on to be crowned world ballroom champion in 2013.
Her Glitterball Trophy on Strictly Come Dancing came in 2016 with her celebrity dance partner, TV presenter Ore Oduba.
She has gone on to carve an impressive stage career, in shows such as Flashdance, Top Hat and The Addams Family.
Shrek the Musical features a soundtrack of fabulous songs like Big Bright Beautiful World and I Know It’s Today and Joanne’s favourite, I’m A Believer.
“It comes right at the finale. When you have a full theatre up on their feet singing along to I’m A Believer, it’s such a great feeling,” she enthuses.
I’ve arthritis in both knees, but I still managed to win Strictly and dance eight times a week in musicals
— Joanne Clifton
Before then is her transformation from princess to ogre, which the wardrobe team can now achieve in less than one minute.
“It’s like choreography; it’s so fast. I run off and stand there with my arms outstretched with a team of five around me. They take the human dress, put the ogre padding and dress, then my human wig comes off and then my ogre wig goes on with the ears.
“Next I’ve got prosthetic hands and a prosthetic nose to go on and all the while I’ve got two people painting my face and down to my chest and back with green paint before I sprint on again. The quickest time is 56 seconds and the slowest has been one minute and 12 seconds,” she explains.
The biggest occupational hazard of being part of Shrek The Musical, she confesses, is the green make-up, which she has left trails on pillowcases up and down the country whilst touring.
“Shrek’s is green prosthetics, mine is green paint. I’ve constantly got bits of green in my ears and hairline, but I’ve accepted that’s my life until the end of the run,” she laughs.
Next up for Joanne is the role of fierce yet fabulous Velma von Tussle in Hairspray, which she will take on the road in September following a six-week summer run of Shrek in London’s Hammersmith Apollo.
She is still involved in Strictly with a segment called Clifton’s Choreography Corner in the BBC2 spin-off show It Takes Two with her brother, where they give their opinions on the couples and the judges’ marking.
So would she fancy getting the paddles out and being a Strictly judge in the future?
“Definitely. I think that’s the dream of all us former professionals. I think Anton is so good because after having been a contestant he knows what the celebrities have to do – not only on the dancefloor but also mentally. “Obviously if a beginner dancer gets bad comments from all of the judges it’s hard to get their confidence back. In that respect Anton’s really considerate with his words.”
With her brother Kevin also having made the transformation to musical theatre with roles in the likes of Strictly Ballroom The Musical, The Wedding Singer, Singin’ in the Rain and Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, would she like to see them work together on stage?
“Who knows? Though if we have to act together on stage we would probably end up laughing,” adds Joanne, who hopes to spend her down-time in Northern Ireland by discovering some local escape rooms.
