First leading role as Jonny Jones tackles Kipps in Horsham

Jonny Jones is relishing his first chance to play the leading man – Arthur Kipps in Kipps: The New Half a Sixpence Musical.

Transcript

00:00 Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Now lovely

00:06 to speak to Johnny Jones, who is just about to embark on his first lead role. Now a momentous

00:12 moment with Hales coming up at the Capitol in Horsham in the new version of Half a Sixpence,

00:18 which goes simply under the name Kips. Now Johnny, first leading role, that's quite a

00:23 thought, isn't it? Are you ready?

00:25 Yes, I hope so. I've done theatre for about eight years and I've had some very good parts

00:34 in the past, but this is the first time I get to take the final bow, as it were, and

00:38 be the last person and have the name on the door, which is a miracle.

00:42 And as you were saying, it's a huge learn, isn't it?

00:45 Oh, it's massive. You know, there's a lot of scripts, there's a lot of harmonies, a

00:50 lot of dancing, and then you throw on having to learn the band.

00:53 And the band, yeah.

00:54 Well, yeah. So there's plenty to be getting on with and keep me busy, but it's been great

01:01 so far. I'm really looking forward to getting it on stage and hearing what people think

01:05 of it.

01:06 In terms of leading roles, why is this a good one to start, do you think? Why start him?

01:10 Oh, wow. Throw yourself in at the deep end, I guess. I mean, he doesn't come off stage,

01:17 he changes on stage at certain points. He is a fantastic character to get your teeth

01:23 into. And the show itself has a lot of levels. There's lots of different things going on

01:29 all the time, lots of different subplots that I think just make this not only a great show,

01:34 but a fantastic part. And anyone that knows the Charlie Stent version knows just how sweaty

01:40 and how all-encompassing it is.

01:43 It's going to be a good workout, isn't it?

01:45 Oh, 100%. I've been trying to lose weight and I think show weight...

01:48 This will do it for you. He's an interesting character too, of course, Gibbs, isn't he?

01:53 What do you think you have to really nail about him as a personality?

01:58 I think the trickiest thing is he has to be likeable. And given the dynamics that he has

02:04 with both Helen and Anne, the two female protagonists in the show, it's very easy for him to come

02:11 across as a bit of a pompous person. And so to keep him, the audience on his side, I think

02:18 is one of the main challenges. And the way I'm hoping to do that is to play him as a

02:23 bumbling but lovable person that you want to root for. He just seems to never quite

02:31 get anything right, which is a big lie.

02:34 I suppose the point is, is that he's got a lot on his plate and he's got decisions to make, hasn't he?

02:40 Yeah, so he starts out the show as working in a draper's and then comes into some money.

02:46 And it's about that sort of dichotomy of having his friends, his old friends from the draper's

02:51 and the people he knew back home in his family, whilst also trying to fit into a new social

02:57 society that doesn't really want him there. And he sort of gets sort of stuck between

03:02 a rock and a hard place, really.

03:04 Brilliant. Well, it sounds fantastic place to start. Good luck on your first main lead

03:09 role debut. Lovely to speak to you and I hope it goes brilliantly. Thank you.

03:13 Thank you very much. You too. Bye.

03:15 Bye.

03:16 [BLANK_AUDIO]