Tonight, Curly Watts leaves Weatherfield for the last time, after treading Coronation Street's cobbles for 20 years. He talks to Steve Pratt about life after soap and his return to the stage - in Darlington.

Strange and shocking sights greeted visitors in the rehearsal room.

Pausing only to stare in open-mouthed disbelief at Lionel Blair in women's clothing, I moved on to encounter Curly from Coronation Street similarly attired in fishnet stockings and high heels.

Had I stumbled across the biggest tabloid story of the year - a meeting of the All-Stars Cross Dressers Club? Or perhaps, this was the secret of how Curly Watts leaves the Street after 20 years, exposed as a secret transvestite who's run out of Weatherfield after being caught dressing up in Emily Bishop's undies.

Alas, neither was true. Both Blair and actor Kevin Kennedy, alias Curly Watts for the past 20 years, were posing for publicity pictures for their latest venture. They are both playing the Narrator in The Rocky Horror Show, Richard O'Brien's outrageously naughty but nice musical, now in its 30th year.

Audiences in the North-East will be denied the sight of Blair's well-shaped legs as he's alternating the role with Kennedy. It's the Weatherfield refugee who'll tread the boards when the show comes to Darlington Civic Theatre this month, just weeks after he makes his exit from the Street tonight.

Rocky Horror will be the actor's first work after leaving the soap, having been walking those famous cobbles for half of its 40-year run. In the soap, Curly is heading North too. He and his wife, policewoman Emma, are moving to Newcastle, as a result of her promotion.

In real life, Kennedy was holidaying at his Spanish home with pregnant wife Clare when the call came from the Rocky Horror producers. "My agent said, 'do you fancy doing it?' and I said, 'yes, why not?'," recalls Kennedy, fresh from the Time Warp on only his second day of rehearsal.

"It's a great fun piece to do. It's not deep and meaningful, just a lot of fun. And it's my mum's favourite play. She loves it."

He admits it was a bit nerve-wracking on the first day of rehearsal because most of the company, headed by Jonathan Wilkes as Frank'n'Furter, knew each other from previous tours.

"I was the new boy. But they were very nice," adds Kennedy. "Playing the Narrator is a nice and gentle way to be brought back to the world of theatre."

His next job will be more demanding, playing Wishee Washee in pantomime in Brighton, although the twice-daily schedule of performances can hardly be tougher than working on a four-times-a-week soap.

As bespectacled Norman Watts, known as Curly because of his hopelessly straight hair, he's suffered plenty of traumas on-screen since first appearing as a binman in 1983. Off-screen, Kennedy himself has overcome a much-publicised drink problem to come back fighting fit.

He said he was keen to "spread his wings a bit" when news of his Street departure was announced, but the door has been left open for Curly to return.

When I tell him I'm confused as to Curly's future, he agrees: "I'm confused too. I am not too sure what's happening. We'll just have to wait and see."

"I had no idea of what I wanted to do when I left. I'm very lucky this job came up as it's one of my favourite pieces."

Appearing as the Narrator sees him following in the footsteps of another Street favourite, Ken Morley, who played Reg Holdsworth. "I rang him up to ask his advice and he said, 'just enjoy it'," says Kennedy.

He's already overcome one obstacle - performing in high heels. "I could walk surprisingly easy in them, alarmingly easy," he says.

He was 22 when he joined the Street, having performed with Manchester Youth Theatre since he was 13 and then trained at the School of Theatre at Manchester Polytechnic.

Twenty years is a long time in one job, but he says: "It's ten years before you know it.

"Playing Curly was great fun, just the different facets of that character who was multi-dimensional and the different threads I had to play. It was never boring. I got to play all weird and wonderful parts in the same character."

One of his few jobs away from the Street in the past two decades was touring in the stage comedy No Sex Please, We're British, which brought him to Sunderland.

He sees no problems becoming an actor for hire again. "I was trained in the theatre and have done a lot of theatre before the Street," he explains. "It's like riding a bike, once you get used to it again, it's good. Theatre is instant and you get that buzz, that wonderful live feeling. A show like Rocky Horror is more like a rock concert."

The musical side is a bonus as Kennedy has always pursued music alongside acting. Before Curly came into his life, he acted by day and played bass for an Irish show band by night.

He aimed for the pop charts a few years ago, writing music while in a rehab clinic being treated for his drink problem. His solo single, Bulldog Nation, failed to make the Top 40 but he wasn't downhearted, pointing out the record sold 24,000 copies. "One week I was at No 48 - wedged between Madonna and Geri Halliwell, which is not a bad place to be wedged."

At present, his musical career is on hold because of his other commitments.

Although his departure from the Street tonight means he'll have a lower public profile, the media spotlight is unlikely to shift away from him completely. His drink problems have been the subject of many column inches in the past.

"I don't think you will ever get away from the spotlight, but that doesn't particularly worry me. Once you're out of a soap, they do tend to leave you alone a bit more," he says.

* Coronation Street is on ITV1 tonight at 7.30pm and 8.30pm.

* Rocky Horror Big 30 Show is at Darlington Civic Theatre from September 22 to 27. Tickets (01325) 486555.