I Am What I Am, John Barrowman [smart ebook reader .txt] 📗

When I sensed the same passion and excitement I had for the show from the crew, the cast, and even the viewers I met in Costco when I was picking up dog food, it made me want to push myself even more – not just onstage, but also creatively. I loved co-producing television for the first time, and in the future I’d like to add to my résumé and produce a show in the West End. I love that Barrowman Barker Productions could have a hand in bringing TV recognition to all the terrific theatre performers who don’t get much exposure. This was one of the reasons why so many of the dreams we fulfilled on TTN were related to musical theatre. The casts of Mamma Mia!, Hairspray and High School Musical were all part of Tonight’s the Night.

Over the years, I’ve tried to learn something from every project I’ve ever been a part of. From this experience on Tonight’s the Night, I’ve noted that when a show has a good team of producers and they are all in sync with the talent, they feed off each other’s ideas and take the show to heights that may not have been planned for.

Murn and my Auntie Jeannie would have loved Tonight’s the Night, and I thought of them often when I was watching the programme from my couch in Sully on Saturday nights.29 The first time I saw the show’s closing credits, and the Barrowman Barker logo came up right next to the big BBC one, I couldn’t stop grinning. Seeing those images side by side made my night and fulfilled one of my longest-held career dreams.

CHAPTER NINE

‘JOINTS AND JAM’

★

‘Those who wish to sing, always find a song.’

A favourite sign I saw in a theatre dressing room years ago

Five highlights of my ‘An Evening with John Barrowman’ tour

1 The fans, the fans, the fans (you’re all too good to be true).

2 Ripping my trousers in Glasgow (this may be a regular occurrence in the lives of some, but for me it was a first).

3 Performing at the Royal Albert Hall (Vegas, here I come!).

4 The standing ovations (never got old).

5 Having a catering service at my beck and call (for food, for food).

I’m proud to confess that I’ve done something that I’m pretty sure the Rolling Stones, in all their years of touring, have not. Wait for it. To date, I’ve been on two concert tours: one in 2008 to promote my album Another Side; and another in the spring of 2009, for ‘An Evening with John Barrowman’ (also known as my Music Music Music tour). On each occasion – here it is – my parents were part of my entourage.1

My ‘grey groupies’ took their position in my tour so seriously that they went into training a month ahead of time to get ready for tour life. Their training regime consisted of sleeping at odd hours of the day and night for inconsistent lengths of time, eating catered dinners with big yummy desserts, dressing straight from a single suitcase and, finally, practising doing ‘The Slosh’ in their bedroom.2 In truth, they really did get in shape for this tour, increasing their mileage on the treadmill at their home in Brookfield, Wisconsin, because they knew they’d need all the energy possible to keep up with their baby boy. When they stepped off the plane at Glasgow Airport to join me at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on 14 May 2009, they were ready for their marathon of music, music, music.3

For me, touring is one of the most satisfying things I do because when I’m singing in front of an audience, no matter how many, I feel more connected to my fans; and when I perform live, my audience never knows quite what to expect. I love being able to be spontaneous and to improvise. On my first tour in 2008, I scripted a lot of what I thought I might want to say between songs, but after the first night, when I realized I’d referred to the script only once, I binned it.

For this most recent tour, I altered a few things from my Another Side concerts. My caterers on this tour had food as fabulous as their name – Eat Your Heart Out. I hired four of my J8 dancers from Tonight’s the Night (known as the J4s for the tour) and they had a variety of costumes and a number of wardrobe changes. I added more flashy suits with buckles of bling for yours truly, plus a video screen, showing family pictures and photos exploring my life, to complement the music; I hoped the images gave fans more insight into ‘JB’. I told stories that had either recently happened or that the majority of my fans would not have heard before, and most of my banter was pretty off the cuff. I sometimes had an idea about a bridge between my songs, or I used a repeated phrase at the end of my link to give my musical director, Matt, and the band their cue, but many times I didn’t know exactly what I was going to say until I started to say it.4 Oh, and I had Danny Boys with me every night.5

What remained the same? I hired the same musicians for the band who’d toured with me in 2008, and most of the same hard-working crew. Plus, I kept the same parents.

When Neil O’Brien, my tour agent, and Gavin and I were choosing the cities for the tour, I told them that I wanted to perform at bigger venues. Some day, I’d love to perform in Las Vegas, maybe even take my concert tour on the road in America, but promoters in the US are not interested in backing a tour until a performer can show that he or she can sell out in bigger venues. This tour was a step towards meeting that goal and, amazingly, I sold out every venue we