Danny Horn on Going from Punter to Leading Man in West End Hit Sunny Afternoon

Sunny Afternoon won this year’s Olivier Award for Best Musical, and Danny Horn has stepped into the demanding leading role of Kinks frontman Ray Davies at the Harold Pinter Theatre. The delightful Horn spoke to Broadway.com about why this is the role and the musical for him, and getting acting tips from the great Gambon.

What is it like stepping into a part that won an Olivier Award for its creator, John Dagleish—and where you’re playing a real person as well?
All of it felt like big boots to fill. I think what helps on this show is that it’s not as if Ray [Davies] never existed: because he is a real person and there are countless interviews and archive images of Ray, so you can take it from there. I’m sure if there were 10 different actors who studied Ray, they would each find something different to bring to the part. What John saw in him is probably very different from what I see.

Has Ray seen you in action? If so, did he offer any advice?
He has, and I have to say it was very weird pretending to be someone in front of the person that you’re pretending to be—that took some getting used to! He came to a few rehearsals and talked about his life and his past and his relationship with [brother] Dave and his sister who passed away but his remarks were mostly about steering me in the right direction rather than telling me to do it this way or that way.

Tell me about coming into a show knowing it’s a proven success
That really was great. What was funny was that I had booked tickets to see the show when it was first on at the Hampstead Theatre, but I got an acting job in Yorkshire so had to sell my ticket. It was only five or six months ago when I finally saw the show on the West End and then just as a punter.

You weren’t thinking you’d be in it?
I’d never done a musical or thought that I would do a musical. I’d been gigging around with my guitar for years, but never thought I would be considered for this. At first I almost laughed the whole thing off as a waste of everyone’s time.

What persuaded you otherwise?
First off, the fact that they obviously saw something Ray-ish in me! And then they sent me to [vocal coach] Mark Meylan, who is a genius and through a lot of hard work they managed to get me to a place where I could sing it six times a week. I have an OK voice but no technique at all, so Mark drilled technique into me over many sessions—how to use my larynx and breath control, and all those things I had absolutely no idea about.

Why hadn’t musicals been on your radar?
I’ve got nothing against them – they’re a great art form and I love them when they’re done well. But I always thought I’d be a straight actor doing theatre and TV and film and most of my career so far had been on screen and I was enjoying that. So I was flabbergasted to land the lead in a West End show.

What’s your regimen for getting through six shows a week?
Well, I wake up and drink loads of water. Now that I have this posh little steamer, I have become one of these people who steams—which isn’t something I thought I would ever do! It’s all about warming up gradually throughout the day and getting my voice ready and not pushing it.

Are you having to adopt a monastic life: no after-show carousing?
I wouldn’t say that! We do tend to go for a pint afterwards since the nature of the show is that it’s like a rock concert and so you get an adrenalin rush that always seems to send us straight to the pub. And then Saturday night we tend to go out properly: it’s nice actually to unwind.

I gather you made a splash right out of drama school appearing in [celebrated TV series] Doctor Who.
Yes, it was a one-off episode: a Christmas special where I played a younger version of Michael Gambon, and I couldn’t have asked for a more dreamlike first job. I remember asking [Gambon] for some tips on the last day and he said, “Danny, when you act, don’t move your eyebrows and if you have to sit down, don’t look at the chair.”

Any more musicals you’re eyeing after this?
The way I think of Sunny Afternoon is that it’s the only one I could really do! I don’t have a musical theater voice per se. I have a musician’s voice, and I don’t think the way I sing would translate well to Les Miserables, for instance. And you know what? If I don’t do a musical again, I will be very happy to have done the coolest one there is.