Hi all,

Well, phew! Manchester proved to be quite... no incredibly busy. Here's a small guide to the intricacies of putting up a show the size of the Les Miserables tour:

The first week of any new venue is always frantic what with the get in for the crew and stage management depts, followed by the dress rehearsal which is the first time the new dressers and in house crew have set eyes on the production. Brown trousers for all.

Then there's the opening night preview attended by heads of creative depts - director (in our case 2), music dept and movement dept heads and more often than not, the producer.

The next day sees a note session to sort out any problems the new venue presents followed by another show.

After this is usually a matinee and then the official press night opening of the show. (stop me if you're getting tired). Then the party, at which everyone is very well behaved and tucked up in bed by 11 having in no way drunk dry the stock of whatever bar we defiantly aren't in... got that!

That brings us to Fridays which are spent (with no hangovers) doing more notes and a show in the evening. Saturday is another 2 and then some sort of small aneurysm on Sunday.

Believe it or not, this is a lenient tour schedule.

So my point, long winded as it may be, is that the start of any new city is immediately very tiring. In Manchester we had this plus a weeks recording the Cast Album, which will be out later this year, watch the site for more details, an EPK (electronic press kit) similar to a music video for promoting the show was filmed, and we had to get ready for the subsequent venue - Norwich. All in a month. So, I'm truly cream-crackered!

Now in Norwich, home of in my opinion the best waffle house in the country, the Les Mis tour just keeps on trucking. A small but perfectly formed theatre houses us for the next 4 weeks.

I thought that I should post my holiday dates. They are:

4th, 5th and 6th of March.
4th 5th and 6th of June.
2nd 3rd and 4th of July.
5th 6th and 7th of August.

At these shows the part of Enjolras will be played by the wonderful, welsh and far too attractive for my liking Owain Williams.

Just a quick thank you to the talented students of Pendleton College in Salford who were great fun to teach while I was visiting the city. Good luck to all of you auditioning for Drama Schools.

That's all for now just a last recommendation to take a quick look at the new Les Mis site, very cool.

Coming up north for air...

Our Cardiff stay has been wonderful. Between the technical rehearsals, which are always hellish, and the previews, press night, day rehearsals and evening shows, it's been full and tiring. But now the real tour begins!

So, onto Manchester (the city of my birth) and for me a new place to work. Manchester will also be packed full of Les Mis goodness in every bite. I can't reveal why just yet but all will become clear over the next few weeks.

The audiences have been truly incredible here in Wales and we're hoping they continue to be elsewhere. We've all but sold out in Manchester and I think Birmingham too. But should you wish to hear the show via the wondrous piracy that is you tube, then you can feast your ears on us singing away on that very site. But do come to see the show if you can, otherwise you'll miss the true star of the show... my Wig.

Happy new year.

We have more fun...

I've been reliably informed that blonde's have more fun. I can now confirm that they do. How am I in such a position to answer this question? Well, if you come to see the 25Th Anniversary production of Les Miserables, you will witness me sporting what can only be described as flaxen, flowing locks on my head. That's right, Enjolras is a Blondy!

Now I try to maintain a level of decorum in these blog posts but Holy Crap was last night fun! We opened the show last night at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff to standing ovations and sobbing - just what we were aiming for. After the most gruelling rehearsal and teching process of my career, we finally got it together to show to the public. Tweaking is still required here and there but essentially the show is set and BOY does it work.

We have, new orchestrations that truly bring the score into the 21st century. A set and design that is vivid and at times breathtaking. A cast that work their proverbial bottoms off to get it up and shiny and I get to wear that waistcoat and carry a gun, what more could a boy ask for Christmas?

There are some behind the scenes pics and interviews at www.wmc.org.uk and I'll be posting some more production shots as I get them.

A merry Christmas to all and enjoy the new year.

It's Simply Massive!

So one forgets how huge this show is! I mean it, it's ginormous.

When you watch the original version of Les Mis, and that's all that's been available til now, it's all quite familiar and one scene runs into the next very smoothly and one iconic image is followed by the next and so on. What we forget is - just how many images there are.

We had our full sing through last week and coupled with being an inspiring sound, it brought home the scale of the challenge at hand. To re-imagine with equal vitality, the pictures of the story of Les Miserables. These are the hurdles we're attempting to jump in a daily basis.

Here's a few tip bits of inside info:

1. We begin on the convict ship "Orion".
2. We have real bails of hay in the farm section of the prologue.
3. The design incorporates more than just Hugo's writing.
4. I get to wear the piece of clothing I wanted most.

"Enigmatic teasing" I hear you cry? Well... yes I suppose it is but you'll just have to come and see the show to find out.

Enjoy coming up with new and inventive Christmas goodies.

A very big thank you...

... to all who came to and supported the cabarets at the Leicester Square Theatre. I was so pleased with how the shows went and flattered by the turnout. Gina and Russell were superb and I could not have done the show without the skills and endeavours of Mike Baxter.

Some news in them;

Russell will be performing in "Frank's Closet" at Hoxton Hall. A new musical that sees Russell don several fabulous diva persona's and truly strut his/her stuff. For more info go to www.hoxtonhall.co.uk

Gina continues to play Christine in the original production of Phantom of the Opera (not the new one!). For all things Beck go to www.ginabeck.co.uk you can even listen to her beautifully sopranoed twitter.

Mike will be joining me, among others, on the International Tour of Les Miserables as a swing and if anyone can do such a job, it's our Mikey.

We start rehearsals for the brand spanking, just out of the box, new smelling production in a week. I will post all the news from the barricade as it happens.

Enjoy Autumn.

New Date added...

News-News-News!!!

I'm adding another date at the Leicester Square Theatre for "How did I get Here...?".

Having sold out the first date we're going to do it all again on the 14th October at the different time of 11pm. The line up will be the same; the wonderful, talented and far too sexy Gina Beck and Russell Whitehead will be singing with me and the dexterous wonder Mike Baxter will be re-tickling our ivories.

Tickets will be available from Tuesday (29th) at www.leicestersquaretheatre.com or by calling 0844 847 2475.

For those of you who have booked for the 4th, I'll see you there and if you can make the 14th then I'll see you then too.

Jon.

Out of the Red and into the Black

As a few people have asked me this question, I thought that it was probably time that I announced the next show I will be performing in.

I will be returning to the barricade playing the role of Enjolras on the 25Th Anniversary International Tour of Les Miserables.

I will be joining this new production that already has a Stella cast attached; including John Owen Jones (Valjean), Earl Carpenter (Javert) and Gareth Gates (Marius). This is one of the most exciting projects that could think to be involved in. Not only do I get to rediscover the musical I love, but I have the challenge of a new role, set and costume design, cast and staging to play with. I could not be more excited.

The tour dates can be found on www.lesmis.com/tour.htm and tickets are on sale now. Updates to my site will follow soon. We're working a new design for the site that will launch later in the year with new features, pictures and videos, another thing I'm excited about.

The Leicester Square Theatre cabaret "How did I get here...?" has sold out, so thank you to any of you who bought tickets and I'll see you there.

ps - Check out www.whatsonintheatre.com for a great ad a friend of mine put up!