Brian Beacom

IT'S just after 1pm in a rehearsal studio in south London and the latest cast of Mel Brooks' comedy musical The Producers are hoofing around the floor and singing their happy little hearts out. And why wouldn't they have fun? The show is a theatrical masterpiece.

What's immediately obvious however is that while the new boys who have joined the touring team such as Jason Manford (Leo Bloom) and Phill Jupitus (Franz the Nazi) will be very good in their roles, the stand-out performance emerges from the chubby little guy in the black t-shirt and trainers.

Cory English, who plays producer Max Bialystock, may look he's just delivered the pizzas, but this man is fast becoming the stuff of theatre legend. To watch English close up is to enjoy a master class in theatre performance.

He proved his class in a range of West End productions, from Guys n' Dolls to Chicago and on Broadway and it would be simple to suggest it's because he has great timing and far easier to say the man has charisma and energy by the bucket load. But the native New Yorker, who is no stranger to self-deprecation, doesn't claim to have any of that at all.

"I began as a dancer," he explains, smiling in the knowledge that his physique suggests otherwise. "However, one day I had a realisation; I knew that I didn't have a dancer's body and that one day I'd be fat. I'd dance my balls off in shows such as Damm Yankees, yet at the same time I knew I liked my beer and roasts, so I figured I'd better think about acting. And one day I looked at Nathan Lane on the Broadway stage and thought 'I think I want to do that'."

English continued to dance as he watched and learned, from Lane as well as Whoopi Goldberg and Tyne Daly. "When I wasn't on stage I'd sit in the wings and stare at the these sort of performers, just taking it all in."

In 1998, he moved to England to study classical theatre at the Drama Studio London in Ealing and meet his future wife, British actress Eva Alexander. He taught modern dance at the north London Theatre school while developing his reputation as a performer, landing roles in the likes of Chicago, before clinching the hugely coveted Bialystock role at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He never expected the chance to play the lead would come so soon. If at any time.

"When I was in New York in 2000 I had the chance to watch the dress rehearsals and I looked at the show and thought 'I have to play Carmen Ghia [the flamboyantly gay 'common law' assistant to director Roger De Bris] and I wanted to understudy Leo Bloom. I didn't have high hopes."

When the show came to London's West End, English was so unknown he couldn't even get an audition, even though by this time he had a solid reputation on Broadway, where he had played the role of Igor in a New York production of Young Frankenstein, another Mel Brooks classic. He asked friends in New York make calls to casting in London just to be seen for a part.

"I got the audition and my hope was to understudy Leo Bloom." English auditioned - with a cheeky, funny song he wrote called "I wanna be in The Producers" - and heard nothing.

"I didn't get a call back for five months. I thought I'd blown it, but then I got a call to come in and understudy for Max. I said 'Are you sure it's not for Leo?'"

The audition tape was sent to Mel Brooks and English landed the job of understudying Max, progressing to the lead.

"I didn't see myself as Max because I usually play the little guy with the high energy in roles such as Barnaby Tucker in Hello Dolly," he admits. "But the director realised Max is that guy. He is manic."

How much of what he does on stage, to create the laughs, can be taught? Or does English simply have it?

"One of my teachers at Drama Studio began the session with the question 'Can you teach presence?' and it's a really fascinating question. At the end what we learned is you can perhaps learn some techniques; how to get your face out there, but I think you either have it or not."

He adds, with a note of generosity: "I think Jason [Manford] has it. He'll be great."

What's clear is that Cory English has it. What's also obvious is his lack of self-assumption means he's constantly thinking about how to improve his role, taking nothing for granted. What's apparent is his sensitivity and cleverness helps make him a class performer.

The man was born with funny bones.