"We're the Dumb and Dumber of the company!"

For the people who don't really know much about you, could you tell us a bit about yourself?

Yeah! I'm 25 years old, 26 in September, I come from Cannock in Staffordshire. My hobby is football. I never really trained in the theatre at all, but I fell into it when I was younger. I've played Joseph on the UK tour and I was in the 'Witches of Eastwick', original cast. I've been on the QE2 (Queen Elizabeth 2) for 6 months, and also the MV Royal Majesty for six months and I am now playing Rocky in this tour of the Rocky Horror show.

Why did you choose to star as Rocky and what's it like to be on stage in just your underwear?

I auditioned for Rocky when I was playing Joseph and I think Debbie O'Brien who is the casting director of Rocky had seen me as Joseph before. She just said that I'd make a perfect Rocky.
With regards to wearing hardly anything on stage I did it for two years before that anyway, so I'm quite used to doing it, but I hope with the next job I get, I'll get to wear a few more clothes.

What's your favourite scene in the musical?

Definitely NOT when I have to kiss Jonathan Wilkes!
My favourite scene, I think, is the bit when Frank starts to molest Rocky, in 'Make you a man'. I quite like that, cos Jonny and I have a really good chemistry on and off the stage. We are really good friends as well. It's a lot of fun and I think both of our personal characters come out at that part and many people who have been to see it said that is one of the most fun parts of the show. So that's probably my favourite scene of the show.

Could you tell us a bit more about other musicals you starred in and what has been your favourite role so far?

I was lucky enough to get a part in the 'Witches of Eastwick', which was the original musical of Cameron Mackintosh in 2000 and 2001, which was really really good. I performed with Joanna Riding, Ian McShane, Lucy Arnaz and Maria Friedman. I got on as Michael as second cover to start off with and that was a great achievement, but my favourite role has got to be 'Joseph', cos I played the lead in that. It was a part where I thought I could bring a lot of myself into it, because I'm quite an energy ball and I'm quite an energetic person anyway. I think with the Joseph role, everyone who comes and sees it can relate to the part so it's a rollercoaster ride for everyone between 3 and 93. I enjoyed that part more cos I had a fanbase of people who were very young to the very old.

But I also enjoyed working on cruiseships and things like that and get a chance to see the world while getting paid for it. And I've seen kind of half the world so when I do have my children and my grandchildren they can see the world through my eyes.

Do you learn a lot about performing on cruiseships?

You don't learn so much about performance aspects, cos it is more towards the cabaret side, not so much character work and theatre. So not occupationally, but as a person you learn more about yourself. How you are as a person, what your doeslikes and dislikes are, because even though the ship looks very vast to start off with, at the end if becomes very tiny. But as I say, the plus side of it was is I got to see a lot of places in the world; New York, the whole of the Med, Canada and Norway which was fabulous as well.

What's it like to work with Jonathan?

I'm supposed to say he's a very nice lad...No No! I have got to say we get on like a house on fire. We are the 'Dumb and Dumber' of the company. Jonny and I played football against each other years ago, we're from very similar parts of England; he's from Stoke and I'm from Cannock. And we played on district level and when we first joined we figured out we must have played against each other at some point. And with the physical contact that's in the show and we're both physical males it kind of brought us closer together because it was so much fun and we were exploring our other sides...NOT in that kind of way though!

He's a great lad and he's a very talented person. It's great when you meet somebody who is very similar and has very similar interests like that, which is unusual in the theatre. He'll be an asset to any show and he's been a great friend to me and I hope he thinks that back of me!

Do you already know what you'll be doing when the Rocky Horror Show ends?

We're not sure at the moment cos we've all been offered to extend to the next part of the tour which will go from September through to November, and after that I'm not too sure really. There are auditions coming up for certain things and there are other things I won't say cos I'm a bit of a fatalist, a bit superstitious with that kind of thing. But nothing as planned so far, but as I say we've been offered the next leg of the tour, so you may well see me still performing in my underwear for the next few months.

If you could choose any lead role in an existing musical which one would it be and why?

If you've asked me that question about 3 or 4 years ago I would have said Joseph. It was the first show I had ever seen, at the Palladium and it was my first school musical. And I love the piece anyway. I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to get that part. I understudied it for a while and then I was offered it after that. Which was great, a phenomenal achievement. A part I'd still like to play is Chris in Miss Saigon, I'd love to do that role.
I haven't worked for cameras before, hopefully that will come off at some point. We'll just wait and see.

I definitely DON'T ever want to play FranknFurter! It's a great role, but I don't think I'd ever suit that role. The way Jonathan does it, with such aplomb - hats off to people like that. But I think you know your limitations on certain parts and I think I'd rather stay in my leopard skin!

Do you like having fans?

It's fantastic! People have seen the show and they do start to follow you. I believe I have quite a few people from Birmingham and I do have a following from the Joseph thing and a few of them have overspilled into this and I think anyone's flattered to have some people who follow you. I'm sure Jonathan does, I'm sure any star does. But yeah I do have quite a few followings and hopefully there will be more and more following me in the future.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years time? Alive hopefully! For all this partying life-style being in a show like this. And if I know Jonathan Wilkes I may not be alive for that much longer! I think I'd like to get on tv, presenting. Really, I'd like to have a go at anything which is a bit more diverse. I would like to get a bit more exposure towards television and things like that, but really I'd like to keep working and keep getting more challenges. That's the main thing. And this sounds awful, like I'm in a miss world pageant, but I'd just like to be happy with myself and my achievements. And as I say, when I was 22 I achieved something that I never thought I'd achieve, so really, everything now is a bonus and I've kind of been on a snowball since I was younger. I never believed I'd ever be in professional theatre and here I am now. I played like three lead roles and I've done a lot of things which I never thought, so anything is possible really - that's my motto in anything!

Do you have a message for your fans?

Thank you for supporting me, just keep coming and keep enjoying my performances. I'll keep showing them out in the best way I can.
And I will promise to those fans of Jonathan Wilkes I'm gonna kiss him properly before the end of the contract!

A few facts:

Full name: Graham Neil Tudor

D.O.B: 23/09/77

Place of Birth: Cannock, Staffordshire

Brothers/Sisters: 1 brother: Raymond (30) 2 sisters: Sheila (31) and Charlotte (28) and a half-sister: Gemma (11)