One tends to think that glitterati live on different planets, particularly those with OBEs who danced onstage with the late Princess Di, and could confidently say they knew her "rather well".
But talking to Wayne Sleep on the phone from his flat in Kensington in London, he came across as a canny old geyser, for all his drawling, Cockney-tinged theatrical camp. He was just back from a long day rehearsing his new touring show, Aspects of Dance, a middle-brow medley of classic gems and some new ballet pieces he choreographed, and at the age of 50, he turns out himself with a energetic new tap-dance number.
Remarkably enough, all day tomorrow (Sunday 16th), Sleep is in the Luce Hall in Trinity College, Dublin, giving one of his big open ballet/jazz/tap open workshops. So, is he scouting? "No. If there's an exceptional talent, I'll quietly whisper it to somebody, but it's not an audition, it's there to give kids inspiration. You can't teach an awful lot in an hour, but you can give them performance value, bring out the best that they individually can give . . ." Sleep is no stranger to Dublin over the years. He played "a very small villain" in the film, The First Great Train Robbery, years ago with Sean Connery and Donald Sutherland - "I had to escape from jail and climb over roofs, out at the old Heuston station in fact." He also choreographed a play called Dead-Eyed Dick in the Gaiety long ago, with Peter O'Toole, while at the Olympia he played in Hollywood on Broadway "with Judy Garland's daughter Lorna Loft, and also a run of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Song and Dance there for four weeks."
He still choreographs and performs constantly, in everything from dance to West End comedy. "I just love theatre really." But 13 pantomime seasons? "I know, a nightmare. But it's great working with kids, that's the draw. Probably because they're my height" (he's five foot two inches).
The workshops came about when he met promoter Julian Benson at the Point last September at the unveiling of a series of Famine plaques. Sleep: "I was talking to your President, a very nice lady, down on the quays where they were unveiling all those names in brass. If you bought one of these things, it would go to a charity, but she gave me an honorary one, which was very wonderful. I was very proud of that."
Benson, a 28-year-old former dancer himself (and apparently, choreographer for early Boyzone and his own clone boy band, NV), talks breathlessly about a possible Irish production choreographed by Sleep. "Classical ballet is starved in this country, and completely overshadowed by Riverdance as far as I can see, so I just want to see if we can give it a bit of life and expose some of that Irish talent."
As for Sleep, how long does he see himself performing? "Oh, it'll have to do with injuries and luck really. I'll just go on while the audience wants me to, and I can still jump and turn and be athletically strong."
For last-minute workshop bookings, contact Laura on 088- 6902797