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Graham Clark
Music Features Writer
@Maxximum23Clark
12:00 AM 14th October 2024
arts

Jay Osmond As The Now Musical Rolls Into The North

 
Celebrating forty years of the chart-topping Now! Compilation albums, this new musical comedy has an eighties soundtrack, all set for a night to remember. Directed and choreographed by Craig Revel Horwood, the musical stars Eastenders star Nina Wadia and West End star Melissa Jacques, will be joined on stage in Bradford by special guest star Jay Osmond, who will be performing one of the Osmond's biggest hits, Crazy Horses.

What appealed to you about the new musical?

When I first saw the script and the songs featured in the show, I thought this would be the best week of my life and an excellent opportunity to have fun. How I appear in the show is somewhat different, to say the least, and will be a big surprise.

The story will resonate with the audience as we discover two best friends who initially met at school and then met up years later for a reunion; music is a big part of their lives.

Are there any other artists making guest appearances in the musical?

I am just appearing in the show in Bradford; elsewhere, there will be Sonia, Carol Decker, Sinitta, and Toyah, all making individual appearances at different venues as the tour progresses.

You have appeared in musicals before - was the success of the Osmonds musical a surprise for you?

We never expected the show to be as successful as it was. The show was due for tour in early 2020, but then the Covid pandemic broke out, and the show was moved back. The audience enjoyed the show because it took them back in time - much like the new Now musical.

What was strange for me was that at the end of the tour, the young actors who were playing the Osmonds became real to me; at the end of one of the performances in Manchester, we all jumped around together at the very end as the curtain dropped and for one moment it felt like I was back on stage in the seventies with my brothers.

What was it like in the seventies when three Osmonds first came to Britain?

It took me by surprise. We called it the whirlwind seventies because everything went so fast; the eighties were turbulent for me - you will see in this new musical that there was a huge transition not just in the music but culturally, too. The musical excites me because it highlights all the changes that were going on in the world at the time.

What would you say to anyone undecided about coming to the musical?

If you love to laugh, remember, appreciate relationships and enjoy music, this is the show to see.


Now, That’s What I Call A Musical appears at the following venues in the north:
15th-19th October- Alhambra Theatre, Bradford. Guest star: Jay Osmond
28th January- 1st February - Manchester Opera House. Guest star: Sonia
4th -8th February- Hull New Theatre. Guest star: Sinitta
4th-8th March - Liverpool Empire. Guest star: Sonia
18th-22nd March - York Grand Opera House. Guest star: Sinitta