![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fajrdrakoJohn Barrowman in concert... Royal Hall, Villa Marina, Isle of Man. Last Thursday. It's taken this long for me to sit down and type it up, and goodness knows a lot of my notes (written in the dark, while entralled by what was happening on the stage) aren't particularly legible. Still... the memory is still fresh and exciting.
When my tickets for the concert were mailed to me in Canada I was amused to see that Barrowman was singing at the Theatre Gaiety, the newly-refurbished posh theatre in Douglas that would compare to our National Arts Centre.
But as it happens, he wasn't singing there. He was more or less next door, in an adjacent building, the Royal Hall of the Villa Marina, an elegant place surrounded by terraced ornamental gardens, with a rather gorgeous Art Deco foyer. They were selling John Barrowman merchandise there: I was hopeless and bought everything in sight: t-shirt, key ring, programme book, and (at the intermission) the mouse pad.
My seat was K20 in the Stalls, otherwise called the Dance Floor. That made sense: the chairs were removable, and very comfortable chairs with arms, too. The place wasn't huge, and from K I had a wonderful view of the stage.
John Barrowman was wearung what I think of as his "concert clothes" - a silver-grey suit and black shirt. (In act two, he changed to black trousers). Tacky? No, actually not. As the concert started, I saw why: the neutral colour and somewhat reflective cloth soaked up colour and looked wonderful under the lights.
His first songs: "Don't Stop Me Now", "Help Yourself". He said it would not be a politically correct concert (though I wasn't quite sure what he meant by that, then or by the end). He told us to forget the recession, forget the greedy politicians. Some girls in the back shouted "Will you play naked hide and seek with us?" For those not in the know - is there anyone on my flist still unindoctrinated? - in Torchwood, Captain Jack has been known to play "naked hide and seek" with his boyfriend Ianto, who says he cheats, but smiles when he says it.
Barrowman said, "Sorry, girls, you'll have to ask my band – I've worked too hard to get out of the closet," though I'm pretty sure he liked the attention. He then said "hello" to a woman he knew in the audience, whom he kissed, and then introduced to us all. I'd seen her before, though couldn't place her – it was Sam Martin, one of the contestants on the British version of How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?. She was from the Isle of Man, and just finished a run in Cabaret as Sally Bowles. Cool.
Barrowman talked about how tiny the plane was that he took to Douglas, and compared plane size with the band. (Theirs was bigger.)
He asked if we'd seen him on Top Gear - "I wrecked a one hundred and twenty thousand pound car," he said, smiling. "It was fantastic. It was like a bouncy castle. I got a taste for racing."
He talked about being at San Diego Comic Con, "the Cannes festival of science fiction".
He said that people talk about his life going well, and it does, but it's a question of whether the glass is half empty or half full – he thinks of his glass as half full, and things go better for him.
He talked about being in How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? - "We solved it. I wasn't Maria.” He said he couldn't be in Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat any more - "I'm a little older than the plot needs. I'd look like mutton dressed as lamb." He did a mock-singing of "As Long As He Needs Me” - "I'm already a Nancy,” he said. And his conclusion: "This is my show, so I'm going to do whatever the hell I like.” And then he sang "Where is Love?” from Oliver!.
He had two suits with kilts brought on stage, with jokes about how the mannikins were held. One was one he had made that didn't quite work, with a plain grey kilt; the other was the one he wore to the prom where his girlfriend dumped. A few jokes about how bitterly he is not bitter about that. "She dumped me because I looked better in a dress than she did... I'm sure she's doing very well now. On skid row."
He told an anecdote about how, in America, they don't know what 'shite' means, and he talked about meeting a man his father worked with, named John Shite. Then, years later, meeting his daughter. And how funny he and his family thought this was, with everyone around them being oblivious.
He sang "Rhinestone Cowboy". He talked about Torchwood and how much he loves playing Captain Jack. He said that people are asking him if there will be a series four of Torchwood, and he doesn't know, but "if they don't do it, they'd be stupid."
He talked about his new book, "I Am What I Am", and said it was dedicated to his audiences.
A particularly funny part of the show: he did certain famous songs from musicals but "Scotified" them in honour of his Scottish heritage – Jesus Christ Superstar, Memories, Any Dream Will Do – with considerable help from his dancers.
He sang several songs from Music, Music, Music including "I Made it Through the Rain" and "What About Us?", followed by "Life is a Roller Coaster", "I'm So Excited", "Boogie Wonderland", and "Shining like a Candle in the Dark". He got some audience members dancing, and at one point unbuttoned his shirt, complaining he was hot. "Take it all off!" shouted some girls in the gallery, and he said, "Are you kidding? Do you know how much trouble I got into last time I took my trousers off? And that was only on radio!"
He talked about Tonight's The Night, and how much he enjoyed making people's dreams come true. There may be a second series of the show.
He talked about his fondness for dogs, including his own dogs, and me mentioned Captain Jack, Harris, Lewis, and Penny, describing them a little, and sang a song dedicated to the ones who had died, "Goodbye my Friend", which he said always chokes him up.
He dedicated "Heaven" to his keyboardist Matt, "who is getting married on Saturday, and man, am I going to embarrass him at the wedding". He talked about having been with Scott for sixteen years, and how happy he is with him. He then introduced each of the band, and the four dancers.
Someone in the audience called out something about the Doctor – wanting him to sing "The Doctor and I", I think, which was certainly a song I'd have like to hear. He said, "The Doctor will just have to wait, because he's off saving the universe." Instead he sang "I Won't Send Roses" from Mac and Mabel, saying the song "sums me up". Then "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" - which delighted me, as I have fond childhood memories of that song from the first album I ever owned, by Andy Williams.
He talked about his coming role in La Cage Aux Folles as being 'difficult' and urged everyone to "come and see me perform in a dress".
For encore, he sang "La Vida Loca", "From a Distance", and finally "I Am What I Am" at the end.
Here's a link to the account Jade Maddrell wrote of the same concert.
When my tickets for the concert were mailed to me in Canada I was amused to see that Barrowman was singing at the Theatre Gaiety, the newly-refurbished posh theatre in Douglas that would compare to our National Arts Centre.
But as it happens, he wasn't singing there. He was more or less next door, in an adjacent building, the Royal Hall of the Villa Marina, an elegant place surrounded by terraced ornamental gardens, with a rather gorgeous Art Deco foyer. They were selling John Barrowman merchandise there: I was hopeless and bought everything in sight: t-shirt, key ring, programme book, and (at the intermission) the mouse pad.
My seat was K20 in the Stalls, otherwise called the Dance Floor. That made sense: the chairs were removable, and very comfortable chairs with arms, too. The place wasn't huge, and from K I had a wonderful view of the stage.
John Barrowman was wearung what I think of as his "concert clothes" - a silver-grey suit and black shirt. (In act two, he changed to black trousers). Tacky? No, actually not. As the concert started, I saw why: the neutral colour and somewhat reflective cloth soaked up colour and looked wonderful under the lights.
His first songs: "Don't Stop Me Now", "Help Yourself". He said it would not be a politically correct concert (though I wasn't quite sure what he meant by that, then or by the end). He told us to forget the recession, forget the greedy politicians. Some girls in the back shouted "Will you play naked hide and seek with us?" For those not in the know - is there anyone on my flist still unindoctrinated? - in Torchwood, Captain Jack has been known to play "naked hide and seek" with his boyfriend Ianto, who says he cheats, but smiles when he says it.
Barrowman said, "Sorry, girls, you'll have to ask my band – I've worked too hard to get out of the closet," though I'm pretty sure he liked the attention. He then said "hello" to a woman he knew in the audience, whom he kissed, and then introduced to us all. I'd seen her before, though couldn't place her – it was Sam Martin, one of the contestants on the British version of How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?. She was from the Isle of Man, and just finished a run in Cabaret as Sally Bowles. Cool.
Barrowman talked about how tiny the plane was that he took to Douglas, and compared plane size with the band. (Theirs was bigger.)
He asked if we'd seen him on Top Gear - "I wrecked a one hundred and twenty thousand pound car," he said, smiling. "It was fantastic. It was like a bouncy castle. I got a taste for racing."
He talked about being at San Diego Comic Con, "the Cannes festival of science fiction".
He said that people talk about his life going well, and it does, but it's a question of whether the glass is half empty or half full – he thinks of his glass as half full, and things go better for him.
He talked about being in How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? - "We solved it. I wasn't Maria.” He said he couldn't be in Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat any more - "I'm a little older than the plot needs. I'd look like mutton dressed as lamb." He did a mock-singing of "As Long As He Needs Me” - "I'm already a Nancy,” he said. And his conclusion: "This is my show, so I'm going to do whatever the hell I like.” And then he sang "Where is Love?” from Oliver!.
He had two suits with kilts brought on stage, with jokes about how the mannikins were held. One was one he had made that didn't quite work, with a plain grey kilt; the other was the one he wore to the prom where his girlfriend dumped. A few jokes about how bitterly he is not bitter about that. "She dumped me because I looked better in a dress than she did... I'm sure she's doing very well now. On skid row."
He told an anecdote about how, in America, they don't know what 'shite' means, and he talked about meeting a man his father worked with, named John Shite. Then, years later, meeting his daughter. And how funny he and his family thought this was, with everyone around them being oblivious.
He sang "Rhinestone Cowboy". He talked about Torchwood and how much he loves playing Captain Jack. He said that people are asking him if there will be a series four of Torchwood, and he doesn't know, but "if they don't do it, they'd be stupid."
He talked about his new book, "I Am What I Am", and said it was dedicated to his audiences.
A particularly funny part of the show: he did certain famous songs from musicals but "Scotified" them in honour of his Scottish heritage – Jesus Christ Superstar, Memories, Any Dream Will Do – with considerable help from his dancers.
He sang several songs from Music, Music, Music including "I Made it Through the Rain" and "What About Us?", followed by "Life is a Roller Coaster", "I'm So Excited", "Boogie Wonderland", and "Shining like a Candle in the Dark". He got some audience members dancing, and at one point unbuttoned his shirt, complaining he was hot. "Take it all off!" shouted some girls in the gallery, and he said, "Are you kidding? Do you know how much trouble I got into last time I took my trousers off? And that was only on radio!"
He talked about Tonight's The Night, and how much he enjoyed making people's dreams come true. There may be a second series of the show.
He talked about his fondness for dogs, including his own dogs, and me mentioned Captain Jack, Harris, Lewis, and Penny, describing them a little, and sang a song dedicated to the ones who had died, "Goodbye my Friend", which he said always chokes him up.
He dedicated "Heaven" to his keyboardist Matt, "who is getting married on Saturday, and man, am I going to embarrass him at the wedding". He talked about having been with Scott for sixteen years, and how happy he is with him. He then introduced each of the band, and the four dancers.
Someone in the audience called out something about the Doctor – wanting him to sing "The Doctor and I", I think, which was certainly a song I'd have like to hear. He said, "The Doctor will just have to wait, because he's off saving the universe." Instead he sang "I Won't Send Roses" from Mac and Mabel, saying the song "sums me up". Then "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" - which delighted me, as I have fond childhood memories of that song from the first album I ever owned, by Andy Williams.
He talked about his coming role in La Cage Aux Folles as being 'difficult' and urged everyone to "come and see me perform in a dress".
For encore, he sang "La Vida Loca", "From a Distance", and finally "I Am What I Am" at the end.
Here's a link to the account Jade Maddrell wrote of the same concert.
