Staffordshire Living’s Chrissie Woodward got the opportunity to speak to AJ and Curtis Prichard to our very own AJ and Curtis Pritchard before they burst onto the stage at Victoria Hall on the 27 th of September with their new show Come What May
SL =So guys, Good Morning are you all right?
AJ and Curtis -Fabulous, thank you. How are you?
SL- Nice to speak to you this morning., I just wanted to ask you a couple of questions about your new show, you’re playing in Stoke on the 27th of September at Victoria Hall, which I’m sure you know quite well, being Stoke lads originally It’s going to be nice playing your hometown.
AJ and Curtis
yeah.
SL – Well, living in Stoke myself, I’m sure we need a couple of questions about oatcakes.
SL – Do you like oatcakes?
AJ and Curtis -We love oatcakes. You’ll laugh at this because we did a business meeting. We’ve just launched a new business called Fint Invest. And we had some people around the table to welcome board of directors, we brought out some oatcakes, and we were like, this is brilliant. And one of the guys wasn’t from Stoke on Trent. He just kind of looked at it and gave it a prod. I was like, no, that’s the thing, you must do it. It baffles me that people don’t know what an oatcake is. Now we live in London, nobody knows what an oatcake is. A proper one. When you say an oatcake to them, they’re like, what is this monstrosity? It’s the best thing in the world. We like to go to the shop at the top of Basford Bank. That little shop there does them the best. That’s absolutely true.
SL So are you a cheese bacon men or cheese only men?
AJ and Curtis – Cheese and Bacon absolutely !. How our grandad makes them, you know on those old-fashioned like metal plates that they have under the grill, you put the bacon on there, you put your cheese on there as well, so the bacon fat goes all into the cheese, crisps it nice a little bit and then you just peel it off and put it onto the oat cake. Perfect,
SL -Well you wouldn’t understand unless you come from around here, would you really? I wanted to ask you, obviously, this show itself is Moulin Rouge! and it’s based on fantastic songs. So, what’s your favourite song in the show?
Curtis -I think the one with this show is “Come What May”, so that’s its theme song, but it’s an ultimate tribute to Moulin Rouge and all the fantastic musicals.
AJ- So you get the best of, like as Curtis just said, “Your song”is very emotional, very inspiring, but also “ The Greatest Showman”, these big powerful numbers, really makes it very easy for a professional performer, okay, we know what we’re going to choreograph, we know what we’re going to do in this because it’s so, so powerful. I think with a show these days, there’s a lot of competition out there. So to have a musical that’s already established and where the songs are timeless, it makes it easy for us to perform. And knowing that,it’s a show that I would buy a ticket for and I don’t like to buy tickets for anything. I want to see this show and knowing that it’s coming to Stoke-on-Trent, we are very proud and very excited to perform.
SL – Has it taken you a long time to get into it, how long have you been working on it?
AJ and Curtis -I think the one thing that’s been overwhelming is seeing the quality of dancers we’ve got.
AJ – We did a massive audition the other day in Fulham. The quality of dancers that turned up was amazing, but choosing who, was one of the hardest decisions to make, we need four of the best girls for this, we’ve got a live band and live singer. We start with back-to-back rehearsals at the beginning of September, all day, every day, there’s a lot to be done it’s going to be epic, insane. Like AJ said, that whole audition process that we managed to be in the room for, the dancers were phenomenal. The tricks we’re doing through the air, I can’t wait to see us all together in a room doing the show numbers and on stage. I’m going to be amazed by it. It’s going to be a jaw-dropping moment. It’s going to be fabulous.
SL- I’m looking forward to seeing it, guys, I must say. So it’s in my diary, 27th of September at Victoria Hall. So we’ll get everybody out to see that. And it’s going on Staffordshire Living website as soon as we get the opportunity to put it up with all your wonderful pictures because I’ve looked at all the pictures and all the amazing costumes and it just looks like it’s going to be high energy, really epic and you know I’m looking forward to seeing it.
Curtis – I hope it’s left because I think our mum’s bought out half the theatre. I mean, I think they’ll sell out pretty quickly, to be honest with you.
SL- I just wondered, what’s life like for you after being in some of the biggest shows on TV, both of you?
AJ- Yes, I think it’s kind of fantastic to have the opportunity. So being able to do these fantastic TV shows, meet great people, and also on the other side, the business side, we have just launched a financial investment app called Fint Invest, that’s F-I-N-T, an our businesses are based out of Newcastle, so literally down the road from Stoke on Trent, well still is Stoke, we say personally.
SL – I know you get asked loads of things like this, but are you friends in real life?
Curtis -I mean obviously we are. Yeah until he annoys me. Have you seen that scene from James Bond where he has that person in the punch bag and then you don’t realise and he’s beating him up. That tends to happen sometimes when he gets on my nerves then I undo the punch bag and he drops out .
SL – So right okay we’ve talked about oatcakes but we just want to know as you’ve lived together in the past, who’s a better cook then, out of you two?
Curtis -Well, AJ will say himself, but… I am the better cook and I actually cook. Just because Cutis orders a lot of takeaways though, so therefore he can’t be a better cook if he’s ordering food out.
AJ -Well, it’s something called inspiration from other restaurants.
Curtis -Oh, is that what it is? Is it? Oh, right.
AJ – Everyone who orders a lot of deliveries knows what I’m on about, Just agree with me.
Curtis -Absolutely.
SL – What surprises are going to be in store on the show, I’m pretty sure that you’ve put some fantastic surprises in for the audience. Are they going to be wowed by some of the stuff that you’re going to be doing?
AJ -Well, we can’t give too much away. I will tell you right now, that the dance numbers are impactful. They are in your face and non-stop. There are great lifts in there. There are all the numbers that people love as well. Things like the can-can, the singing, and the live band are going to be phenomenal. I think having live music just shows how much we back what we’re doing.
Curtis – Because the minute, like with everything, everything’s an extra cost. But we’re like, no, we go, we do it, we do it properly. You won’t see AJ singing, though.
AJ -No, I am very good at dancing and performing and everything else, but singing is not my forte.
SL- Are you any good at singing?
Curtis -You may see me doing some singing. I can’t divulge any more information
SL – Obviously you’re used to performing, but a lot of performers have a little ritual before they go on stage. I mean, do you have a ritual before going on stage I mean, I suppose get nervous before you’re doing a live show. However, much practice you’ve had, do you have like a little ritual that makes you feel confident enough to just step on that stage
Curtiis I’m not going say it makes me feel confident enough to step on the stage But I have to do this every time, go to the toilet.
AJ Literally. That’s too much information.
Curtis – Like, as late as I possibly can. Yeah. Like, just two minutes before walking on stage for that first bit, I have to have gone to the toilet. I don’t know why. I think it’s just to push that last little bit out, just to know that I’m ready to perform.
AJ -I’m going to say my ritual, is much more normal. I find like a boxer, is to hype yourself up, like slapping your hands, just shaking the body. It’s more like I always love to really loud scream, just kind of like whoo, clear the energy, clear all the pipes and then I’m ready to go. Brilliant.
SL- I just wondered what that would look like because obviously you’ve got to find the energy to burst onto that stage and I just wondered how you did that. I know that you probably, you guys, spent a lot of time dancing from a young age because your parents, taught you and I hear you trained in Birmingham in Solihull.
Curtis -We still do quite a bit of training there, usually Friday night’s practice would be in Birmingham, so as a teenager having to spend so much time with your parents was it quite difficult ? How did that impact you guys? your phenomenal dancers, and you don’t just walk onto a stage and perform without years and years of training. Was that tough for you? That you were so dedicated? And like from a teenager’s point of view, did you ever rebel against that?
AJ – No, I think if you want to be the best at something in the world, then you have to train 24-7. And there’s no point doing something, in my opinion, and doing it half in half out, because if you want to be the best, first gets their name on the trophy, second doesn’t, quite simply. For me, it was always about, I can do lots of things in the future. We can go and travel the world and do whatever when you’re older. But having a profession that you train in and represent your country, it’s such an honour to do that. And I wouldn’t have been able to do all the things I do now if I hadn’t put that amount of training into my life when we were younger. To be honest, to miss some parties,that doesn’t matter. I go to bigger and better parties now -it’s a good balance really, it is. Obviously when you are that age when you’re younger and you’ve got loads of friends and they’re all doing this and that. And you do miss out on some things, but then again, you’re representing your country in Latvia. They’re missing out on that. They’re missing out on that. So it really is like swings and roundabouts.
Sl – Well thank you for your time today Im really looking forward to seeing the show
