AJ and Curtis Pritchard bring the sultry, mysterious atmosphere of Paris to York Barbican on September 29 on the 24-date of Come What May.
A cast of West End performers will join the terpsichorean Stoke-on-Trent brothers in a song-and-dance show inspired by Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 jukebox musical romantic drama Moulin Rouge.
“Come What May is going to get myself and Curtis back on stage performing together and that’s exactly what we love doing,” says Strictly Come Dancing alumnus AJ, the elder sibling at 29.
“This show embodies the big musical numbers we have all come to love with the dance routines that I love to watch, but I much prefer being on stage, which is exactly where I’ll be.”
2019 Love Island contestant, Dancing With The Stars dancer, choreographer and actor Curtis, 28, enthuses: “I’ve loved performing and entertaining an audience since my Ballroom and Latin dancing days, so this is the perfect tour for me: singing and dancing!”
Ahead of rehearsals starting in London on Sunday, he adds: “Having gone through the full show I know that you will be entertained start to finish. Come What May is going to blow you away, I guarantee it.”
In the week when sibling rivalry has been all the rage with the feuding Gallagher brothers announcing “the guns have fallen silent. The stars have aligned” for the return of Oasis next summer, how do the Pritchard brothers rub along?
“To be honest, Curtis and myself always perform together, having been brought up together,” says AJ. “We’re ‘Irish twins’! Born 15 months apart. Everything done together.
“When we’re performing, Curtis is more like controlled chaos, milking a number for two hours, whereas I’ll be saying, ‘Come on, we have to go on to the next number’, and that contrast works really well because we can play to each other’s strengths.
“Myself and Curtis competed all over the world, both training to the highest levels in Latin and ballroom, representing our country. We’ve always had a competitive relationship, doing extreme, high-adrenaline sports, and also to get the best audience reaction.
“Anything fun and dangerous we like to do, both of us breaking our arms. Curtis once broke his arm and leg at the same time.”
Curtis chips in: “We’ve always got each other’s back. When working, be as competitive as you like, but when you are out and about, look after each other.”
The brothers look forward to being on the road, away from the prying lens of the television camera that has charted their deeds, whether on Strictly or Love Island, Celebrity SAS or Dancing With The Stars.
“Doing a show like this with a different audience every night, you can always tweak things, and every night it should be slightly different,” says Curtis. “I love performing on stage and the competitive side of that is so stimulating…feeding off the adrenaline of a live audience.
“Though they say, ‘never break the fourth wall’, let’s be honest: you can break that wall if the audience gives you something.”
The spirit of Moulin Rouge, a Luhrmann film the brothers love for its dancing and costumes, will be evoked in Come What May, capturing the “sexy and disreputable underbelly of the city to the glamour and glitz of the Moulin Rouge, where you’ll be transported back in time to a place of dreams, adventure, and most importantly, love”.
Expect such songs as Come What May, Lady Marmalde, Your Song and Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend from the film soundtrack, together with hits from other modern movie musicals, such as The Greatest Show, Like A Virgin and The Show Must Go On.
“I will not be singing,” says AJ, “It’s not my forte! But we’ve got a fantastic band and singers. Fundamentally, Curtis and I will do what you see on the big numbers on Strictly.”
Now come the rehearsals and the tour run from September 20 to October 24, with the need to stay in tip-top condition. “If you have the best technique and really high-quality dancers, with lifts or without lifts, if you’re physically and mentally fit, the injuries don’t come,” says AJ. “You always have to be fit and ready”…come what may!
Sisco Entertainment, Cuffe & Taylor and Live Nation present AJ and Curtis Pritchard in Come What May, York Barbican, September 29, 7.30pm. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk. Also: Sheffield City Hall, September 26, 7.30pm. Box office: sheffieldcityhall.co.uk.