NEWS ARCHIVE
2023 highlights
JOHN performs in SONDHEIM MUSICAL IN PARIS THIS WINTER!
JOHN PLAYS “MILES GLORIOSUS” IN A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM AT LIDO 2, PARIS
THE PRODUCTION, UNDER THE DIRECTION OF CAL McCRYSTAL (ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS) WITH SET DESIGN BY TIM HATLEY (TONY AWARD WINNER FOR BEST SET DESIGN ON BROADWAY FOR LIFE OF PI), RUNS AT THE NEWLY OPENED LIDO 2 PARIS THEATRE (FORMER HOME OF THE WORLD FAMOUS LIDO CABARET REVUE), LOCATED ON THE ICONIC CHAMPS-ELYSÉES.
THIS LEGENDARY MUSICAL COMEDY IS SET IN ANCIENT ROME AND FOLLOWS THE CHAOS CREATED WHEN A ROMAN SLAVE TRIES TO WIN HIS FREEDOM…
MUSIC AND LYRICS ARE BY STEPHEN SONDHEIM AND THE BOOK IS BY BURT SHEVELOVE AND LARRY GELBART
THE PRODUCTION RUNS FROM DECEMBER 1ST 2023 TO FEBRUARY 4TH 2024
Some of the cast starring alongside John are Rufus Hound, Patrick Ryecart, Martyn Ellis, Valerie Gabail, Josh St Clair, Neima Naouri and David Rintoul
Choreography is by Carrie-Anne Ingrouille, with Gareth Valentine as the musical director.
BUY TICKETS HERE
JOHN RELEASES REMIXED CHRISTMAS SINGLE “NOW MORE THAN EVER”
THE TRACK ORIGINALLY FEATURES ON 2022’S “THE CHRISTMAS ALBUM”
JOHN FEATURES ON INNOVATIVE NEW “MUSICAL” CHILDREN’S BOOK
HE IS ONE OF a cast of top PERFORMERS ON “THE BOY WHO SLEPT THROUGH CHRISTMAS” BY MATT LUCAS
Readers of The Boy Who Slept Through Christmas will be able to listen along to over 20 original songs, written and recorded by Matt Lucas to accompany the story, bringing the joy of a musical to book form.
The lyrics of each of the songs will be available at the back of the book, along with a QR code for readers to access a website where they can hear the songs.
THE BOOK WAS RELEASED ON 12TH OCTOBER IN E-BOOK , AUDIOBOOK AND PHYSICAL BOOK FORMATS
Home Alone meets A Christmas Carol in Matt Lucas’s The Boy Who Slept Through Christmas, the story of Christmas fan Leo, who is determIned to make this Christmas absolutely perfect because it’s the first one without his Mum. When things go wrong Leo wishes Christmas would just GO AWAY, but when his wish comes true, and he wakes up on Boxing Day having missed the big day he sets out on a mission to bring Christmas back.
BUY HERE
JOHN APPEARED IN “LA CAGE AUX FOLLES” IN LONDON THIS SUMMER
The production EARNED FIVE STAR REVIEWS AND RAN at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre from July 29th to September 23RD
JOHN LAST APPEARED AT THE PARK 23 YEARS AGO IN “MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING” AND “THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE”
HE PLAYED THE ROLE OF “DEPUTY EDWARD DINDON”
JOHN WAS SCHEDULED TO PERFORM AT TWO OUTDOOR CONCERTS THIS SUMMER
WEST END PROMS
ON SUNDAY JUNE 25TH, JOHN CO-HEADLINED THE “WEST END PROMS” CONCERT IN BEDFORD PARK, BEDFORD
LAST NIGHT OF THE PROMS
ON SUNDAY AUGUST 27TH, JOHN WAS SCHEDULED TO JOIN KATHERINE JENKINS IN CONCERT AT LYTHAM HALL, LANCASHIRE
JOHN PRESENTED AND PERFORMED AT THE “MAGIC AT THE MUSICALS” CONCERT IN MAY
THE SHOW WAS HELD AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL AND WAS BROADCAST ON MAGIC RADIO
JOHN STEPPED IN AS A VERY LAST MINUTE REPLACEMENT FOR JASON MANFORD AND PERFORMED A NUMBER FROM THE GREATEST SHOWMAN AND PRESENTED THE SHOW ALONGSIDE RUTHIE HENSHALL
THE ANNUALLY-HELD SOLD OUT SHOW FEATURED A HUGE CAST OF PERFORMERS FROM WEST END SHOWS
JOHN RETURNED TO THE WEST END IN EARLY 2023
HE LED THE CAST OF THE GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF MUSICAL AT THE NOEL COWARD THEATRE
THE SHOW ENJOYED A LIMITED RUN FROM 25TH FEBRUARY TO 13TH MAY 2023
AFTER A HUGELY SUCCESSFUL TRYOUT RUN AT CHELTENHAM EVERYMAN THEATRE IN 2022 RECEIVING EXCELLENT REVIEWS AND PLAYING TO ECSTATIC AUDIENCES, THE SHOW TRANSFERRED TO THE WEST END AND ONCE AGAIN ENJOYED ECSTATIC AUDIENCES AND MORE EXCELLENT REVIEWS!
JOHN RETURNED TO THE ROLE OF PHIL HOLLINGHURST - THE BLUE EYED SILVER FOX BAKING JUDGE WITH A TWINKLE IN HIS EYES…SOUND FAMILIAR?
Five years in development, created in association with the producers of the phenomenally successful TV series and following nightly standing ovations at its world premiere in Cheltenham, The Great British Bake Off Musical will open at the Noël Coward Theatre. WhatsOnStage described the show as “hilarious, deeply touching and an utterly joyous feast of fun’ with The Times exclaiming that the musical comedy ‘serves up a hearty sugar and spice recipe.’
YOU CAN LISTEN TO THE CAST RECORDING ON SPOTIFY BY CLICKING THE IMAGE ABOVE
ON FEB 15TH, JOHN APPEARED ON ITV’S THIS MORNING WITH THE REST OF THE BAKE OFF CAST FOR AN INTERVIEW AND EXCLUSIVE LIVE PERFORMANCE OF “SLAP IT LIKE THAT”
CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW OR HERE TO WATCH THE CLIP
READ AN ARTICLE FROM THE LONDON METRO NEWSPAPER ABOUT JOHN’S APPEARANCE ON THIS MORNING HERE
OR CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW
READ A DAILY EXPRESS ARTICLE ABOUT THE SHOW HERE
JOHN PERFORMED IN CABARET AT LONDON’S EXCLUSIVE IVY CLUB IN JUNE
THE CABARET WAS HELD TO RAISE MONEY FOR THE ACTING FOR OTHERS CHARITY AND RAISED SEVERAL THOUSAND PUNDS
JOHN WAS JOINED BY THE LEGENDARY CLAIRE MOORE (PHIL AND BABS FROM BAKE OFF WERE REUNITED!) WITH JOHN QUIRK ON PIANO AND THE CABARET WAS PRODUCED BY ROBERT REES
JOHN PERFORMED TWO SOLD OUT CONCERTS IN LONDON IN MAY
HE CELEBRATED HIS BIRTHDAY WITH TWO INTIMATE SHOWS AT CABARET VENUE CRAZY COQS
JOHN WAS JOINED ON MAY 2ND BY SPECIAL GUESTS (AND BAKE OFF CAST MATES) SCOTT PAIGE AND GABBY STYLIANOU
JOHN RETURNed TO JAPAN TO PERFORM IN FEBRUARY 2023
HE appeared IN “VOICES OF THE WEST END 2023” IN TOKYO
THE CONCERTS TOOK PLACE AT BUNKAMURA ORCHARD HALL, TOKYO ON 3RD, 4TH AND 5TH OF FEBRUARY AFTER BEING RESCHEDULED FOUR TIMES DUE TO COVID19
JOHN WAS JOINED ONSTAGE BY KERRY ELLIS AND ANNA O’BYRNE WITH AN ORCHESTRA CONDUCTED BY JOHN QUIRK
John appeared on Welsh language entertainment show “Noson Lawen” in February
He performed a Welsh language version of This is The Moment from Jekyll and Hyde
The show was recorded in 2022 and was broadcast on Welsh language channel S4C. It is available BBC iPlayer and you can watch the entire show by clicking the picture below (John appears at 43:22)
“do you hear the people sing?” concert video highlights now available on YouTube!
You can watch selections from John’s debut performance at Sydney Opera House as part of this special Boublil and Schonberg concert.
The show was recorded for the Sydney Opera House Official YouTube channel and selected highlights are now available to watch online
Click the video image below to watch
JOHN GUESTED ON THE NEW ALBUM BY U.S. CHRISTIAN SINGER JULIE ELIAS
JOHN SINGS A DUET ON ALBUM “THE DREAMER”
JOHN JOINED POPULAR AMERICAN CHRISTIAN SINGER JULIE ELIAS IN THE STUDIO TO RECORD A NEW VERSION OF “THE PRAYER”
2022 MUSICAL PODCAST FEATURING JOHN WINS AWARD
“KISSES ON A POSTCARD” HAS WON A SILVER MEDAL AT THE NEW YORK FESTIVALS RADIO AWARDS 2023
JOHN LED THE CAST OF THIS MUSICAL PODCAST/RADIO PLAY WHICH WAS RECORDED IN 2022 AT ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS, LONDON
‘Kisses on a Postcard’ is the autobiographical story of playwright Terence Frisby’s childhood as an evacuee in WW2. His most famous play, ‘There’s a Girl in My Soup’, opened in 1966 and ran for over 6 years to become the then longest-running comedy in the history of the West End. It was a worldwide hit including runs on Broadway and Paris (starring Gérard Depardieu). His script for the 1970 film, which starred Peter Sellers and Goldie Hawn, won the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Award for the Best British Comedy Screenplay. His sitcom ‘Lucky Feller’, starring David Jason as one of two working-class brothers living in a council flat in south-east London was one ITV’s most successful sitcoms of the 1970s, and, another of his sitcoms, ‘That’s Love’, would become one of ITV’s most successful sitcoms of the 1980s. ‘Kisses’ is based on his award-winning BBC radio play ‘Just Remember Two Things: It’s Not Fair and Don’t Be Late’, which was broadcast 10 times.
The show features a large cast led by John Owen-Jones as Uncle Jack, Katy Secombe as Auntie Rose and Brandon McGuiness & Frankie Joel-Celoni as Terry and Jack and also features Rosie Cavaliero, Marcia Warren, Evelyn Hoskins, Ian Virgo, James Clyde, Peter Temple, Sherry Baines, Henrietta Bess, Louise Cookman, Lynsday Danvers, Rupert Degas, Ginny Fiol, Valerie Gogan, Paul Jones, Jonathan Kydd, Helen Langford, Trevor Lock, Aideen McQueen, Cathy Murphy, Matt Price, Danny Ward, Mary Woodvine, Simon Thomas, Lance Ellington, Cordell Mosteller, Micah Touchet and Dennis Caldwell.
The show is written by Terence Frisby, adapted, directed and produced by Dominic Frisby with music by Martin Wheatley, Gordon Clyde and others
“profoundly moving”
