Jason Donovan to star in new Rocky Horror Show
Jason Donovan has joined the cast of The Rocky Horror Show again — taking on the role played by fellow Neighbours alumni Craig McLachlan before he faced sexual assault allegations of which he was acquitted.
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Jason Donovan will return to Australia to star in The Rocky Horror Show’s 50th anniversary tour in February – the first time the Neighbours star has performed in Sydney.
The show has a special place in the heart of the London-based father of three. It’s the show he was doing when he met his wife of 14 years and partner of 22, Angela Malloch.
“There’s a history with me and Rocky Horror. I did the 25th anniversary tour of it in the UK in 1998, so to a certain degree it’s part of my DNA in a way,” he said.
“And to revisit this title, having spent years of doing lots of shows, particularly here in the UK, it just feels right to be in Australia and coming home.
“I’m really looking forward to it.”
Donovan will play Frank N Furter. That was the role played by fellow Neighbours alumni Craig McLachlan before sexual assault allegations in 2018, of which he was acquitted two years later.
Donovan said this new version was the perfect way to honour the “timeless” show.
“I’m in a good place in my life and it’s a good time to be coming back home for a lengthy period of time, and playing a role that is a little bit cheeky, a little bit naughty,” he said.
“I do quite like those kinds of roles. I like playing the villain.
“Not that Frank N. Furter is a villain, but I like playing those ‘not sweet’ characters – he’s got a bit of edge.”
Donovan, who has lived in the UK since the late 1990s, had just finished performing Grease on the West End before his exclusive chat with The Sunday Telegraph.
After the show, he cycled home to Notting Hill, so he’s tired – but his health-focused, driven way of life is important to him. It’s also worlds apart from the man he was three decades ago, when a rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle saw him publicly battle a cocaine addiction.
It was Angela who told him to clean up his act – so he did.
“Looking back over my life, timing is everything and timing is a big part of how we all live,” he said.
“Becoming a dad came around at the right time for me, and made me look at myself a little bit more,” he said.
“I’m not perfect. The birth of my daughter changed everything.
“Ange has been an incredible backbone but you’ve got to want to help yourself.
“Ultimately, it’s up to you. You’ve got to give yourself the motivation to want to change.
“I’m one of those lucky people in life that I found what I wanted to do at a young age and I made a good living out of it.”
The new life he built in the UK hinged on him focusing on his health. Hence the cycling.
“That’s an Australian trait I’m really proud of,” he said.
“A healthy body is a healthy mind, and I get a buzz from that just as much as I do from a round of applause.”
At the moment, Donovan is flipping between two shows – Joseph And The Technicolour Dreamcoat, where he plays Pharaoh, and Grease, where he plays Teen Angel.
Both are showing on the West End, a precinct he’s dominated for the last three decades. But, like most expats, he always feels a nostalgia about coming home.
“I mean, I still call Australia home,” he said.
“It is part of my comfort zone and my family are there, my friends … my people are Australians.
“Where you grow up is so intrinsic in your DNA, and that never leaves you.
“But work took me to the UK. My father’s British, and I have a UK passport, and I met my partner, funnily enough, during The Rocky Horror Show in 1998.
“We have three kids and they’ve been brought up here, so it’s my adopted home but Australia is always in my heart.”
When he comes home in January to start rehearsals, he will be solo. Son Zac, 21, will be in the middle of his political studies and daughter Jemma, 22, has her own acting career in London. She actually featured on Neighbours too.
Angela will come over for the Melbourne run of the show, with their 11-year-old daughter Molly.
“Sydney is exciting for me, because I’ve never played live there,” the 54-year-old said.
“With kids, what might be the easy bit is when they’re at school. When they leave school is when you want their dreams to come true – that’s the tough part.
“But I think we’ve been relatively lucky with that again.
“As long as you let the kids do what they want to do, and support them and allow them to follow their own paths, that’s all you can do.”
Did he ever try and steer them away from the world of showbiz?
“Not in the slightest,” he said.
“It’s a different world than it used to be. There’s more options available within our industry.
“My daughter is an actor. I mean, she will follow her own path, but you lead by example.
“We’re products of our parents, it’s a fact … I’m turning into my dad more and more,” he laughed.
Even more than three decades after his Neighbours debut, Donovan is still thought of by many loyal fans as Scott Robinson, half of Ramsay Street’s famous couple, Scott and Charlene, with the other half played by Kylie Minogue. But that doesn’t bother him. Neighbours was a breeding ground for Aussie talent and launched his career.
And, ever the good sport, he doesn’t even mind the endless requests for Especially For You.
“I’m Jason to my family and to my friends, and that will never change,” he said.
“I’m still a passionate advocate for Australian stories … but I don’t always measure my life by my career.
“That’s just one part of me. I’m just a hard worker, I’m passionate about what I do.
“I’m still busy, and I’m still doing what I love. And if that’s to 10 people in the UK or to 1000 people in Australia or across the world, that doesn’t matter.
“You create your own luck in life too.
“I say that to my kids. There’s no such thing as luck, you create your own, and you’ve got to be prepared to work hard and challenge yourself and face your fears – go outside your comfort zone.”
He describes theatre as a type of therapy – particularly after the pandemic – but said nothing’s more important than family.
“It’s about what you create around you to make your life interesting and important,” he said.
“That is the important thing because you can have all this luck and fortune but it means nothing if you can’t share it with anyone.
“Family to me is everything. I mean, how many bedrooms do you really need in a house?”
Coming home for the Neighbours finale was also a no-brainer – he owes a lot to that show.
“For me, you don’t forget where you come from,” he said.
“I’ve been asked a number of times to come back to that show and I’ve always felt the publicity would be bigger than the moment itself.
“It just wasn’t the right time.
“But to see the show come to the end of its run, and to celebrate its success and to pay respect to that was important for me, and for Kylie, and for all the other people that came back for it.
“Neighbours was a representation of the real people in Australia and it changed my life.
“Why wouldn’t I want to stand up be proud and say: ‘Look at this achievement’.
“It’s so incredible what that show did for our country, for producers, for writers, directors, actors – everyone across the board and, most importantly, the fans.
“That’s why I came back. And that’s why Kylie came back. We both felt passionately about that.”
It was an emotional end to something that featured the country’s most televised fictional wedding, watched by 20 million around the world.
“We were only involved for four years but there are sometimes those moments that define the rest of your life, and Neighbours was one of those moments,” he recalled.
“It wasn’t just about Kylie and Jason, there was so much more to it than that.
“Myself and Kylie, and all the other actors that were involved in the show, we created a show at that time that other actors wanted to be a part of.
“It was a cool sort of club that people wanted to be a part of.
“And that’s cool, man. That’s really, really cool.”
The Rocky Horror Show launches the 50th anniversary tour at the Theatre Royal Sydney in February 2023. Tickets on sale tomorrow at 9am. www.rockyhorror.com.au
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