Post by carol on Oct 30, 2015 23:17:48 GMT
This is a very interesting interview with Gareth. Enjoy 
love Carol xxx
Gareth Gates is mad about the musicals in York and has Footloose on the horizon too
Gareth Gates
Gareth Gates
Charles Hutchinson / 12:35 Friday 30 October 2015 / News
..
Share 0 comments
Want more local stories like these, direct to your inbox?
Sign up
GARETH Gates is starring in a show with the perfect title for a singer who has Les Miserables, Legally Blonde and Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat on his CV.
"This is the first year that I've been involved with Mad About The Musicals, but the show has been running very successfully for ten years," says the Bradford musical actor, best known for his Northern lad versus Southern posh boy head-to-head with Will Young in the 2002 final of the Pop Idol talent show that went Young's way.
Gareth, now 31, is on tour with Michael Courtney in a celebratory show that takes a whistle-stop tour from London’s West End to the glitz of Broadway, and like Will Young tonight, his itinerary will bring him to York Barbican on November 6.
"Mad About The Musicals is Michael's show and I was thrilled to be asked towards the end of last year if I wanted to do it with him. I had a look at the footage and I loved the concept; we rehearsed for two and a half weeks and the tour's been really good since we started on October 1," says Gareth.
"I enjoy a show like this that celebrates some of the best songs that have ever been written. There are songs that people request me to sing, such as from Les Miserables, and songs that Michael suggested I should sing, like Heaven On Their Minds from Jesus Christ Superstar, which is a great show and I was so pleased he asked me to sing that one, as it's a good song to stretch the voice."
He enjoys the contrasts thrown up by Michael's choice of songs for Gareth and the company. "There are a few duets too, and the great thing about this show is that it ranges from shows like Half A Sixpence right through to more modern shows like Queen's We Will Rock You
•
"It's very much a concert version of the musicals, so the girls have to change their outfits regularly but the blokes just change at the interval, and we throw a bit of acting into the songs too, though it's really all about the songs."
Gareth has taken on adversity in his life, coping with a stammer that came to national attention as he rose to fame on Pop Idol, but he is now facing another vocal challenge too. "I recently had an operation on my vocal cords and I've had to have steroids inserted in my right vocal cord, so I'm halfway through vocal rehab," he reveals. "I fortunately didn't have nodules, but I've had quite badly inflamed vocal cords, and I have a hole in my right vocal cord, which actually makes the voice more flexible."
Gareth's voice is in good medical hands and the steroids are the best way forward. "I'm seeing the top experts in Harley Street at the moment, as it's very important for me and my future as a singer," he says. "The work I've been doing on the voice has shown great results and I'm delighted that what's happened won't affect my career.
"Music is my world, and I feel in love with music even more now because music is my form of release. It was the only way of getting out of me what was in there."
Gareth sings and performs with freedom from his speech impediment, whereas in interviews the stammer can still surface, and you can hear the joy in his voice at the possibilities his gift for singing brings him. "This tour is travelling the whole country over five weeks and after that I'm jetting off to Asia, where I have a couple of gigs coming up in Thailand and Kuala Lumpur. I'm excited about that one especially!"
The Gates diary has entries for Christmas and beyond the New Year, the first being for his role as Prince Charming in Cinderella at the Crewe Lyceum Theatre from December 12 to January 3. "I then go straight into rehearsals for Footloose: The Musical for a UK tour, where I'm playing Willard," he says.
The new production will open at Bridlington Spa from January 29 to February 6 in its only Yorkshire booking on a tour that will feature Gareth until April 16 before he resumes the role from June 20 to August 6.
Share article
In the meantime, Gareth invites you to enjoy the songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein, Kander and Ebb, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Boublil and Schonberg in York next Friday.
Mad About The Musicals, 10th Anniversary Tour, with Gareth Gates and Michael Courtney, York Barbican, November 6, 7.30pm. Box office: 0844 854 2757 or at yorkbarbican.co.uk. Footloose tickets for Bridlington are on sale on 01262 678258 or at thespabridlington.com
love Carol xxx
Gareth Gates is mad about the musicals in York and has Footloose on the horizon too
Gareth Gates
Gareth Gates
Charles Hutchinson / 12:35 Friday 30 October 2015 / News
..
Share 0 comments
Want more local stories like these, direct to your inbox?
Sign up
GARETH Gates is starring in a show with the perfect title for a singer who has Les Miserables, Legally Blonde and Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat on his CV.
"This is the first year that I've been involved with Mad About The Musicals, but the show has been running very successfully for ten years," says the Bradford musical actor, best known for his Northern lad versus Southern posh boy head-to-head with Will Young in the 2002 final of the Pop Idol talent show that went Young's way.
Gareth, now 31, is on tour with Michael Courtney in a celebratory show that takes a whistle-stop tour from London’s West End to the glitz of Broadway, and like Will Young tonight, his itinerary will bring him to York Barbican on November 6.
"Mad About The Musicals is Michael's show and I was thrilled to be asked towards the end of last year if I wanted to do it with him. I had a look at the footage and I loved the concept; we rehearsed for two and a half weeks and the tour's been really good since we started on October 1," says Gareth.
"I enjoy a show like this that celebrates some of the best songs that have ever been written. There are songs that people request me to sing, such as from Les Miserables, and songs that Michael suggested I should sing, like Heaven On Their Minds from Jesus Christ Superstar, which is a great show and I was so pleased he asked me to sing that one, as it's a good song to stretch the voice."
He enjoys the contrasts thrown up by Michael's choice of songs for Gareth and the company. "There are a few duets too, and the great thing about this show is that it ranges from shows like Half A Sixpence right through to more modern shows like Queen's We Will Rock You
•
"It's very much a concert version of the musicals, so the girls have to change their outfits regularly but the blokes just change at the interval, and we throw a bit of acting into the songs too, though it's really all about the songs."
Gareth has taken on adversity in his life, coping with a stammer that came to national attention as he rose to fame on Pop Idol, but he is now facing another vocal challenge too. "I recently had an operation on my vocal cords and I've had to have steroids inserted in my right vocal cord, so I'm halfway through vocal rehab," he reveals. "I fortunately didn't have nodules, but I've had quite badly inflamed vocal cords, and I have a hole in my right vocal cord, which actually makes the voice more flexible."
Gareth's voice is in good medical hands and the steroids are the best way forward. "I'm seeing the top experts in Harley Street at the moment, as it's very important for me and my future as a singer," he says. "The work I've been doing on the voice has shown great results and I'm delighted that what's happened won't affect my career.
"Music is my world, and I feel in love with music even more now because music is my form of release. It was the only way of getting out of me what was in there."
Gareth sings and performs with freedom from his speech impediment, whereas in interviews the stammer can still surface, and you can hear the joy in his voice at the possibilities his gift for singing brings him. "This tour is travelling the whole country over five weeks and after that I'm jetting off to Asia, where I have a couple of gigs coming up in Thailand and Kuala Lumpur. I'm excited about that one especially!"
The Gates diary has entries for Christmas and beyond the New Year, the first being for his role as Prince Charming in Cinderella at the Crewe Lyceum Theatre from December 12 to January 3. "I then go straight into rehearsals for Footloose: The Musical for a UK tour, where I'm playing Willard," he says.
The new production will open at Bridlington Spa from January 29 to February 6 in its only Yorkshire booking on a tour that will feature Gareth until April 16 before he resumes the role from June 20 to August 6.
Share article
In the meantime, Gareth invites you to enjoy the songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein, Kander and Ebb, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Boublil and Schonberg in York next Friday.
Mad About The Musicals, 10th Anniversary Tour, with Gareth Gates and Michael Courtney, York Barbican, November 6, 7.30pm. Box office: 0844 854 2757 or at yorkbarbican.co.uk. Footloose tickets for Bridlington are on sale on 01262 678258 or at thespabridlington.com
Attachments:
