Alan McHugh was running late for our interview, which I was assured by his fellow cast and crew members was not like him at all.
It transpired that the usually punctilious actor and writer simply lost track of the days, thinking it was still Thursday, when in fact it was already Friday.
Meanwhile, Alan’s comedy partner in crime, Jordan Young, had just revealed he didn’t realise I was bringing a photographer with me, and was terrified he would “look like a jakey” in his comfortable trackie bottoms.
Both he and Alan, who have become well-loved stalwarts of the Aberdeen pantomime scene over the years, couldn’t have been nicer or more apologetic.
But they needn’t have worried – I figured this is just what happens when you enter the parallel universe that is rehearsal time for panto.
Across a frenetic three-week period, the whole panto team – from cast, to production, technical and front of house teams – pull together what has been, without fail, an annual smash hit for the theatre.
In the spotlight, Alan, Jordan and the wonderful Elaine C. Smith, entice audiences in their droves to witness their latest instalment of comedic banter, spellbinding stage effects and fairytale magic.
This year, with Alan’s script-writing stronger than ever and packed full with local references, and the addition of Barbara Rafferty in the role of the Wicked Stepmother, Cinderella is sure to punch in at a similarly hilarious level.
“It feels really nice to have a rapport with the audience,” said Jordan of the relationship he has built with north-east audiences since he first stepped onto HM Theatre stage five Christmases ago.
“I think the majority of them will be the same people as previous years, so hopefully they know who I am when I come on stage. It’s like coming to your second home.”
“Also, and I say this to everyone back home too, it’s one of the best theatres in the country, especially in terms of the staff, from box office to crew to everyone. Everyone is passionate about their jobs. There’s a real pride in the theatre.”
The 33-year-old Fife actor will spring onto the stage this year as Buttons – the latest in the pantheon of panto daft laddies which he has played and which, in his own words, will “make use of my rubbery face”.
At his side will be Alan, who returns for his tenth consecutive year at HMT. He plays the dame – this time an Ugly Sister – alongside his duties as official scribe for the show.
As ever, audiences will delight at Alan and Jordan’s double act. Their slickness, both say, is down to the fact that they have become great friends both on stage and off, in their mutual home city of Glasgow.
“We’re pals and see each other throughout the year,” said Alan. “There’s just a general bond and understanding there, and that’s something I can take to the laptop for the writing.
“You just know what works well, and each passing year we get tighter and better at it.”
As for which iconic duo they most closely resemble, Jordan wasn’t too keen to say: “It’s a curse to compare yourself to other people. It’s like a footballer being called the next Maradona or Pele, and then never kicking a ball again.
“We’re just Alan and Jordan, and we do what we do to the best of our abilities.” And pull on their full strength and abilities they must, for undertaking three weeks of rehearsals and then a full five-week run is no easy task for any actor.
With 12 performances a week, it’s easy to drop the ball – but these guys come prepared. “Before it starts each year, you realise that physically you need to bring your ‘A Game’. The show has to go on regardless,” said Jordan.
But even for these steely actors, sometimes an understudy needs to step up to the plate, as Jordan found out last year when he was suddenly struck down with the winter vomiting bug only eight performances from the end of the run. At the start of the performance, he began to feel a bit peaky, but it quickly went downhill when he had to rush off stage to be ill in the wings.
“In an hour I was on the floor of my dressing room hallucinating,” he said, shaking his head at the horror of the memory.
“In my mind, my family were coming into the room and talking to me. Now, I’m one of those people that boasts about never being ill, and then this norovirus hit me like a shovel to the back of the head.”
As Alan agreed, it was best for the understudy to take over for the rest of the performance and the following day.
“We were really worried,” he said. “I’ve never seen someone hit so badly by it. And that’s why you see antibacterial gel all over the backstage of the theatre now.”
And rightly so. In the dressing room where we were chatting, five bottles of the stuff were lined up along the mirrors. With illness and ragged tiredness all part of the panto experience, is not a bit like an endurance test?
“It doesn’t feel like it,” said Jordan with a smile. “It would definitely be the wrong phrase for me. It makes it sound like it’s not enjoyable, but I’m fiercely passionate about panto. I’ve done it every year since leaving college.
“Yes it’s difficult not seeing the family, but it’s great to be working at that time of year, and to be playing HMT is magic.”
And that’s what it comes down to for this pair. In the parallel universe of panto time, you might lose track of days, suffer costume and prop mishaps, or even end up with your head in a bucket. But it’s all about giving yourself up to the experience, and engaging with the fun-loving audiences.
“When audiences see us on stage having fun, not for our own amusement but for their benefit and staying in control, they can relax,” said Alan. “They know us, and so it’s like coming to see old friends for us and for them too.”
Jordan added that it’s the interaction with the audience which keeps it fresh.
He said: “If you go to a straight drama, people need time to settle into it, and might just sit there quietly to judge it, but panto has people on side before it starts. Adults and kids come in high as kites, and they have spent a lot of money to be there, so it’s our job to keep them up there. That in itself is an adrenaline rush.”
Cinderella runs at HM Theatre, Aberdeen, for five weeks, starting on Saturday, November 30. Tickets are available by calling Aberdeen Box Office on 01224 641122 or by visiting www.aberdeen performingarts.com