KATHERINE MACALISTER talks to Duncan Heather, star of Jersey Nights about what makes the show so special
It would be easy to get confused between the two shows Jersey Boys and Jersey Nights, especially as their subject matter is so similar. But for singing star Duncan Heather there is no comparison.
“Jersey Nights is happier than the Jersey Boys and aimed at people who want to experience the music. So while we are just ourselves, talking about our story, we are not imitating the Four Seasons, but share the songs and the limelight.”
In Jersey Nights the topic is still the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, but is less story, more singing, which Duncan is convinced makes it more enjoyable for everyone, him included.
“All four of us bring different things to the show but come together brilliantly, because you don’t know until you get together if it’s going to work, however good you look on paper, but it just does,” he says. “I think our personalities shine through and the audience feels like they are part of it. It will be hard to find that again. It’s quite magical.”
Which makes it even more surprising that Duncan didn’t start singing until he was 10 or 11 years old. “Before that I was really sporty, playing county football and cricket.” It wasn’t until a new English teacher arrived at Duncan’s school in Salisbury “bringing drama and singing with him” that a star was born.
Even then Duncan didn’t think his new hobby would develop into a full blown career, choosing to become a post office assistant instead. “It wasn’t until I was 19 and changed my job to postman, delivering mail from 4.30am-9am every morning, leaving the days free for auditions, that things started happening,” he remembers. “And I’ve been really busy ever since.”
Landing a job on a cruise ship, Duncan got to fine tune his talent for several years until he disembarked, and has been singing and dancing his way around the West End ever since. “I think it was better than going straight to theatre school because I didn’t know what I was capable of back then or if I was good enough. I didn’t know what I could do. And I got to see the world, from Brazil to South End.” He knows now, because having fine tuned his gift, the whole experience made him ultra versatile. “I can switch from Freddie Mercury to Country & Western in a second,” he says. “But my passion was always musical theatre.”
Good job because when Duncan auditioned for Jersey Nights he was snapped up and is now touring the country belting out numbers like Big Girls Don’t Cry and Oh What A Night. “They asked if I wanted to be involved and I loved the concept and the show.”
Although the Jersey Nights tour finishes in May, it has been so successful that it’s already been re-signed until Christmas, although Duncan hasn’t signed on the bottom line yet.
“I’m 36 now so at a junction, the question is what’s next?” he grins. “But I’d like to still be doing what I’m doing at 90.”
Jersey Nights runs from today until Saturday at the New Theatre, Oxford, at 7.30pm. Tickets are £10-£32.50. Call 0844 8713020.
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