The Cut Man

Plumbing the Depp to make Edward Scissorhands dance.
by Rachel Frankford
Published: Jan 10, 2007

The unforgettable Edward Scissorhands, from Tim Burton's suburban gothic tragicomedy, has found new, lyrical life in a dance version choreographed by Matthew Bourne, the maverick London choreographer whose Mary Poppins recently opened on Broadway. I spoke over the phone to Richard Winsor, one of the two dancers playing Edward Scissorhands (the other is Sam Archer; each dancer performs four shows a week) from Charlotte, N.C., the first city on the East Coast to see the show, which debuted in London in 2005. The six-month tour will pass through Philadelphia via the Academy of Music, and conclude its run in New York.

City Paper: Were you familiar with the movie version?



SHEAR ALIKE: Richard Winsor (above) shares the title role with Sam Archer.

Richard Winsor: I'd seen it back when it came out. It's a great film. I researched a lot ... It's good to watch the film over and over, to get a sense of isolation and his character.

CP: How would you compare Johnny Depp's Edward to the one you play?

RW: Technically, the costumes are different. We've gone with a brown leather. [Our Edward has] been created kind of from a sofa. It's more of a muscle bodysuit, whereas Johnny Depp was kind of bound — leather straps, quite bondage. I think he plays it in the film a lot smaller, a lot subtler; in a film you can zoom in, but on a stage you have to exaggerate it but do it in a real way, a truthful way. We had to really concentrate and focus on every point of the show. ... And we also dance, and Johnny Depp didn't dance. I'm sure he can, but he didn't.

CP: What's it like sharing the role with another person? Are the two performances different?

RW: It's good. We're really good friends ... We're very supportive of each other. Early on, we kind of watched each other perform and gave each other notes. It was quite handy really. We were different in the way we performed Edward. He'd [Sam Archer] bring more of the comedy out of it. And I brought the emotion out more, and we kind of merged it, so we learned from each other as well.

CP: So you have to dance with blades attached to your hands?

RW: Yes ... They're kind of made of plastic-y fiberglass material. They're not sharp, but they're quite heavy though, seven pounds each hand. When we rehearsed the duets, the girls had to wear swimming goggles.

CP: Have there been any ... incidents?

RW: There've been a couple of scrapes, nothing major. It's more that they break. But we got a new set of hands and they're quite sturdy. I did have a tendonitis problem in my left wrist. Hopefully it'll be all right. Well, I might have arthritis in the future.

CP: Did you ever meet Tim Burton?

RW: We met him on the opening night in London. He loved the show. I think he said it seemed to be better received than the film when it came out. And we met Johnny Depp last week. He came with his wife and kids. We had a lovely chat with him, the film, his role, what he's doing in the future; he's doing Sweeney Todd with Tim Burton. It was nice to hear his views and how he went about playing it. He said he had a thing put on his hands so he could still smoke cigarettes when he was in the tape, a tweezer thing. It was so nice to meet him. Caroline Thompson [the original screenwriter] came in a lot when we were creating the show.



CP: What's next after the U.S. tour?

RW: We start another contract, for another show, another Matthew Bourne show. It's The Car Man [Bourne's reworking of Carmen] — he did it five years ago and he's doing it again. I've worked with Matthew for the last five years. I was in his Play Without Words, The Car Man, Nutcracker!, and this [Edward Scissorhands], and a few other bits in between. I loved doing Play Without Words, it was a great role ... but this is a huge role, it's a huge responsibility. It's great. I'm going to be playing Angelo, he's the bullied guy in the first act and then he falls in love with Carmen and gets corrupted and fights back and ends up killing the other man, if I remember correctly.

(r_frankford@citypaper.net)