KATE Anthony admits her return to the King's Theatre for the first time in over 20 years is filled with bitter-sweet memories.

 

Kate, who currently stars in sea romp spectacular Anything Goes at the theatre reveals the King's has a special place in her heart.

It's where she met acting legend Gerard Kelly when they both appeared in Neil Simon classic, The Odd Couple, back in 1994.

The pair became close friends. And in fact Kelly, who lived in west London, close to Kate, her husband Gary and their two kids, almost became almost part of the family.

But of course the last time Leeds-born Kate was in Glasgow was in October 2010 to attend the funeral of the comedy star.

"When I landed the role in Anything Goes I realised I'd be coming back to the very theatre where I first met Kel," she says, her voice registering the sadness.

"And that really made me apprehensive. After becoming friends with Kel, I came back every year with Gary and then when we had the girls we brought them too.

"It was a tradition for us. We'd come up for three or four days after Boxing Day and spend time with him.

"Coming back has really brought a lump to my throat. But at the same time, there's something really lovely about it as well.

"I will feel that he's here with me. And the occasion has reminded me of the most fantastic time."

Kelly had a mischievous sense of humour.

"He and Craig Ferguson were a joy to work with," she remembers of her time, playing one of the Pigeon sisters. "As a result, I had a hoot.

"I'd just look at the facial expressions he pulled on stage and that did it for me."

Kate didn't do much theatre after The Odd Couple, given she had two kids.

"Television was the easier option," she says, of stints in the likes of Coronation Street where she appeared as Aunty Pam for four years, and Eastenders and Doctors.

But now she's back on stage, and delighted to be working alongside the likes of former Eastender Shaun Williamson.

"Shaun is lovely and so funny, and it's only since I joined the cast I realised we'd gone to the same drama school, Webber Douglas in London, just a couple of years apart."

Kate Anthony hadn't planned on a career in acting. She certainly didn't go to youth theatre or stage school.

She didn't even appear in school plays.

"I was just too shy," she recalls. "Growing up in Leeds, the plan was to go to university and become a journalist.

"I got my A Levels and then took a year out and then went back to college to take an extra A level in Drama. But during that time a teacher said I should apply to Drama college.

"I thought; 'Okay. And I did. And that was it."

The thespian within was perhaps lurking, ready to come out?

"I guess so," she says, grinning. "It must have been there. And me wavering about going to university was perhaps a sign of that."

She adds, smiling; "And once I attended drama college I knew I was doing the right thing."

Now, she's back in theatre. Musical theatre at that.

"I know, and I haven't done proper musical theatre for twenty five years now."

In Anything Goes, Kate plays Evangeline Harcourt.

"She's vile," says Kate, grinning. She's trying to sell her daughter to the highest bidder."

The story, set on an ocean liner travelling from London to New York, was written at the time of the Depression. Evangeline's husband threw herself off a building having lost all his money. And she has had to do what she can to survive.

"But of course the storylines are really just an opportunity to connect a series of great Cole Porter songs such as I Get A Kick Out Of You.

"And there's a happy ending. People wanted that in the Depression era, and they want that right now during this recession.

"People want to be able to leave a theatre feeling happy and light."

Kate feels she'll be leaving the theatre feeling the same way.

"I appeared recently in a play about coal mining closures playing a miner's wife during the Thatcher years. And you take that darkness away with you.

"But now I'm leaving the theatre and skipping along the street."

The actress pauses and then smiles; "But you know Kel, wherever he is, will be wetting himself thinking 'What are you doing in a singing and dancing show like Anything Goes?'

"He'll be the one with the huge smile on his face."

€¢ Anything Goes, the King's Theatre, until Saturday.