Will back to where he trained as Dandini

He will be assisting the Prince at Guildford’s Yvonne Arnaud Theatre this Christmas in their panto production of Cinderella.

Will graduated from the Guildford School of Acting in 2010 after a three-year musical theatre scholarship.

After training Will played the role of Billy in Dirty Dancing in London’s West End at the Aldwych Theatre. He moved to London, but then moved back to Guildford – and is now relishing the thought of doing pantomime on his own doorstep.

“I am from Yorkshire originally,” he says – though without a hint of Yorkshire in his voice. “I think they hammered it out of me here! But I just had a brilliant time in Guildford. I had the three best years of my life here. It’s a really good school. It has got a great success rate, and the teachers were really good. We all worked really well together. It is not cut-throat like some schools can be.”

Will was on the musical theatre course: “I started acting when I was quite young and then started singing when I was about 15 – singing and dancing. I have always been a fan of musicals and that’s what I wanted to do. I did a lot of amateur dramatics.

“With the musicals, it is the music as much as anything. I love seeing the shows. Some of them you just want to see time and time again.”

Will graduated three years ago: “It has been great so far for me. My first job was in the West End in Dirty Dancing. It was a dream role for a first job.”

Will has also appeared at London’s Cadogan Hall performing at the Inspiration Women’s Awards 2012: “There are lots of celebrities and women that have gone through tragic times. I was one of the singers that sang at that. I think it was televised.”

Last year he appeared at the Birmingham Hippodrome in Robinson Crusoe for QDOS Productions, the same production which is at Southampton’s Mayflower this Christmas.

He admits he thought about sticking with the same show this year, but was attracted by all that Guildford offered, in terms of location, plus the people he would be working with and the people he would be working for.

Plus he expects to have plenty of fun with the role of Dandini, the cheeky chappy who swaps places with the Prince: “It’s a nice part because he has got a different element to him rather than just a romantic lead. There is a lot more that you can do with him and play around with him.

“It’s just really good fun. I remember seeing pantos when I was a child, and it is just really nice now to be part of all that.”

Will’s theatre credits while training at the GSA included Young Soldier in Parade, Danny Hooper in Baby, Renardo in Carnival, Benjamin in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Dromio of Epheus in Comedy of Errors and Robert in Robert and Elizabeth.

Cinderella runs from Friday, December 6 to Sunday, January 12 at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford, starring Bonnie Langford and Kit Hesketh-Harvey. Tickets on 01483 440000 or www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk.