Normally behind the scenes helping crewing, ASM’ing and building sets for Ricky Players, this is Geoff Cox’s first time actually treading boards for us. We caught up with Ricky-bred Geoff on a tea-break during rehearsals to find out how we managed to coax him out on to stage…

So Geoff, we’ve managed to persuade you to perform on stage this time. Tell us about your character in Meet Me In St Louis

Apart from being in the ensemble, I play Sidney Purvis who is a serious gentlemen at the ball who gets to dance with the heroine, Esther. He’s a terrible dancer.

Do you and Sidney Purvis have any similar characteristics?

Apart from being the same age, I think not, because actually I do dance a bit of ballroom and Latin with my wife, Margaret, so it’s not been very easy to waltz badly. But if I have to play Purvis as a grump, then I think I could do that very well. But this definitely ranks as one of the most daring things I’ve ever done!

So what’s your biggest fear?

I have a very low pain threshold, so anything to do with pain is something I’m fearful of

What did you want to be when you were 8 years old?

I wanted to be a train driver, that was in the days when trains were trains, steam and all that

And what do you actually do for a living?

I’m a senior HR consultant – a lot cleaner than driving steam trains!

What’s been your proudest moment so far?

I recently became a granddad for the first time!

Aww, that’s nice. What achievement would you most like to be known for?

I’m an ardent golf fan, and it would be a dream come true to be playing gold off scratch. In fact getting any sort of handicap would be a major achievement. But at the moment I’m enjoying singing in the ensemble and trying to remember all the words and the base line in all the chorus numbers.

Good luck and enjoy your first show on stage this time!