Fans of classic songs from iconic movies are in for a treat next month as local singer Keith Jack will be returning to the Brunton Theatre in Musselburgh as part of a tour to promote his latest album ‘Movie Nights’.
They will have to be quick however as tickets are selling out fast.
It seems like only yesterday when an incredible 21 million viewers tuned into the final of BBC1’s ‘Any Dream Will Do’ in June 2007, and watched as Keith narrowly lost out to Lee Mead who went on to appear in the West End as Joseph but he has not stopped working since with his many credits including the Narrator and Joseph in ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat’; Charlie in ‘Only The Brave’; Alistair in ‘Sincerely, Mr Toad’; Ralph Rackstraw in ‘HMS Pinafore’ and Sparky in ‘Forever Plaid’.
After the Brunton, he will appear at Wild Cabaret, Glasgow on 22 October, Hazlitt Theatre, Maidstone on 29 October and Pizza Express Live, Birmingham on 2 November 2017.
Earlier today Keith kindly took time out from his busy schedule to chat to the Edinburgh Reporter:
He said: “I’m really looking forward to appearing at the Brunton Halls again which is only ten minutes from where I was brought up. There is something special about the theatre which has a good homely feeling and I like it better than some of the bigger theatres I have played.
“The show is to promote my new album, ‘Movie Nights’ which contains 11 songs which are all from movies and which were all chosen by myself including ‘Beauty and the Beast’, Everything I Do from ‘Robin Hood’, You’ve Got a Friend from ‘Toy Story’ A Thousand Years from ‘Twilight’ and possibly my favourite, So Close from Disney’s ‘Enchanted’ . It’s not the best known song from the movie, but I performed it on the ‘Saturday Night at the Movies’ tour and everyone seemed to love it. It’s strange that people recognise the song but don’t know where from. That song comes at such a lovely moment in the film and it’s such a beautiful song.
“I also perform Stevie Wonder’s ‘I Just Called To Say I Love You’ but I sing it as a melancholic lullaby. The original version has a happy, upbeat feel to it but if you listen to the lyrics it’s actually a sad song. I thinks it’s nice to change the arrangements rather than just trying to replicate the original.
“I wanted to find a good mix of songs with different styles and have them led by strings and I think we have really achieved this.
“For the show I have added other songs from shows that I have loved and without giving too much away I may impersonate a well known actor from one of the films!
“We will have a live band and two backing singers so I’m sure it will be a great night where I will be singing 22 songs in total.
“My mum and dad will be in the audience along with other friends and family but I won’t see them before the show and will treat them just like other members of the audience as it could be nerve wracking otherwise.
“I get all demographics at my shows although it’s mainly mums and grans who like my music but there is a balance in the audience.”
Keith’s life changed following ‘Any Dream Will Do’ where he was widely regarded as the strongest singer in the competition although some judges thought he looked too young to play Joseph.
Judge John Barrowman described his signing as “Brilliant, Brilliant, Brilliant, you have a voice of gold” whilst Zoe Tyler told him: “When you sing you knock me for six.”
So does Keith still keep in contact with anyone from the popular show? He continued: “I still keep in touch with Lee and there was no hard feeling after the result. We have become very good friends and he is actually on the album where we sing a duet of ‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me.’
“I have just finished touring with Joe McElderry and Ben Ellis in the Saturday Night at the Movies. Ben was also in ‘Any Dream Will Do’ so it was great to catch up.
“Since the programme I have been working continually in various shows. Obviously I loved playing Joseph which I did for two and a half years and other shows include HMS Pinafore, Forever Plaid and Sincerely Mr Toad but if I was forced to choose, my favourite character would be Charlie in Only the Brave whom I played at the Edinburgh Festival.
“This was a heart-wrenching show about Dunkirk and Charlie was a really nice part. At the end of the show I was on stage myself and had to cry every night but that was easy when thinking about the content of the script.
“I now stay in London with my girlfriend Allison and have been down here for the last 10 years. It’s a bit different from Midlothian but I love the vibe although I do miss Scotland where things are more relaxed and people actually walk slower and aren’t always in a rush.
“I still keep in touch with my friends but most of them have also moved away from Midlothian and are living abroad.
So what does the immediate future hold for the popular singer? He continued: ” We have split the current tour into two and more dates will be added next year. I have a few things on the drawing board and I am currently in talks about a couple of parts but things can change very quickly.”
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John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
