EVER been the odd one out? Norman Pace has and he's going to make a song and dance about in the a new musical based on The Ugly Duckling.

The Hale and Pace star is appearing in Honk and he feel he has enough previous to make his characters very convincing.

Norman says: "I certainly did the feel the odd one out at school. I went to an all boys school and it seemed that I was the only one interested in performing. Questions of my sexuality were raised and I felt ostracised many times. So I find it quite easy to empathise with The Ugly Duckling and I think the script does it very well.

"I think one of the aspects raised in Honk is that you are ultimately alone. At some time, you might have to confront the fact that you might not be the most popular person in the world. You have to be prepared for the fact that sometimes people will let you down. You will sometimes feel the odd one out."

Honk is based on the Hans Christian Andersen classic and is directed by former Fresh Fields star Julia McKenzie.

Norman, who is married with two children, is relishing the prospect of not having to worry about the script, costumes or production.

"When Hale and Pace go on tour, we write it all and we direct it ourselves. We handle everything and have total artistic control.

"Now, I'm just a cog in the wheel. In some ways that's a great relief because you don't have to be responsible for everything.

"Having done 15 certificate humour for most of our careers it will be nice to do something for young people and families."

He first met Gareth in 1971 at college and was impressed by his casual approach. The two men quickly struck up a rapport.

"He's always been a bit older than me by a month. He had a little beard when I met him in Chislehurst. He'd just come to college after spending six weeks in a tent in Cornwall. I wore a suit and had my hair cut. He must have thought 'who's this mummy's boy'. I had no idea then that we would share a sense of humour and get on well. I think our relationship is still very much the same, he's the hippie and I'm the control freak."

After college Norman went into teaching but feels he got out at the right time.

"I don't or didn't ever see myself as headmaster material. It was just a job I drifted into at the time and I was biding my time until I got a break as a performer."

The Hale and Pace TV shows propelled the duo into a stardom but it didn't come without controversy.

The controversial 'cat in the microwave' sketch caused a major uproar as viewers and the media made their objections clear.

"The week after the tabloids went crazy with it, we'd had an extra two million viewers. After that we did about ten years of Hale and Pace sketch shows. So I'd like to thank the people who rang in to complain.

"Some people think we actually did put the cat in the microwave but we actually used a model. Our real target of the sketch was the adverts saying 'eight out of ten cat owners preferred Whiskas'."

Hale and Pace were also recently asked to write the British Song For Europe as part of a task on the BBC programme Jobs For The Boys.

"I enjoyed doing the Song For Europe because we were allowed to just write something and then just record it. That's my idea of work."

So does Norman Pace still feel he's the odd one out? No, he's too popular for that.

Honk is at Wycombe Swan from July 17 to 22 at 7.30pm. For more information and matinee times call 01494 512000