I Am What I Am by John Barrowman (white hot kiss .TXT) 📕

If I were to sign autographs after each concert, I’d be standing outside for hours after being hot and sweaty and exhausted. No matter how much I’d love to spend time chatting with my fans, first and foremost I have to preserve my voice. This holds true when I’m in a West End show and for pantomime, too. The next day’s audience, after all, deserves the same quality of voice and the same energy as the audience who are waiting outside after the show. To be fair to each audience, I no longer hang around for very long in the cool night air.

When I played Jack in Jack and the Beanstalk in Cardiff in 2006/07, for Qdos Entertainment and Paul Elliott Ltd., I got really ill from signing after the show; and the same thing happened when I was in Aladdin in Birmingham in 2007/08; and again the following year while I was performing Robin Hood.

Paul Elliott, by the way, is not only the Panto King,9 but he also has a history as rich and as long in theatre as, well, Shakespeare. Paul has been involved in some of the most celebrated West End productions since his career as a producer began in the sixties, including Private Lives with Alan Rickman; the RSC production of The Hollow Crown with Dame Diana Rigg and Sir Derek Jacobi; and, more recently, Thoroughly Modern Millie starring Amanda Holden; The Philadelphia Story with Kevin Spacey; and Macbeth with Patrick Stewart. I love doing panto under Paul’s auspices.10 He understands a theatre audience better than anyone I know, he’s funny, has lots of juicy theatre stories, a work ethic I admire, and he’s become a dear friend and mentor as I branch out into the production side of this business. When Paul says he’s going to do something, he does it. Oh yes, he does.11

Given what happened to my health during those panto seasons, I did experience a learning curve and I decided the best thing for me – and my voice – was to get into the van right away after a concert. During the tour, that wasn’t always as easy as it sounds. You know me – I could never drive away from the stage door and not say anything to all the fans waiting, sometimes close to two hundred of them. That’s not who I am. Instead, I tried to give my fans something special before I left, even if it was only standing up through the sunroof and waving, or walking over to where the fans were gathered and saying a quick hello.

Whenever I had a day off between concert venues, and if the journey was a reasonable one, my parents and I returned to my house in Sully, where I slept in my own bed, played with my dogs,12 and cooked my own meals. Otherwise, the rhythm of the tour went like this.

My concert entourage travelled in two huge coach buses: one transported the crew and all the stage set-up, and the other carried all the musicians, dancers and their baggage. My parents, Rhys and I travelled in a kitted-out Mercedes Viano supplied by the Sinclair Group, Cardiff. My parents sat in the back on captain’s chairs, with their feet up and their books and their sweeties on their laps. I took the middle chairs that became a bed if I needed to sleep while we travelled from venue to venue.

Immediately after a performance, my van and the band’s bus would travel to the next concert location while the crew stayed behind and de-rigged the venue; then, instead of going to the hotel with the others in the entourage, the crew would travel directly to the next venue and immediately set up for the forthcoming show.

My parents and I often arrived at the hotel around 2 or 3 a.m. Rhys and Sean, my driver, would unload everything from the van. My mum and dad and I would sleep until midday, and then we’d go to the new venue for my soundcheck, rehearsal and a proper lunch. I always arranged for a late checkout from the hotels so that this schedule was possible and we didn’t have to worry about housekeeping disturbing our beauty sleep.

After lunch, the crew would head to the hotel, where they’d sleep until the end of the show itself, and then they’d return to the venue when the concert was over, de-rig everything, and begin the process again. The only time the entire entourage came together for an extended time was when the folks from Eat Your Heart Out served lunch, or early dinner,13 after the soundcheck rehearsal.

Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise: food on the road was fabulous. Every night, we had a spread of dishes and desserts that was so luxurious that if I wasn’t burning up so many calories each evening, I’d have been ripping my trousers at every venue – not just Glasgow.

The dancers and the band travelled in what I called the Super Bus. It was an amazing vehicle. I’d love to drive across this country or the US in one like it some day. The upstairs was kitted out as an entertainment room, with a big TV that was equipped with more video games than anyone had time to play. The bus had plenty of movies, and beds to cater to everyone’s needs, in case anyone wanted a snooze while we journeyed to our hotel. The kitchen was downstairs and comfortably sat four, plus there were showers, toilets – naturally – and lots of comfy couches.

These buses were massive and expensive to run. I was originally planning to travel with my parents on a Super Bus, but because I wanted to have more dancers on the tour, the budget demanded I give up my bus.14 It was a worthwhile sacrifice. I loved having the J4s – Jamie, James, Kate and ‘Jennie Fabulous’ – with me. They made the show stronger, and since we had danced together on Tonight’s the