WADE Ablitt has been a key member of the Mad Hatter and CO2 theatre groups in Colchester for many years.

He's back with both groups, playing Mr Snow in Carousel for CO2 in September at the Mercury Theatre, and directing Urinetown for Mad Hatter at the Headgate Theatre from July 6 to 9.

He's also putting on a concert version of his Midsummer Night's Dream musical, again at the Headgate, on August 29.

What or who got you interested theatre? Did you take part in any productions at school?

MY love for theatre probably comes from my old VHS tape of the movie version of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat that I used to watch over and over and over as a kid. I didn't really get into performing myself until I was about 11 or 12 years old when I found myself just really loving my drama classes and eventually taking part in the school's production of Jesus Christ Superstar as an apostle.

Are or were any members of your immediate family involved in the theatre?

Not really, although my Dad has always been able to whip out a mean rendition of Spandau Ballet's "Gold" or Robbie William's "Karma Killer" on karaoke!

My older brother is also a performer and we both got the bug at a similar time, although he is five years older so he was jumping straight in and playing lead roles as soon as he started. He now works professionally as an entertainer on cruise ships but he's worked with various companies all over the world. My younger sister was a bit doomed with her two older brothers being the way they we were so she now takes part in several youth theatre companies as well as school productions too.

Who is the most inspiring person you’ve worked with and why?

It's so hard to pick just one as I've learnt so much from so many different people over the years. When I first started doing shows I did a couple of musicals with musical director Richard Healey who, probably without even realising, taught me so much about performing and how to properly use my voice. He was always a person I loved working with. There's also a special shout-out for Dani Fincham who I only knew for a short while when she directed Mad Hatters' production of "Spelling Bee" and we all had an absolute ball.

What formal training have you done?

I've not really had any formal training at all. I've been very fortunate to have worked with some incredibly skilled musical directors and actors over the years who have given tips here and there and I've always just combined all these little things I've learnt from all over into what I do now.

Coming out of school I wasn't too sure what I really wanted to do training wise as I managed to get some teaching work straight away and I've carried on from there. But now I'm starting to put some more though into going away and training as a mature student.

Do you have any specialist skills – anything from stilt walking to dress-making – which you work into your repertoire?

Well, I've always liked to dabble in every single part of the creative process. For some reason I took a GCSE in Textiles and that has actually come in handy here and there and before I got into musical theatre in high school I was quite a budding artist so I've always enjoyed being a part of the visual and creative side of performance too.

Which experience/role do you regard as the highlight of your career to date?

I have several favourite stage experiences. Playing Willard Hewitt in "Footloose", The Proprietor in "Assassins", Nicely-Nicely Johnson in "Guys and Dolls" and Firmin in "The Phantom of the Opera". I think a lot of it was I got to do all of those shows with some of my closest friends and they were just simply so much fun to do. I do think my true love is in directing and composing though, so I'd say my absolute favourite experience to date, would be staging my musical adaptation of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in January 2015 in Ipswich. It just all came together so beautifully with an incredibly talented cast and band and it was all done in memory of a friend of mine who had passed away from cancer some years ago. It really was one of the most special moments of my entire life, not just my stage career.

What has been your most embarrassing moment on stage?

When I was in high school I played Romeo in an abridged conceptual production of "Romeo and Juliet". Basically towards the end of Act 3 I've just killed Tybalt, I disappear and then the Prince enters and banishes me etc. etc... Act 4 then is supposed to begin with Paris entering and delivering some lines about the upcoming wedding day, except, he didn't. I'm in the wings and I panic thinking I've missed my entrance and cue for the beginning of Act 5 so I quickly come dashing on and begin my monologue instead, basically cutting all of Act 4 and just carrying on blissfully unaware.

Which actor (s) performer (s) do you most admire and why?

I'm an absolute musical theatre nerd so my big influences as a performer are Norbert Leo Butz and Christopher Fitzgerald who are both absolute masters of musical theatre and physical comedy. As a writer I've always admired Victoria Wood and a lot of British comedians like Rik Mayall and Ade Edmonson.

What role would you most like to play and why?

It's been no secret that I've spent my entire theatrical life BEGGING people to stage "Little Shop of Horrors" so that I can play Seymour. It's just such a perfectly written show and it was the first musical that I saw that made me think "oh wow, musicals can be funny and rocky and really fun!" I've been obsessed with it ever since. On the completely other side of the spectrum I'd love to play George in Sunday in the Park with George or Gordo Schwinn in A New Brain, but I might need to age just a few more years before I'm ready for either of those.

Ever corpsed on stage? What happened?

I am a nightmare. I'm very unfortunate that all of my closest friends, who know all my weakness, often perform alongside me so there has been many a matinee where I've had all sorts of stuff happen to me because they know I'll struggle to handle it. The aforementioned "Spelling Bee" was a tough one as so much of the show was improvised with audience participation and there were several occasions were we all just lost it. Luckily the audience were always in stitches to, so we just all enjoyed it together.

Any big plans for the future?

I've been looking more into the idea of going into formal training at drama school potentially in September 2017, but until then I'm just working away at writing some new material for a show I've been slowly working on for several years. I also have a few other productions in the pipeline with various companies that hopefully will come to light in the next few months.

Any tricks for remembering your lines or other useful tips to pass on to other actors/directors?

Quite simply I think it all comes down to hard work. Putting on shows, or even being in them, isn't easy and it does take a lot of hard work if you want to do it well. When I'm directing a show I always want to make it as good as it physically can be and sometimes I get told off for perhaps investing myself into it a bit too much. But if you put in the time and the effort you're bound to get good results.