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Picture you Dead \u2013 Floral Pavilion <\/p>\nArmed with a sports science degree, Ore Oduba set his sights on a career as a sports broadcaster, with the thought that his love of acting might just be an advantage.
\nA talented rugby and hockey player in his youth, he admits: <\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t a vocation or something I ever considered as a career option. But I remember thinking that if I wasn\u2019t going to be an athlete, then maybe I\u2019d be a broadcaster and my passion for performing and being on stage might help in that effort in television.<\/p>\n
\u201cInterestingly, fast forward 20 years and I\u2019ve straddled those two worlds.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ore has just completed a UK theatre tour as Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and is about to join the cast of Peter James\u2019 play Picture You Dead.<\/p>\n
He\u2019ll star alongside Emmerdale\u2019s Fiona Wade and BBC favourite George Rainsford in the thriller which has received rave reviews since it began a six-month tour, taking his first curtain call at the Floral Pavilion in New Brighton on Tuesday, May 20.<\/p>\n
After becoming a familiar face as a TV and radio news and sports presenter \u2013 among other roles \u2013 the country saw a different side to Ore when he won the Strictly Come Dancing series with Joanne Clifton in 2016.<\/p>\n
But it was one that was there all along, just waiting to be discovered.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess what not everyone will be aware of is that, when I was at school, if I wasn\u2019t on a sports field, I was on a stage,\u201d says Ore. \u201cThat was very much my childhood.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t a sports or stage school or anything, it was a regular school, but I found that from 11 to 17 or 18, a stage was where I felt really at home.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like I could be myself, express myself, and it\u2019s what I loved to do. It\u2019s interesting that I\u2019ve felt more myself on stage than in any other guise. It\u2019s like the job I was always supposed to be doing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd in many ways, sport and theatre are very similar: it\u2019s a team effort, you\u2019re playing it live in that moment and you\u2019ve got the shared goal of getting to the finish line, ie., the curtain call, and you \u2018pass the ball between you\u2019 and share that energy.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou get to express yourself and go and shine, and that makes sense for me. I do feel very lucky that I\u2019ve been able to have those two passions as a thing I call my career.\u201d<\/p>\n
Picture you Dead \u2013 Floral Pavilion <\/p>\n
The 39-year-old was able to join the cast in rehearsals at the beginning of the year so he doesn\u2019t feel like the new boy joining the crew, he says: \u201cAnd that has taken a lot of the pressure off.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could just pick up where I left off and make this my own.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018This\u2019 is the role of Stuart Piper in Picture Your Dead, written by Peter James who\u2019s penned 21 best-selling DSI Roy Grace novels, some of which have been adapted for the hit ITV drama, Grace, starring John Simm.<\/p>\n
Picture You Dead is the seventh story to be adapted for stage, and it\u2019s not yet been converted to screen, so live theatre is the only place Grace fans can watch it while it\u2019s on tour this summer.<\/p>\n
Set in Brighton, Picture You Dead sees DSI Grace investigate a cold case that leads him to the rarified air of fine art, but beneath the respectable veneer lurks a murky underworld of greed, deception and murder.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When an unsuspecting couple unwittingly buy a potentially long-lost masterpiece in a car boot sale, they discover that their dream find is about to turn into their worst nightmare and only Grace can stop them from paying the ultimate price.<\/p>\n
Ore says:<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so excited to become part of the fantastic cast. I\u2019ve watched their excellent performances in front of a packed house and seen audiences have a fabulous time watching the show.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s great fun and full of twists and turns, comedy and shocks! I can\u2019t wait to be in it!\u201d<\/p>\n
Stuart Piper is an eccentric millionaire art collector: \u201cHe\u2019s one of those extraordinary characters.\u00a0 He\u2019s an art lover and expert and collector who lives in his \u2018castle in the sky\u2019 away from the paupers.\u00a0 He\u2019s very well off.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he has chip on his shoulder and a dark past.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a character, he\u2019s terrific. I can\u2019t wait to get my teeth stuck into him because he\u2019s an enjoyable character to watch, in that love to hate kind of thing.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor anyone who loves a crime thriller Picture You Dead will be right up their street \u2013 but there\u2019s lots of humour in it too. And I think we have a finish that really packs a punch.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ore says he can\u2019t promise any of the moves we admired in Strictly Come Dancing, but we can hope to see him in many more productions on stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m lucky to be able to do a job that keeps challenging me, and I would like more of the same.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d also like to get myself a dog,\u201d smiles Ore, \u201cbut keep that between you and me, I don\u2019t want to tell the children just yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Find more information about Picture You Dead on the Floral Pavilion website<\/a>. Find out what\u2019s good up North on our new platform, The Northern Guide.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n From the best hotels, beauty spots, days out, food and more up North \u2013 visit\u00a0thenorthernguide.com<\/a>\u00a0and follow The Northern Guide on Instagram\u00a0HERE.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n
\nFind all the latest Wirral news here<\/a>. <\/p>\n