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Nothing miserable about John JOHN Owen-Jones is a bit of a novelty in the
modern musical theatre. For a start he has never been in X-Factor or any of
the other televised karaoke contests or Britain's Got (debatable in many
cases) Talent. Nor has he come through that other fast track to
stardom, one of Andrew Lloyd Webber's televised
auditions-come-advertising-campaigns paid for by the BBC. He hasn't even been in Coronation Street or EastEnders
and he can even sing and act - but we won't hold all that against him. He has been voted the best Jean Valjean Ever and Best
Les Misérables Performer Ever in an online worldwide poll of fans of Les
Mis and when he first took on the role in 1998 he was, at 26, the
youngest actor to ever play the role. He is also the longest-running Phantom in the show's
West End history with over 1400 performances from 2001 to 2005. He is currently in the 25th Anniversary touring
version of Les Mis and next next month returns to Phantom. Not surprisingly he has built up a solid fan base, one
on Amazon describes him as the best tenor in the world - he isn't but it
was a nice thought.
He is a worthy star of musical theatre though and his
CD, named with startling originality John Owen-Jones. is a
treasure trove of songs from lesser known musicals as well as songs that
have helped make the singer famous such as Music of the Night and
Bring Him Home. The latter raising the hairs on necks when he sang
it this summer when Les Mis came to Birmingham Hippodrome. Indeed the CD
is worth the money just for that one track. The real interest though is the songs from musicals
that many people will never of even heard of and it is fair to say that
the songs which are included here are certainly not the reason these
shows never made it big. There are songs such as Pretty Lady from
Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures, a track featuring Michael
Ball and Bryn Terfel in what is a complex three part song in a musical
which has been staged by English National Opera among others. There is also I'd Rather Be Sailing from the
little known William Finn musical A New Brain as well as the
lively Proud Lady from Stephen Schwartz's musical The Baker's
Wife which opened in the West End in 1989 but closed after just 56
performances because, despite good reviews, there were not enough bums
on seats and it was losing money. Maury Yeston's In The Beginning musical based,
loosely on the first five books of the Old Testament, provides the
lovely New Words while the Gregory Boyd and Frank Wildhorn
musical The Civil War, which has never made it to Britain,
provides the sad Tell My Father. There is also a beautiful version of Jason Robert
Brown's Someone to Fall Back on from his Wearing Someone
Else's Clothes album.
The final track from the musicals is the rousing
Anthem from Chess before you reach the final, final track which is
Myfanwy sung a cappella. Personally I think it probably helps if
you are very Welsh and very well lubricated for this one but as it is
described as a bonus track we will forgive Mr Owen-Jones expressing his
Celtic roots. What you do have is a varied collection of songs from
the musical theatre sung with John Owen-Jones's voice of an angel.
It is a CD that really does deserve to be called easy listening. If you want to try before you buy then the album is on
Spotify or you can her excerpts on Amazon. Meanwhile John Owen-Jones will be back
at Birmingham Hippodrome in a sort of Phantomfest for one night only on
Sunday 20 February 2011 - with tickets on sale from October 13. The Thee Phantoms stars . . . well three Phantoms or
at least three actors who have played the role with with John
Owen-Jones, Earl Carpenter who is Javert in the 25th anniversary
tour of Les Mis and and Matthew Cammelle who is currently in the
international tour of Mamma Mia which is nothing like Phantom or
Les Mis but like his colleagues on that night he has won his spurs in
both musicals. Earl Carpenter said “We are very excited to be
returning to Birmingham Hippodrome with this new show. “We are particularly delighted to announce that
Rebecca Caine, who played Christine opposite Michael Crawford in the
original cast of Phantom of the Opera, will be our very special guest
making this a truly spectacular and memorable evening.” Conducting the Concert Philharmonic Orchestra will be
Anthony Gabriele who is the current musical director of The Phantom
of the Opera ay Her Majesty's Theatre in the West End. The show will celebrate both Phantom as well as being
an evening of songs from West End musicals by three of the country's
leading stars.
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