JASON DONOVAN | INTERVIEW
Rebecca Martin talks to Aussie soap star turned musical drag queen Jason Donovan.
“I never really decided to get in to musical theatre; it sort of decided to get into me,” muses Jason Donovan, the Australian actor, singer and all-round entertainer who is currently touring with Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
Donovan is fondly remembered as having played Scott Robinson in Neighbours during the 1980s, starring opposite Kylie Minogue. He then moved into the music business, beginning a pop career which has sold around 13 million albums.
Donovan played the titular role in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in the early 1990s. Following a period of drug problems, he has been clean since becoming a father in 2000. Donovan’s other major musical theatre credits have included, Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Frank N Furter in The Rocky Horror Show, the title role in Sweeney Todd.
“It’s an Australian story and it suits my character,” Donovan says of Priscilla, in which he reprises his role as Tick, the character he originally played in the West End production. The story follows the journey of three drag queens, travelling in their bus-named Priscilla-to a remote Australian town, in order to perform.
“I just get out there and play it as it’s written on the script and try and bring his idiosyncrasies to what I do through the words.
“He’s a father and he’s gay and he’s confused and he’s slightly angry sometimes,” Donovan explains, “It’s a modern story about people-basically misfits-in the sense that society rejects certain people because they might look different. It’s a triumph against adversity. But it’s a story that we can all relate to, I think.”
“That was a completely, full on, hair raising, nervous experience”
The role certainly contrasts to Donovan’s previous character as the troubled Parson Nathaniel in sci-fi musical The War of the Worlds, which will be touring next year: “I take those jobs that are going to try and challenge me, so those opportunities are really important to me in terms of trying to show people that I am versatile.”
Of his time on Strictly Come Dancing, where he finished the show in a highly commendable third place, Donovan describes; “That was a completely, full on, hair raising, nervous experience, that I on the one hand loved, on the other began to find quite stressful.
“My last album, Sign Of Your Love, was spurned out of it. I’m not going to lie to you, the profile I had from Strictly worked,” Donovan admits. “That old big band sort of style which is very much in that Strictly world was an interesting path to head down.
“The album didn’t set the world on fire, let’s put it that way; I’m not giving Michael Bublé a run for his money but I enjoyed the process…But everything I’ve done has been challenging,” says Donovan, “I don’t get on stage and cruise
through things – I’ve never been a naturally gifted singer or dancer or an actor. I’ve had to work very hard at it.
“I’d love to do more television, more straight dramatic roles. I’d love to find a home doing a bit more of that sort of work,” Donovan considers about what’s next for him. “We will see, that might happen, that might not but that’s where I’d like to head.
“My career is important but my family is the bedrock of my existence and my life. Career wise I’ve had lots of great moments, it’s hard to just pinpoint one. Family is very important to me.”
Priscilla photo PAUL COLTAS
Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Wales Millennium Centre, Tues 7 – Fri 18 Jan. Tickets: £17 – £60. Info: 029 2063 6464 / www.wmc.org.uk
