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Your career has sky rocketed since receiving 2 Naledi Awards for Beauty and the Beast. Has this been an overwhelming experience of have you managed to keep 'cool'?
"Keeping cool" is a double-edged sword. These days, you are scrutinized if you succeed. Being too cool comes across as ungrateful and arrogant. Being overwhelmed implies flaky and naive so it is really difficult to please everyone with a response that they find suitable. For me, this journey has been beyond anything I would have imagined for myself 5 years ago. Thankfully I have a core group of people that keep me grounded and aware of my good fortune.
Phantom is a great new turning point in your career. How do you feel about playing this iconic legend in musical theatre?
The Phantom is a role I set my sights on when I saw the 2004 South African production. It was the show which clarified what I would be doing for the rest of my life. It was "the moment" that all performers have. To come full circle and go into the theatre and put that mask on is still an experience that seems new even after three weeks of performances. I often stand in the wings and watch the show thinking, "This is completely insane. It happened."
Was it difficult to slip into the role of Phantom?
Strangely enough, no. I was a bit of a recluse growing up so the notion of solitude resounded with me on some level. There are three main pillars to this character: rejection, control and music. All three touch a nerve in me due to various reasons so becoming the Phantom was a therapeutic process of self discovery.
How do you relate to the character of Phantom? Do you tap into the darker side of your psyche or do you think he is the ultimate romantic anti-hero?
Like I say, I think I was a bit of a Phantom growing up. I remember when I was in high school I would play the piano on my own in the school hall during break time to get my technique up. Looking back on it, my peers must have thought me a little strange.
Why do you think Phantom of the Opera has been the tremendous success it is?
There is, hasn't been and will never be anything like The Phantom of the Opera. The spectacle, score and story mesh so well that you can't see the joins. It is beautifully integrated and the journey that the three main characters take the audience on is beyond compelling. Who hasn't loved and lost? It's all there and they are going ballistic every night.
Any comments you would like to share on Phantom of the Opera?
I have loved seeing the growing number of children in the audience. I think it is paramount that parents instill a love for theatre in their children because they are our future audience and theatre is such a rich source of growth for any child. I will never forget 5 or 6 year old Benjamin - the son of one of our chorus ladies- at our sitsprobe. No costumes, sets, make up etc. Just us and the orchestra. We sang through the whole and apparently at the end of it all he turned to his mother and made it very plain that Christine should have gone with the "bad man" even though he was naughty. That floored me because he got it completely just through the music.
The success of your career and the great reception from audiences and critics, has this influenced your life in any way?
It freaked me out initially because people have no compunction in coming up to you and giving you feedback - positive or negative. That is actually a compliment because they feel comfortable enough to come up to you in the first place. As for critics, well…Of course it has influenced my life. Recognition is humbling and terrifying at the same time. You have to continually strive to get better and grow or at the very least maintain your standard. That does drain you so having a solid home environment to go home to and get rid of this "stuff" is very important. It pushed me to get a real life.
You have also has an opportunity to strut your solo muscle with your own creations?
Yes I have. I have had three successful one man shows as well as HATS OFF - a revue based on the songs of British duo Flanders & Swann which I wrote with Alan Swerdlow and performed with Louis Zurnamer. I also have a ridiculous one-man Gilbert & Sullivan music revue penned for next year called TOPSY TURVY where I play most of the Gilbertian characters from operettas like The mikado, H.M.S. Pinafore and The Pirates of Penzance.
How do you feel about winning two Naledi Awards?
I am completely bowled over by my two Awards. I am so grateful to everyone who made it possible. From the cast to the crew, management and my producers, Hazel Feldman and Pieter Toerien. I was the gibbering recipient of Best Comedy Performance (which I shared with Sibu Radebe who played Le Fou) as well as Best Performance in a Musical (male). I am also pleased that my peers acknowledged Sibu and I as a partnership as well as individuals (Sibu also won Best Breakthrough Performance for his incredible portryal of Le Fou). It really goes to show how much of a team we were.
The Awards themselves are an indication of how much of our talent is doing exceptional work. Groundbreaking productions like The Magic Flute and Karoo Moose deserved every award they racked up. Our straight theatre also shone with wins for our very own legends like Dorothy Ann-Gould - only affirming how this very small sub industry is still sticking through it. Our Musicals are also going from strength to strength with productions like Beauty and the Beast, The Full Monty and Chess ruling last year. One sad thing to note, however, is the absence of a named sponsor. A country is only as strong as it's artistic values and we have it in bucketloads. The ceremony was well-attended so the interest is there. All we need now is the faith that we deserve from a sponsor to raise the Awards to something that can perhaps equal the SAMAs. Special mention must be made of the Naledi Committee headed by Dali Tambo but especially that tenacious duo, Des and Dawn Lindberg who tirelessly bring us a ceremony every year. Recognition is a wonderful impetus for great work over and above creativity and art. A salute goes to them from the Artistic Community.
Tell me about how you got involved with Handful of Keys?
I have had a long involvement with A Handful of Keys that goes back way before I was even considered for the project. I had a choir master called Ian McShane who saw the original in 1994/5 and told me about this amazing piano show that he had seen when I was still in primary school. I wanted to see what he was talking about because the piano bug had already bitten but it had closed. I will never forget this. He turned to me and said, "Don't worry, you'll do that show one day." And here I am!
The next spark of possibility came when I auditioned for Grease at the Barnyard - to be directed by Ian von Memerty. My late mother told me to play the piano for him if the opportunity arose because then he will have to cast me for Handful. I didn't, but I landed my first professional show.
The following year, I did my third show with Ian, The Buddy Holly Story. During lunch, I was just aimlessly playing the piano and Ian walked up to me and said, "How about you do Handful next year?" And we all know what I said to that.
What attracted you to team up with Roelof on Handful of Keys?
Roelof was the Musical Director for Grease and I found we had a natural rapport during rehearsals. The overwhelming characteristic about Roelof that stood out for me was his prodigious musicality and sense of rhythm. He plays like a black jazz legend and something told me this man had it! Besides the fact that he is the most generous and intelligent performer I have worked with, he has the smallest ego and is blissfully unaware of how unique his powers are. On a personal level he is one of the most genuine human beings I know.
You seem to be a mean team? Tell me about the great chemistry you have on stage?
It is inexplicable and literally comes down to that old adage of "you either gots it or you ain't gots it" and thank God we do - in bucketloads. Nothing is forced and everything that happens on stage seems fresh for us every time because we still - after over a year - find each other entertaining and hysterically funny. That's something that you battle to find with the lackluster approach to consistency in some theatre circles these days. We still corpse. Badly. The greatest compliment we received was from a woman in Johannesburg who came to us after the show and said she couldn't believe how we were the same partnership offstage as we were during the performance. That was a great moment for us because the show straddles a fine line of genuine and artificial joy - depending on who you cast. Luckily, Roelof and I are similar enough to find common ground but diverse enough not to be bored by one another.
You are a wizard at the piano, gifted as a performer, and a talented singer … is there something you can't do?
Hahaha! Thank you. Absolutely. Nureyev I am not. Other than with tap dancing, I am not a natural dancer. Being such a big guy is a bit of a draw back but once I set my mind to it there is no stopping me. Thankfully my music has given me rhythm so there is a halfway mark. The rest I learned from Gene Kelly.
Where did it all start for you…that moment you knew you were going to be on stage?
I was always taken to the Pantomime over Christmas every year and went crazy for that size of show and always had an inkling that my time was coming but it was when I saw The Phantom of the Opera that my life took a definite turn. I sat there in the front row watching what I was going to do for the rest of my life. I went home, got into bed and lay there, digesting everything I had just seen and heard. To this day, Phantom is my dream show and part - simply for the reason that it put a cracker under my butt and lit a fire in me to succeed that drives me each and every time I go onstage.
Is being an actor/ performer what you always dreamed of doing?
No. Being a part of the theatre is what I always knew I would do.
What excites you about theatre?
You have ONE shot. There is no editing. There is no retake. There is one chance and above all, the theatre is LIVE. There is a connection in a theatre that actors know about. It lifts you to another realm of artistry that you can live off for the rest of your life. Hundreds of people come to give up two hours of their lives to be engulfed by another world. The minute they sit down, they are part of a whole. For me, the audience is not 500 individuals, they are one symbiosis. I get to go onstage every night and drink that experience up. That dynamic between performer and audience thrills me every time. Where else do you feel that?
Do you have a favourite role (highlight) to date? Why?
When I look back, my favourite role was actually when I was still in Northcliff High school in Johannesburg. The drama was at such a level that the Natal Playhouse would book us for a short run every year. In 2002 we did Oklahoma! And I played the role of the shrewd Persian Peddlar, Ali Hakim. It was the perfect size part onstage and off with a great song and killer lines. Ultimately, it was the part that started the discovery of comedic timing for me and I always look back with such good memories to that show.
Let's talk Cats?
CATS is one of those few ensemble pieces, other than West Side Story and Hair, where the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts. It has a rare element of fulfillment for every single cast member. Everyone has a chance to sparkle and everyone is basically onstage for the whole show other than poor Grizabella. The overseas director told me that the most fundamental element about CATS is the plural in the title. It is not about one CAT, it is shared amongst all the CATS. The show is so vastly different from anything I have ever done that it was a no brainer when it was offered to me.
Tell me about your role in Cats?
I play the part of Munkustrap - the narrator of the piece. He is a large grey tabby with black and white stripes who serves as the translator between the Cats and the audience. The "tribe" of Cats has a hierarchy and Munkustrap is like the Prince or heir to the throne held by Old Deuteronomy. It is Munk's responsibility to watch over and protect the younger kittens and help maintain order and decorum amongst the tribe. He is a very centred character with a regal gravitas and no tricks or gimmicks - which is what attracted me to the part. Previous roles like Gaston in Beauty and the Beast or Mozart in Rock Me, Amadeus have had one or two bits of shameless business which are frivolous fun (don't get me wrong - I love frivolous) but Munk doesn't. The difference between Munkustrap and Gaston, for instance ,is that Gaston will make a grand entrance with a gunshot and a killer first line whereas Munk would have been onstage all the time lurking in the shadows, watching and saying nothing. It relies on a deeper skill of less is more and powerful. I love exploring polar opposites role after role because I am constantly changing my genre and challenging myself as an actor. My greatest fear is type casting and I would like to be as versatile a performer as possible.
Tell me about your 'remedial' ballet lesson?
Eat your heart out, Billy Elliot. Of course, CATS is a very fluid style of contemporary and ballet. So, I wanted to be prepared as best I could before rehearsals. So, I have been attending a basic ballet class here and there with people aged from 5 to 105 learning the foundations of ballet. I still laugh when I think of what it must look like, this huge guy in ballet pumps next to this 6 year old girl in a tutu. The things we do…
Finally, who is Jonathan when he is not on stage? What do you do when you are not performing?
I am actually a very reserved and withdrawn person when I am not on stage. There has to be a balance somewhere I suppose? I think I would burn out if I was the same person off stage as on! When I am not performing, I can be found in old books shops and music shops buying DVDs and CDs. I have a great time with friends and drink a dangerous amount of cappuccino. Ultimately, I think I am a traveler by heart although I haven't really gone abroad much. My biggest dream at the moment is to go to London and see the shows over there. Just want to check that everything is where it's supposed to be I guess.
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