'I can’t see, I can’t hear, I can’t read the script'

A 100-year-old great grandad who has been in an annual pantomime since 1947 has said this year’s show will be his final performance.

Harvey Kay, from Ecclesfield, South Yorkshire, was a founder member of High Green Operatic Society, now High Green Musical Theatre, and this year will be joined by his son Alan and great granddaughter Adie on stage in Cinderella.

Mr Kay said he started performing aged eight in 1932 and had done everything in panto apart from play the Dame.

He said: “Unlucky, this is my last, but I can’t see and I can’t hear, I can’t read the script.”

He added: “I’ve done everything. I love it. It’s the company and watching these young children growing up and taking parts in different acts.”

His granddaughter Lauren Hall said Mr Kay’s decision to retire should be taken with a pinch of salt.

She said: “He says this one is his last one, but he says that every time. Don’t take it too seriously. He absolutely loves it.

"Since we lost my granny back in 2018, it’s given him something to look forward to each year, coming to do the pantomime.

"It gets him out of the house, keeps him really active, he’s around lots of young people, which keeps you young, and it’s something he loves doing.”

Mr Kay’s son Alan, 67, has been involved with High Green Musical Theatre since 1992.

His daughter and grandchildren are continuing the legacy, with youngest Tom, just three, already lined up for roles in future performances.

Alan said: “It’s great to see my dad still involved and still enjoying it. Everybody in the cast loves him, past members – they all make a fuss of him.

“It gives me great joy to be on stage with him, and my daughter and my granddaughter as well, so it’s a family affair.”

Mr Kay said performing with the family was one of the reasons he had continued for so long.

He said: “I know my great granddaughter will keep going and then we’ve got another one coming: Tom, her brother. He likes dancing.

“We’re a theatre family. I’m like Kirk Douglas and John Wayne – I think I’m up there with them.”

This year Mr Kay is playing Equerry to the King, the King being played by his son Alan. But he said the director had designed the role to be flexible.

“The director and producer have given me a freehand for what I want to say," he said.

“Monday I shall say what I’ve got to say, and then when I come to Tuesday I’ll have forgotten what I said on Monday, so it will all be different all week.”

But Mr Kay has not been pigeonholed into pantomime – he’s also had a go at Shakespeare and musicals.

Ms Hall said her favourite performances of her grandfather’s included Grease and the Wizard of Oz.

She said: “We did the Wizard of Oz, it wasn’t the traditional version, I think it was a bit more like a pantomime, and he was the wizard and I was the lion and at the end he had to present the medal and every single night he got it mixed up.

“He couldn’t remember it and then my best friend Lindsay was the witch and every night he would call her the wizard.

“We did a concert and he came on as Danny from Grease in his mid-70s. The director at the time was a similar age and they came on in full outfits and people couldn’t sing for laughing.”

Mr Kay’s memories of his career include singing in a male voice choir and playing Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the 1951 Festival of Britain.

He said: “There’s no business like showbusiness. That’s why I love it. I’m sorry I must leave it, but I’ve had a good time.”

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