Jason Donovan is returning to Dublin to play Dr Frank N. Furter in the latest touring production of The Rocky Horror Show. He talks to RTÉ Entertainment’s John Byrne about the show and his career.
It’s impossible to not like Jason Donovan. He just comes across as a sound guy who enjoys his career as a performer, without taking himself too seriously. He also takes the rough with the smooth, accepting that it’s all part of life’s rich tapestry.
He famously became famous as the replacement Scott Robinson in the then massive Australian soap Neighbours back in the late 1980s - nearly 40 years ago, folks - before embarking on a pop journey that saw him mime on mountain tops and sell millions of records before turning to musical theatre in the early 1990s.
Taking on the lead role in the London Palladium version of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, he enjoyed his third solo UK number one with one of its songs, Any Dream Will Do.
He’s endured a few bumps and enjoyed the odd diversion since then, but in 1998 he took on the role of Dr Frank N Furter in the UK touring production of The Rocky Horror Show. He enjoyed it. It was a hit. And there was more.
It was also where he met stage manager Angela Malloch, who would eventually become his wife and the mother of their three children. No wonder this show is dear to his heart.
Roll on to 2025 and he’s back in the Frank N Furter role again as Richard O’Brien’s much-loved show celebrates the 50th anniversary of the film adaptation, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The original stage show first debuted two years earlier, in 1973.
It’s running at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre August 11-16 and - just in case you don’t know - tells the story of two squeaky-clean college kids, Brad and his fiancée Janet, and a rather strange encounter.
Their car breaks down outside a creepy mansion and when they knock on the door they meet the charismatic Dr Frank'n’Furter, a bonkers transvestite scientist, who eventually unveils his Frankenstein-like creation, Rocky.
It’s great fun in fishnets, and audience participation is guaranteed with songs (and dances) such as the Time Warp, the show’s totem pole tune.
As I greeted Jason I’m tempted to ask him to take a jump to the left, then a step to the right. Instead, I offer him a trip across the Irish Sea.
John Byrne: Hi Jason: You’ve been on tour for the last year with The Rocky Horror Show - and now you’re coming over to the Emerald Isle . . .
Jason Donovan: Yes I am! I’m excited. The Bord Gais - love that theatre. Dublin. Ireland. I’ve never played the show in that part of the world - at least I don’t think I have. I can’t remember.
Dublin’s a great city. It’s a vibrant city. And I have a lot of history of doing shows there. I don’t know many people in the touring circuit - doing what I do - that don’t love coming to Ireland. It’s going to be good.
I know you've been doing musical theatre a long time now, but Dr Frank N. Furter, your character in The Rocky Horror Show, is right up there as one of the top iconic roles.
Producers like to call him the Hamlet of musical theatre - I don’t know about that. I’m not a big follower of Hamlet, but I like Shakespeare.
It’s a great acting part and the show has some fantastic songs. It’s very forgiving in terms of musical theatre. It’s not Andrew Lloyd Webber-esque in terms of, you know, you have to be precise with your vocals.
Essentially, I get to be a rock star each night. And the basis of it is very much in the acing, in the characterisation. And that all allows you to . . . it’s like being Mick Jagger . . . it’s a rock show!
And it’s a rock show that’s been around for 50 years or so and it’s still extremely popular. So they must be doing something right? It’s pretty much become a timeless classic.
I think so. I think it’s very simple. That’s one of the reasons why it works so well. It’s hard to write songs, it’s hard to write shows, it’s hard to write lyrics. It’s hard to write poetry.
It’s simple - but there’s no fat on it. It’s a very lean show, with this sort-of crazy plot. It resonates with people because it’s about being different - and daring to be different. Misfits.
It’s about dreaming to be that other person, which I think resonates with a lot of people.
As for yourself, you've gone from Neighbours to pop stardom to musical theatre and many other things over the course of a 40-year career. I hope you see it as a compliment when I describe you as a survivor?
Well, I hope so. I think I’m very lucky in my life, to do what I love. I’ve always said to my kids, in terms of their work, it’s a really important thing to get right. And if you can spend your life being passionate about your work, it makes things a lot easier.
You’re not looking at the clock each day.
And I never got into the business to be famous. I got into this business because I like to act and sing. That sort of held me well.
Look, the pivotal stepping stone for me was Neighbours and the exposure that brought. When you have a moment like that, you either run with it - or not - and I did run with it.
Music and musical theatre, shows like Rocky Horror, have been a good stable for me for many years. To keep working. To keep busy.
It’s also the kind of thing you can dip in and out of, and go off and do some other projects - like radio, or whatever.
I’ve done lots of musicals. I’ve done lots of shows. I’ve done radio. I’ve done TV. Not so much film. I’d like to have done a little bit more film in my life.
That’s something I wish I would have taken a few more decisions about earlier on in my career, because I think it’s a path I could’ve gone down.
And music! You know, music is the backbone of the decisions that I’ve made. Because I think music is magical.
And in musical theatre you’re getting a kind two-for-one experience as you’re singing and acting. It’s pretty good deal from a performer’s perspective.
I like musicals. I think there’s a lot of prejudice against certain musicals. I think that when people think of musicals they think of one type of performance or performer.
But I do think it’s a genre that has lasted throughout the ages. It has attracted a greater audience number than straight plays.
You can’t beat a good tune! And a good story.
The Rocky Horror Show runs at Bord Gáis Energy Theatre August 11-16. Tickets are available from TicketMaster
