Making his professional musical theatre debut in a sparkling new production of High Society that comes to Cardiff on July 21, Freddie Fox reveals: “I’ve been building up to this since the age of four, when I saw my first musical at the National Theatre.”
The show in question was Guys and Dolls starring Clarke Peters, Imelda Staunton and Henry Goodman. “And I absolutely loved it,” Freddie recalls. “I learned all the words to all the songs and I sang them to anyone who would listen for a good few years afterwards. It’s what started my obsession with musicals and I later became besotted with Cabaret and The Producers, so finally getting to star in one now on stage is the realisation of a boyhood fantasy.”
The London-born son of actors Edward Fox and Joanna David studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and, as a student, he starred in the musical The Last Five Years opposite fellow Guildhall attendee Lily James in 2010 at the nearby Barbican Pit Theatre. But High Society – which embarks on a 20-week UK and Ireland tour after a stint at the bigger Barbican Theatre – is his first musical theatre outing since he graduated and it’s on a much larger scale, with a 28-strong cast that also features Helen George, Julian Ovenden and Nigel Lindsay.
Based on the classic 1956 film (which in turn was based on the 1939 stage comedy The Philadelphia Story and the following year’s big screen version) and featuring timeless Cole Porter tunes, it revolves around the society wedding of Long Island socialite Tracy Lord (George) in the early 1950s as it descends into comedy chaos.
Old and new flames vie for attention as sharp-eyed tabloid reporter Mike Connor hunts for scandal at the Oyster Bay waterfront estate where the nuptials are due to take place. Fox plays Connor, of whom he says: “He’d like to think of himself as a socialist, but he’s probably more of a champagne socialist, to be honest. He’s a sort of middle-class intellectual and a very good writer, but he has only ever written one book that nobody read, so he has to make money as a journalist – which is something that he hates doing but it pays the bills.
“When he arrives at this fancy-schmancy house in Oyster Bay he’s thinking ‘These people are going to be completely ghastly’ and decides that he wants to hate them all on principle, but then he gets lured by the high society spell.” Is there anything of Freddie in the character? He laughs. “Well, apart from being slightly left-wing and liking champagne, not really!”
From the producers of equally dazzling revivals of Anything Goes and Kiss Me, Kate, both of which also feature Cole Porter scores, High Society is directed by Rachel Kavanaugh, whose credits include Shadowlands and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and choreographed by Anthony Van Laast of Mamma Mia! and Bombay Dreams fame, with musical supervisor Stephen Ridley leading the orchestra.
Freddie’s castmates and the creative team were a big draw for the 37-year-old actor. “When I heard who was involved I was like ‘This is the A-team, it’s like playing in the Premier League’. And, like Guys and Dolls, it’s the sort of musical that I love. It’s a night of sheer joy, lots of fun, with the best songs and fabulous dancing and singing. It’s entertainment with a capital E.”
A career in entertainment seemed inevitable for Freddie, who as part of the legendary Fox acting dynasty grew up amongst thespians and was named after Fred Zinnemann, the revered filmmaker who directed his father Edward in The Day of the Jackal.
That said, his parents would have preferred him not to follow in their footsteps. “They knew the ins and outs and the precariousness of acting as a profession,” he recalls, “like not having money, then suddenly you’re in the pink again and it’s all great.”
Humouring his folks, Freddie went along to an open day at Bristol University with a view to maybe studying history or the classics. Afterwards, he asked his dad if he could see Bristol Old Vic Theatre. “They let us in and just have a wander around on the stage, which was incredibly kind of them, and my dad realised that it would have been fruitless trying to dissuade me from an acting career because it was clear to him how fascinated I was with that world.”
After graduating from drama school, Fox won plaudits for his portrayal of the singer Marilyn in Worried About the Boy, a TV drama about Boy George. He hasn’t stopped working since, with personal favourites ranging from The Judas Kiss opposite Rupert Everett on stage to Slow Horses opposite Gary Oldman on screen.
“Working with Gary was another boyhood dream come true,” Fox says. “I’ve been very lucky because I’ve enjoyed pretty much everything I’ve done. I got to work with Lily James again in Romeo and Juliet in the West End, which was wonderful, and High Society opened at the Barbican, which felt like a full-circle moment because that’s where I did The Last Five Years in the smaller theatre all those years ago.”
Freddie is known for his sartorial style, so he’s loving Mike’s dapper costumes in High Society. “They’re extraordinary and audiences will leave the theatre feeling like no expense has been spared on making it a truly massive musical extravaganza.” Is there anything else about the era that he’d like to experience? “I think I’d enjoy the abandon and that post-war feeling that life is for living. There was a great sense of energy and a desire to create and build, and a feeling that the world could only get better.”
Then there are the Cole Porter songs, which run the gamut from Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? via Well, Did You Evah! and Just One of Those Things to Let’s Misbehave and the swooningly romantic True Love. “He was a genius with an ear for a great melody,” Freddie marvels. “He was a one-off.” For this new production the score has been expanded with a selection of additional Cole Porter classics, including “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”, “Let’s Do It, Let’s Fall in Love”, “You Do Something to Me”, “Be a Clown”, “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To”, “All Of You” and “Now You Has Jazz”, bringing even more wit, romance and sparkle to the production.
The show is fabulous escapism. “And we don’t just need that right now,” he muses, “we always need it.” As for if he’s enjoying his professional musical theatre debut, he beams: “It’s surpassed my expectations. I was excited but nervous, but now I feel really at home in this medium.”
He’s a big fan of touring, saying: “It’s a great way to get to know your nation and to go to places you’d maybe never go to otherwise. It’s very good bonding for the company too, where we’re all together on this adventure.”
After its run at the Barbican, High Society will be calling at 15 towns and cities across the UK and Ireland. “Taking a show out of London is what it’s all about for me,” Freddie smiles. “Theatre should be for absolutely everybody and I think now more than ever – as we face a kind of technological revolution, the effects of which we can’t quite predict, what with AI and the like – theatre is more important to us than perhaps it ever has been in our history. Taking a show on tour and giving people a great night out is just one brick in that enormous wall.”
High Society visits New Theatre Cardiff from Tuesday 21 – Saturday 25 July. For tickets see newtheatrecardiff.co.uk
