Actor and musician Jay Osborne has been combining his skills to spectacular effect in recent years, with stage time in Madness musical Our House, the Blues Brothers - On A Mission from God and Lipstick on Your Collar.
Currently Jay is starring as lead gutarist Richard in Dreamboats & Petticoats, which is back at Milton Keyne Theatre from Monday (July 3).
He went On Stage with Total MK...
Tell us about your first memory of the theatre
I grew up in Southampton so a lot of my early memories of theatre were from The Mayflower theatre.
My family and I always went to see pantomimes around Christmas time and would also go to the theatre throughout the year to see musicals and various shows, I suppose this had a heavy influence on me wanting to become an actor and musician.
Dreamboats will be performing at The Mayflower within the next few weeks, so that will be so exciting as well as a bit strange.
And the moment when you realised the theatre was your calling
Towards the end of school I would enjoy being involved in the backstage elements of shows and would never imagine myself on stage.
An early girlfriend of mine was part of a local amateur theatre company and would always perform in the school productions, she pushed me into auditioning for a show. I ended up getting a lead role and from then on decided I wanted to go on to college to study performing arts.
Any dreadful calamities, or funny happenings on stage that you would care to share with us?
To be honest we haven’t really had a lot of things go wrong in the show, it’s a very compact touring production and so we have quite a reduced set and collection of props compared to a permanent theatre based show.
I personally have had shows where my equipment has decided not to work. Unfortunately being a live musician with lots of different guitars, pedals and amps there’s always a higher chance of something going wrong.
Of course there’s always the classic moments where props break, people forget to move things and certain bits of set don’t work or aren’t moved when they should be, but hey, that’s theatre.
Which stage actor, living or dead, would you most like to meet, and what question would you ask them?
I would love to meet Steven Berkoff. I have studied a lot of Berkoff and physical theatre techniques and have always enjoyed his writing.
Berkoff writes honestly and openly, always mixing classical styles of writing with modern references and issues, he has a way of combining homelife situations and sincerely crude thoughts into such poetic performances.
I was lucky enough to see him perform a few years back in Edinburgh, he and the rest of the cast were better than I could have ever imagined. I would love to ask him what he’s going to be doing next, he’s one of those writer who goes quiet for a while and then reappears with something amazing and I’m not very patient.
Do you have any superstitions, or pre-performance routines?
Some people in the cast and crew have a few superstitions like that classic not saying the name of the famous Scottish play or not whistling on stage, but personally I don’t.
Again when it comes to pre-show routines everyone kind of does their own thing, makeup, hair, stretches etc. I spend a bit of time getting my quiff just right but apart from that I’m good to go.
The best piece of advice given to you when you started in the business
My dad always told me to keep a tour diary, I’ve now had my diary for over eight years, it’s a battered leather book full to the brim with memories, the names of all the cities and countries I’ve toured or performed in, postcards, stamps, notes etc.
It’s the best bit of advice I’ve ever been given and a great way of being able to look back and remember where I’ve been and how far I’ve come and it makes me feel so grateful.
What do you think has been your steepest learning curve
Every company and every job is different so as actors and musicians I think we are always learning new things especially from each other. People work in different ways and a major part of the job is being able to adjust around each other, understand everyone is different, and sometimes compromise.
How do you fill your spare time while on tour
I exercise a lot and run every day, it’s a great way to wake myself up for the day and unwind.
I read a lot too and like to see and do stuff around the city I’m in, I like playing tourist for the day and go to museums, the shops, or just wander around.
Nerves or excitement? Which takes over just before the curtain rises?
Definitely excitement. I don’t ever tend to get nervous I just try and focus and use it to enjoy the shows. At the start of the show the band is revealed as we play our first song and that’s always a good buzz.
How can the future of theatre be safeguarded? What would you do to entice new blood to audiences?
I feel that theatre and live performance is such an important element for the entertainment business and unfortunately audiences aren’t as big as they used to be.
There’s something magical about seeing raw talent right before your eyes that makes you feel things you could never get from sitting at home in front of the TV.
When I was growing up and going to the theatre, seeing live performances gave me drive and made me realise what I wanted to do, not that it does this for everyone, but it’s just such a positive environment to be part of whether you’re on stage or sat watching.
There are so many new styles of show out there and always something for everyone, I would always say give it a go, if there’s something in a nearby theatre that you might want to see, just go, because chances are you won’t be disappointed and if it wasn’t what you hoped there will always be something different coming to town the next week.
Now tell us about the three favourite roles your have played so far, and what makes them special.
My role of Richard in this production obviously. I get to play rock n roll guitar in front of audiences and with a great cast every night, it’s just perfect
I played the baddie Reecey in the production of ‘Our House’ the Madness musical a few years ago, playing bad guys and singing Madness songs were great fun.
I toured the show The Blues Brothers in Italy a few years ago and played Mr Fabulous, was such a hard working tour but worked with such great people and went to some amazing places.
Finally, for those yet to take a ticket to Dreamboats & Petticoats, sell the show.
If you haven’t seen the show, you must.
It’s one big party and perfect for all ages. It’s funny, talent, nostalgia and energy all rolled up in a big fat slice of Rock N Roll.
I don’t think there has been one night where the audience haven’t been dancing in the aisles. If you want to see a brilliantly written show with great live music, quick witty script and a brilliant cast full of life, this is definitely the show to see.
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