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

dad when I was in primary school – I put the timepiece on my right wrist without knowing that detail. My reason was a logical one. When I was writing papers or taking notes in school, I could easily flip my wrist, sneak a peek at the time, and know exactly how long before the bell. Wearing a watch on my left wrist feels clumsy to me now.

‘Do you still enjoy going to see shows in the West End?’

Whenever I can, I go to the opening nights of my friends’ productions. The thrill of going to see a show has never faded for me. I love to be in the audience, and although I usually try to be a bit inconspicuous, it doesn’t always work out. I went to see Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, with Jason Donovan,11 and towards the end of the second act, the safety curtain dropped. Having been in this situation before myself in a number of productions, I knew something had gone awry with the set mechanics.

Once, when I was playing Joe Gillis in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Sunset Boulevard, the stage mechanics shut down and wouldn’t rise up, leaving the floors of the set stuck at unsafe levels for the actors. When the safety curtain had been down for over fifteen minutes, a couple of us from the cast crawled underneath and led the audience in a singalong until the glitch was repaired.

After about ten minutes, the Priscilla audience was growing restless. I was hoping I hadn’t been spotted.

‘John, give us a song!’ called someone from the other side of the balcony.

I laughed and called back, ‘It’s against theatre rules for another professional to perform in the audience.’

It didn’t matter. The woman who’d called to me began to sing ‘Any Dream Will Do’ – and pretty soon the entire balcony was crooning a cappella.

‘Do you like to entertain at your home, and if so, what was the last occasion when you played host?’

In the spring of 2009, I wanted to greet my Sully neighbours, and say thank you to the cast and crew of Torchwood now that the filming of ‘Children of Earth’ was completed. (Plus, I really wanted to show off my new house to family and friends.)

I ordered lots of everything, including enough fireworks to start my own Mardi Gras. The party was such a success that the next day I had to repaint all the interior walls, replace a few lamps, and accommodate a sprinkling of stay-over guests recovering from the festivities, who were stretched out across our couches.

In the morning, everyone who slept over helped Scott and me clean the house. As we did, Scott and I revelled in how much we enjoyed being hosts, and how proud we were finally to have enough space to throw such a bash.

We repeated the tradition again this summer, and marked the American Fourth of July celebration with a BBQ and fireworks. This time, the walls survived.

On your way out, make sure you touch the Dalek for good luck. Till next time, goodnight and – from the bottom of my heart – I thank you.

Index

(In subentries, the initials JB, JB Sr, MB and SG denote John Barrowman, John Barrowman Sr, Marion Barrowman and Scott Gill; italic n signifies a footnote.)

Agyeman, Freema (i)

Aladdin (i), (ii)

All Star Family Fortunes (i)

Animals at Work (i)

Another Side (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi)

Any Dream Will Do (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi)

Anything Goes (AG) (book) (i), (ii)n, (iii)n, (iv), (v)n

readers’ comments on (i)

signing tour of (i), (ii)

Anything Goes (show) (i), (ii), (iii)

JB’s debut in (i)

revival of (i)

‘Around the World in 80 Days’

(Children in Need) (i)

Atkinson, Rowan (i)

Avenue Q (i)

Balac, Mel (i), (ii), (iii), (iv)n

Ball, Michael (i)

Ball, Zoë (i)

‘Ballgate’ (i), (ii)

Barker, Gavin (‘Gav’) (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii), (viii)n, (ix), (x), (xi), (xii), (xiii), (xiv), (xv), (xvi)

‘Ballgate’ and (i)

BBP formed by (i), (ii), (iii)

sobriquets of (i), (ii)n

Barks, Sam (i), (ii), (iii)

Barlow, Gary (i), (ii)

Barnum (i), (ii)

Barrowman, Alex (uncle) (i)

Barrowman, Andrew (brother) (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi)

childhood of (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v)

emigrated to US (i), (ii)

family holidays and (i)

Barrowman, Andrew (nephew) (i), (ii)

Barrowman Barker Productions (BBP) (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii)

Barrowman, Bridgett (niece) (i)

Barrowman, Carole (sister) (i), (ii), (iii), (iv)n, (v), (vi)n, (vii), (viii), (ix), (x), (xi), (xii), (xiii), (xiv), (xv), (xvi), (xvii), (xviii), (xix), (xx), (xxi)n, (xxii), (xxiii), (xxiv), (xxv)

All Star Family Fortunes appearance of (i)n

Anything Goes signing tour and (i), (ii)

birth of (i)

childhood of (i), (ii), (iii), (iv)

Comic-Con attended by (i), (ii), (iii)

emigrated to US (i), (ii)

family holidays and (i)

Hub convention and (i)

JB’s practical joking and (i)

Kevin marries (i)

sobriquet of (i)

Barrowman, Charlie (uncle) (i), (ii)

death of (i)n

‘Wee Jimmy’ and (i)

Barrowman, Dot (sister-in-law) (i), (ii)

Barrowman, Emily (‘Gran’) (paternal grandmother) (i)

Barrowman, John:

albums of (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v)

All Star Family Fortunes appearance of (i)n

Anything Goes (book) and (i)n, (ii), (iii)n

Anything Goes (show) and (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v)

Anything Goes signing tour and (i), (ii)

‘Ballgate’ and (i), (ii)

BBP formed by (i), (ii), (iii)

Bionic Woman incident and (i)

car accidents of (i), (ii), (iii)

charity work of (i), (ii), (iii)

child fans of Captain Jack and (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v)

childhood of (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v)

childhood dreams of (i)

Comic-Con attended by (i), (ii), (iii)

conventions attended by (i), (ii), (iii)

DIY and (i)

education of (i)

emigrated to US (i), (ii)

family holidays and (i)

fans of (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi)

film career of (i)n, (ii)

flirting by (i)

ill health of (i), (ii), (iii)

‘Jinny Baza’ sobriquet of (i), (ii)

love of animals of (i)

love of cars/driving of (i), (ii)

love of dogs of (i)

media critics and (i)

‘Mr Saturday Night’ sobriquet of (i)

motto of (i)

other sobriquets of (i)

panto performances of (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v)

paranoia suffered by (i), (ii)

parts played by, see Barrowman, John, parts played by

on playing Captain Jack (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii), (viii), (ix), (x), (xi), (xii)

practical joking of (i), (ii), (iii)

prized memorabilia of (i)

sex and (i), (ii)

sexuality and (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), (vii), (viii), (ix), (x), (xi), (xii)

SG’s civil partnership with (i)

SG’s holidays with (i), (ii)

SG’s ‘ill health’ and