In a contemporary penthouse overlooking the River Liffey in Dublin, Australian Jason Donovan cuts a relaxed figure, still showing the same youthful exuberance that made his career back in the ’80s.
Fresh-faced and swarthy skinned, with every hair on his head regimentally in place, Donovan strikes you as no stranger to his mirror. But he is affable and approachable at the same time.
He cuts a much different figure from the one who once collapsed in a drug-induced seizure in Los Angeles while attending a celebrity birthday party. In those days he was an habitual cocaine user, but now he is clean.
Nowadays, folks in the UK are used to seeing him dancing and singing around fictional parties with Kerry Katona in supermarket adverts – usually with a tray of nibbles in hand.
But the actor-turned-singer is better known for his roles in television’s Neighbours, as Scott Robinson, and the title character in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat… not to mention his singing career which saw him reach number one in the UK charts with Especially For You, a collaboration with his former girlfriend Kylie Minogue.
The interview was for Donovan to talk about his role in Jeff Wayne’s musical adaptation of HG Wells’s War of the Worlds, which enjoyed a UK tour from December 2 to 18.
He is London-based at the moment, and “very lucky to have a career that takes me to some interesting spots”, he says.
His career has branched into many directions down the years, but Donovan has had his fair share of well-documented struggles, ranging from relationships to drugs.
“I started acting when I was very young – just a kid – but my professional career started when I was about 17-and-a-half.
“I certainly didn’t envisage living in the UK. I didn’t really think I’d get a career out of it, but then I didn’t really know what my direction was. It sort of found me in that sense.”
Neighbours was the catalyst that would turn a young Jason (17 at the time) from a fledgling teen actor into a household name across the world.
The soap opera was where he would continue his working career with another rising star, Kylie Minogue, after first working alongside her in a guest appearance on an Australian show called Skyways when he was 11.
The pair’s relationship on Neighbours was mirrored in real life as their backstage romance blossomed, but it all seemed too good to be true. Eventually, their relationship ended due to Minogue’s association with the late INXS singer Michael Hutchence.
Now, both stars are enjoying successful careers in a patently fickle industry, with Minogue having successfully battled cancer and continuing to release albums, and Donovan’s return to stage.
Even though they are in the same industry, the two rarely cross paths.
“I never bump into her. I don’t really keep in contact with Kylie.”
He also tells of how Neighbours changed his life: “People aim to stay in contact, but Neighbours was over 20 years ago, though it obviously has a lot of meaning to a lot of people.
“There are people that I occasionally keep in contact with from it. That show changed many of our lives in a positive way. I come across it sometimes when I’m flicking through the channels.”
In the mid-90s, Donovan’s life would take another dramatic twist. He was using cocaine steadily, and in 1995, while attending a 21st birthday party for Kate Moss in The Viper Room, Los Angeles, he suffered a drug-induced seizure.
He was rushed to hospital and later recovered, but realised he had a problem.
The drug use continued, however, until his first child, Jemma, was born, and he decided to stop.
Reflecting on that period, Donovan speaks with a philosophical maturity. “Looking back, there have been a lot of people that have had a lot of problems, like a mid-life crisis or certain aspects of their lives when they’ve gone out and ‘crashed the car’.
“I have done that on numerous occasions quite successfully, but the positive side to it is that it’s not part of my life anymore and I’m one of the lucky ones to come through it.”
He adds: “There is nothing cool about taking drugs. That’s the bottom line really.”
Donovan has decided to focus yet again on his singing career, releasing a new studio album, Soundtrack of the ’80s in October.
He says: “I did a ’50s and ’60s record before, but I didn’t live through the ’50s and ’60s, so to that extent I would argue that I have an emotional connection with this particular record.
“I think music puts you in a place in time that no other medium can to the same extent. I’m trying to connect with my audience, as well as perform a group of songs that I love and know a lot about.”
As well as the album, he has been excited about his work on The War of the Worlds, the stage adaptation based on the iconic novel, first penned by HG Wells in 1897.
In 1938 it caused controversy after a young broadcaster called Orson Welles aired a radio adaptation of the novel. Many Americans, unfamiliar with the concept of the broadcast, were fooled into believing that Martians were indeed invading the Earth.
One of the reasons for this may have been that the show came in the form of an uninterrupted news broadcast. It caused widespread panic and made Welles a household name.
Donovan’s role in the modern musical variation is that of a retreating artillery man, who liaises with the narrator while fleeing from an under-attack London.
Donovan says of his role: “Artillery man is a very interesting character to play. He is a bit of a dreamer.
“The story is obviously based on this Martian invasion. My character wants to save the world from this catastrophic moment in time. I’m very interested in the story and that’s the main reason I did it.
“Jeff Wayne’s music is traditionally iconic, emotional, uplifting and a great multimedia experience.”
Indeed, highlights of the production included a 4m high 3D photo-real floating hologram of Richard Burton, as George Herbert, the journalist
Then there was a three-ton, 12m-tall Martian Fighting Machine firing new and improved, real-flame heat rays at the audience and scanning them with its bug-like eyes.
Also among the cast were Atomic Kitten’s Liz McClarnon, X-Factor’s Rhydian, Moody Blues member Justin Hayward and Manfred Mann’s Earth Band’s Chris Thompson.
Donovan says: “I think music and words in a story go hand in hand. I believe this particular musical version is an incredible combination of the two.
“
It’s interesting that music by Abba or Queen end up getting turned in to musicals at some point because it’s all about the power of song. Getting up on stage and singing is a heart-racing kind of sport. I think it challenges me.”
The production set new boundaries in terms of audience interaction, something Donovan says he has to get right at all times.
Travelling with the show gave Donovan a nice opportunity to see around him. But even though he’s based in London now, he still misses a little bit of the land where good neighbours become good friends.
“I miss home but I also get back there quite a lot. Sometimes it’s quite nice to be 14 000 miles away from the family, though.
“That aside, Australia’s a great country, but 24 hours on a plane is not easy.” – Belfast Telegraph