Lynne McGranger boasts of snow wherever she goes... so York be warned as the soap star lines up to bewitch panto fans at the city's Opera House. Steve Pratt reports.

AUSSIE soap star Lynne McGranger has no worries about leaving behind the warm summer down under to appear in pantomime at York Grand Opera House. The Home And Away actress is not a great fan of hot weather and, besides, loves having Christmas in Yorkshire.

Most years, wherever she's appearing on stage, she comes to York to spend Christmas Day with friends - even if it means driving over the snow-covered Pennines as it did one year.

"We didn't come last year because my daughter was going into high school and there were presentations to attend," she explains. "I hated every single minute of being in Australia because I don't like the heat. For me, coming to the cold winter is like a balm. I loathe the Sydney summer."

You'd better get those snow boots out as McGranger reckons it always snows when she's over here. Brighton was snowed in for three days, and the white stuff has fallen in Torquay and Southport on previous stays.

McGranger, who's played Irene in Aussie soap Home And Away for 11 years, first visited York in 1989 when she came over to appear at the Edinburgh Festival.

"I came to York and fell in love with the place," she recalls. "Since then, we've returned a lot of times. Friends invite us over for a lovely English Christmas.

"It's the most beautiful city and I'm a history nut. I've always loved British history. I usually shame everyone by knowing more about the kings and queens than they do.

"The history of York is mind-boggling. I love rubble - any old castle or abbey. I love places like The Shambles, walking the walls, the Minster, ghost walks. I'm such a tourist."

When not seeing the sights, she'll be on stage playing The Witch in Jack And The Beanstalk. This is her sixth panto, her second at the Grand Opera House, but the first time she's played the villain.

Her usual role is good fairy and director Simon Barry was initially reticent about her move to the dark side, worried about how children in the audience would respond.

"But we might be able to get away with it. She's bad and mean, but also a bit of a goofball. I think the kids will like her," says McGranger.

"This is a bit of a challenge because I've never done it before. It's things like finding the right voice, whether she should be broad Aussie or posh British.

"As for the look, I fancied her as being glamorously evil. The more I thought about it, the more I thought she might be a little punk. I don't see her as Cruelle De Vil, more as gumpy, heavy-footed, clumsy, a little bit foolish."

Panto is a great favourite. "I love what I do anyway. Television is just wonderful. I love Home And Away, and love playing Irene. But it doesn't have the immediacy of theatre, and panto is cabaret for kids," she says.

"You can't say, 'sorry, can I do that again' as you can on TV. You just have to get on with it. I always did theatre, cabaret and stand-up comedy, so I love that danger and immediacy. "With Irene, you're playing the same character but that character is on-going. It's as if you're living a life. Panto is different every night because the audience is different."

McGranger trained as a teacher and taught for a few years before acting, with which she'd always been involved, took over. She became involved with a Sydney theatre company before going to drama school.

She joined Home And Away in 1992 to play Irene for three months. Then producers asked her to return on a permanent basis the following year. She's still in Summer Bay and happy to remain there. "People say, 'do you get bored?'," she says.

"I adore the character because it's a journey. She doesn't do the same thing. There are always new people in his world, and the youngsters come and go. It's just an adventure. People say it's bizarre and unreal, but that's one of the things that keeps people turned on because it's always moving.

"And I really like Irene. If I met her, I would like her. She has a lot of qualities I wish I had."

As for the future, she hints that romance may be in the air for Irene with the return of Paris. She met her own partner in the mid-1980s in a stage group and they have a 12-year-old daughter, who's in York with her mother. But McGranger says that the soap's many young actors don't see her as a mother figure.

"I'm not the most maternal person, although I have a daughter. I'd say I'm on an even keel with the young actors. We're mates," she adds.

* Jack And The Beanstalk: York Grand Opera House until January 4. Tickets 0870 606 3595

Published: 11/12/2003