Liz Robertson: ‘Rudolf Nureyev told me I’d never be a big star because I’m not selfish enough’
From touring with Rudolf Nureyev to making a tearful post-lockdown return to Mary Poppins last year, performer Liz Robertson tells Fergus Morgan about moments that have made up her theatre career ahead of her solo-show, which opens this summer
Liz Robertson has lived, in her own words, “a pretty extraordinary life”. Born in 1954, the actor and singer started performing professionally on stage as a teenager in the late 1960s, was married to the legendary US lyricist Alan Jay Lerner in the 1980s after appearing in his 1979 production of My Fair Lady, and spent most of 1989 touring America with world-famous dancer Rudolf Nureyev in a production of The King and I.
“I’ve got so many stories and people were always telling me to write them all down in an autobiography,” Robertson says. “But I’m no author. I wouldn’t know where to start. So, I decided to mark my 50th anniversary in the industry by telling my stories in the only way I know how: on stage.”
Shreds and Patches – a one-woman show of stories and songs from Robertson’s career – was first performed at London’s Pheasantry cabaret club in September last year. It was scheduled to revisit the Chelsea venue later this month, but concerns over Covid-19 have postponed its second appearance until the summer.
Robertson, meanwhile, is appearing every night in Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s production of Mary Poppins at the Prince Edward Theatre. It is the latest West End credit in a career that started with Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music in 1975, skyrocketed with an Olivier-nominated role in My Fair Lady in 1979, and has subsequently included dozens of major productions, including The Sound of Music, The Phantom of the Opera and Love Never Dies.
“I’ve done a bit of television and a lot of concerts, but there is nothing in the world like live theatre,” Robertson says. “It’s in my blood. When Mary Poppins first came back after lockdown in August, we were stood behind the curtain and started crying as soon as the orchestra struck up. We all burst into tears because it was so wonderful to be back.”
“Now, of course, we are having to cope with that anxiety all over again,” she continues. “We lost several shows over Christmas but reopened on New Year’s Eve. There still is a huge amount of pressure on dance captains and swings, though. It is so difficult to sort out a show when people keeping catching the virus.”
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What production made you fall in love with theatre?
The first live show I saw was Dora Bryan in Hello, Dolly! when I was about 11, which isn’t a bad first show, is it? The truth, though, is that I had fallen in love with performing long before that, probably when I was about three and was given a lollipop for running around in a tutu.
What are you finding inspiring at the moment?
I enjoyed catching up on some films over Christmas. I saw The Power of the Dog yesterday and thought it was amazing. I went to see Steven Spielberg’s new West Side Story in the cinema the other day, too, and it was just phenomenal.
What do you wish you could change about the performing arts industry?
I’d rather say what I think has improved about our industry, and that is our attitude to mental health. I remember when you would never admit to feeling stage fright, but nowadays you can be much more open about that kind of thing and not be ridiculed for it.
What role do you really want to play?
I always wanted to play Desiree in A Little Night Music. It was my first ever musical, and I watched the glorious Jean Simmons play that part, and I’ve seen Judi Dench and Virginia McKenna and Janie Dee and Hannah Waddingham all do it, too, but I think I’m a bit past it now.
What is the worst thing that has happened to you in a theatre?
I was in I Love My Wife with Ben Cross in 1978. There was a heckler at one performance, who kept shouting the punchline to every gag. In the second half, Ben broke character, stepped forward, and said: “If you are really not enjoying this, I think you should leave.” The heckler said: “With pleasure. This is the worst musical I’ve ever seen. You can’t sing and you can’t act.”
What projects are you involved in at the moment?
Mary Poppins is just about hanging in there after reopening [news emerged last week that it was to cut two performances a week due to rising Covid cases], but Shreds and Patches has been pushed back to June. The show basically tells the story of my whole career. I don’t talk much about Alan, as I have done a separate show all about him, but I do talk about Rudolf Nureyev.
I absolutely adored Rudolf, but he could be the most difficult man to work with. He was arrogant and playful, and wilful and childlike and selfish, but he was wonderful, too. He once told me that I’d never be a big star because I wasn’t selfish enough, and he was absolutely right.
We stayed friends until the end. I knew he had HIV when we did The King and I, and I went to visit him in Paris later, when he was at death’s door. He was very sweet. He said: “I recollect I was very bad to you in The King and I.” I said: “Yes, you were.” We said that we loved each other very much, I left and he died a few days later.
For more information go to: lizrobertson.co.uk
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