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THREE years might seem a long time to wait for a chance to wear
an old coat but that is how long it has taken Keith Jack to grow into
Joseph's vintage rainbow number. It was 2007 when Jack came second, a close second admittedly, to Lea Mead in BBC's Any Dream Will Do for the chance to play the part in the West End run of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat .
Despite the setback that particular dream never went away though.
It had been a three year run for Chalmers who must have had a mix of
relief and regret when he handed on the robe at Fairfield Halls Croydon.
After a tour along the South Cast at Bournemouth and Plymouth Joseph,
and Jack, arrives at Birmingham Hippodrome on August 24 for a three week
run. For Jack it is living the dream that started when starred in his first role at infant school in Dalkeith, Midlothian when he was about seven. WEE LEATHER JACKET
“I had to be Elvis and sing ‘The Girls My Best Friend'. A wee Elvis in a
wee leather jacket. Very funny when you look back at the videos. I asked
my dad to keep them hidden and I think he does.”
The seed had been sown though and although there was no defining moment
Jack's course towards the stage had been set.
He said: “It just grew over the years. As the years went on and I got
older I knew I wanted to be an actor, I wanted to be on TV and things
like that. It just grew and grew. It never just popped in me one day. I
think I always knew I wanted to be on stage and be a performer. My
obsession just grew as I got older and I did eventually think maybe I
could actually go and do this.”
The first show he can remember seeing as a youngster was a touring
version of Les Miserables in Edinburgh.
“Phantom was the first show I can remember seeing and my mother used to
take me to shows at the Edinburgh Festival. I loved singing as well and
being on stage doing school plays and stuff like that.” When ADWD came around Jack, then 19, was working in a supermarket, and taking a HNC in Musical Theatre at Telford College in Edinburgh. Raw and untrained he appeared on TV singing in the first show Queen's Crazy Little Thing Called Love .
His CV consisted of some singing competitions and amateur parts in high
school in shows such as Blood Brothers and Les Miserables.
Shows like ADWD are the Marmite of the entertainment industry. People
either love them or hate them. The format is popular TV with the likes
of Britain's Got Talent, The X-factor while it seems to have become part
of the marketing process for musicals revived by Andrew Lloyd
Weber.
The arguments are simple and come down to whether instant stardom should
be bestowed on those who have not served their time in a chorus or as
third spear carrier with the added complaint of whether the BBC should
be promoting a single show at the expense of all the other West End
productions and indeed those shows on tour.
Jack can see both sides of the argument having come into the business
with no training or experience and sees the talent show format as one
which gives people a chance alongside those from stage schools or who
have been serving their time in chorus and bit parts.
He said: “These kid of programmes allow for both, which is great as you
never know what you can find. Jodie (Prenger) who won Oliver never had
any training. It gives people like us a chance.
“I wanted to go to theatre school and everything and go down to London
and audition for places and if I could afford it that would have been a
different story.
“You have to look at both things. When you are in the industry you
realise that people frown upon it because they have worked hard for
three years and people are getting there by not doing that. You
have to respect that.
“But you have to look at the way ticket sales have gone over the last
few years through these shows. Anyone can go and see a show at the
theatre now. Even five years ago people thought you had to be dressy
going to the theatre you had to be this or that going to the theatre and
it brings a younger generation in to the theatre as well.
“Over the past five years in the West End ticket sales have been the
highest they have ever been and these shows have really helped. Not only
do people want to go and see Lea Mead in Joseph or Jodie in Oliver
people turn round and say if I am going to see Lea why don't I go and
see Les Mis and they love it and maybe they had never been to a theatre
show before. I just think it brings a new generation.
“Anyone off a TV programme helps to sell shows, that is just what
happens. People who have maybe only ever seen things on TV have now seen
Joseph, or Les Mis or Phantom. That is the thing. It is getting people
out there to see it and talk about it and in that respect it is working.
“In another respect though I can see why people get annoyed with it
because it takes jobs away from people who have been working hard for a
chance and being in the industry now I can understand that.
“I can tell that when I come into a show I have to prove that I am good
enough to be there and not just there because I am off a TV programme.
Hopefully I can show them I can do what I get paid for and I can
do the same as they can do. You just have that extra bit of pressure. It
makes it so you can't muck up or do anything wrong or people will just
say its because he's off that TV programme so I have to come out every
single night and do everything exactly the same if not better than the
night before.”
With a new generation of theatre goers Jack himself is one of a new
generation of performers, still only 22, and what he lacked in training
he makes up for with his love of musical theatre - and coming second did
have its advantages.
“It allowed me to do more things and perhaps now this is my time. I went
away and did a lot of different things and then came back and played
Joseph.”
Jack's age was perhaps a major disadvantage in ADWD but he is now
finding his feet as a seasoned performer and has a whole wish list of
roles to follow Joseph.
“I would love to play Phantom in a few year's time, I would love to play
Marius in Les Mis and Chris is Miss Saigon. There are a few things I
would love to do - I would love them to bring back Starlight Express so
I could play Rusty. There are lots I would like to do and I still have a
lot of time.
“I have always loved musical theatre, Phantom, Les Mis as straight
theatre - and I always loved Joseph as well as a happier show. I just
think theatre is great, being on stage is fantastic, the buzz you get
from an audience, knowing something might go wrong at any given second.
It keeps everything alive all the time. You get a different audience,
you get different reactions, different venues, new cast.
“I love the album stuff as well but I love the album tours rather than
being in the studio recording them.”
From its first appearance as a 15 minute school musical in 1968 - making
it 20 years older than Jack - Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor
Dreamcoat has evolved through many forms into one of the world's most
popular musicals - and still one much loved for school
productions.
Jack said: “I had seen it a few times a few years ago and more so
just before the programme. I love it as a musical because it gives you a
little bit of everything. There is laughter, there is sadness, there is
fun and games, there is everything.”
And you can't get a better recommendation that that. Joseph runs at
Birmingham Hippodrome from August 24 to September 12.
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