MATT CARDLE talks about “& JULIET”, theatre and music
By P Hayward 18th October 2024
Matt Cardle is well known as a popular singer having had considerable success in both the album and singles charts. Now he has stepped out on another tour, but this time as the star of hit musical “& Juliet”, which arrives at Mayflower Theatre Southampton on 5th November. Pat Hayward talks to Matt about his remarkable career.
To most people it must seem like a million mile journey from being a chart hitmaker to playing William Shakespeare. How did you make the transition?
It’s probably not as different as you may at first think, Shakespeare, as a man, was a creative force that embodied every emotion, very much like the popular singers of today. I heard that there was to be a touring production of “& Juliet” and the first thing that caught me was the phenomenal soundtrack of Max Martin songs and how they are wound in so seamlessly to the scenes, tying them in with the dialogue. I started looking at the background of the man that William Shakespeare was and realised that he was an ordinary person with feelings and responsibilities, just like all of us. This led me to looking at the synopsis for the show, which was written by David West Read, and the more I read the more I was determined to see if there was any way I could become Shakespeare and tackle the rewriting of the man’s take on Romeo & Juliet. I let it be known that I was interested in becoming part of the production and I was invited along for initial readings and the subsequent sing-songs. I was offered the part and I grabbed it with both hands. The rehearsals were exhausting, but I was given excellent coaching by both Luke Sheppard and Grace Taylor until I was totally confident in being able to carry out the role. The show starts with me as William Shakespeare, explaining to his players and the audience the ending of Romeo and Juliet, and Anne Hathaway, my wife, crashes into the rehearsal room after a couple of rosés and just hits me with – what I think is one of the best lines of the show – “what if Juliet didn’t kill herself just because Romeo did? I mean, let’s face it, she’s only ever had one boyfriend and they went out for like four days or something.” She makes a really good point and then convinces me, Shakespeare, to rewrite the end of Romeo and Juliet. Juliet goes on this whole hilarious adventure without Romeo. It is a fun show from start to finish, and the message it carries is, love is love, you can be whoever you want to be, and you can love whoever you want to love. I think it’s just so important a message. It is such a fun and invigorating show that every performance is like a party for the cast and the audience alike.
Many people may be surprised that this isn’t your first experience of starring in a musical. How did this shift in focus come about?
It started back in 2015, when one afternoon I had a call from a friend, Beverley Knight, to tell me that leading man, Killian Donnelly was leaving her show, “Memphis”, and she thought I would be a great replacement. I was astonished, but also very interested and so Beverley said that she would approach the casting director to set up an audition. Things progressed quickly and I landed the part of DJ Huey Calhoun and Killian Donnelly moved on to create the role of Charlie in the West End and subsequently Broadway productions of “Kinky Boots”, but not before he passed on some of his experiences with the role. His main advice was not to try and copy his interpretation of the role, but create the character as I saw him and that is what I tired to do. So there I was, leading man in my first stage musical and at the Shaftesbury Theatre in the West End. It was an amazing experience and something that I really enjoyed. I decided that if another theatrical opportunity presented itself it would be something that I would definitely consider. But when “Memphis” came to a close I had decided that it was time to work on a new album and so theatre was shelved and all my efforts were channelled into the creation of “Time to Be Alive” which was released in April 2018. Later that year I joined the West End cast of “Strictly Ballroom” at the Piccadilly theatre in the role of Wally Strand and got to sing many of the show’s standards like Love Is in the Air and Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps. I then got invited to join the cast of Jesus Christ Superstar at London’s Barbican Theatre which opened in 2019 and I played the part of Pontius Pilate. At the end of that run my thoughts turned to developing my fifth album, then we had lockdown and everything slowed down.
Now you’re back in the theatre and for the first time in your stage career you’re not in the West End. How strange is it to be part of this touring production?
It is different for me, but not strange. I enjoy touring. I’m used to touring as a singer with my band and crew – but then it’s one or two nights in a town and then moving on to the next place. With “& Juliet” the company is much larger and the stopovers are for one or two weeks. It very much has the feel of being part of a closely knit team. My greatest respect goes to the members of the technical teams, every venue is so different and the standard staging, sets, lighting and sound has to fit and there is so little time for set-up and rehearsal before the first performance – their achievements are amazing. The other difference between being in this show and performing as a solo artist is the audiences. They are so different, from town to town with the age ranges from 6 to 90s, so unlike when performing an album where the audiences tend to have a very similar profile.
Matt, you’re pretty unique as a performer, you have been the front man in a band, a very successful solo singer and now a recognised leading man in very diverse musicals and you mentioned that you’ve been working on a new album, when can we expect that to be released?
Well the album can’t be released until I’m available to promote it and so as I am coming to the end of my stint in “&Juliet”, the visit to Southampton Mayflower Theatre in November is very close to my departure date which is when the tour pauses for a Christmas break. This will give me time to get ready for my album ‘The Great Escape’ being released on 10th January 2025.
Matt, by January you will have released 5 albums, done 8 concert tours, made 10 videos, been in 4 major musicals and have done an amazing duo with Mel C. What more can we expect and are there any ‘would really love that part’ in the world of theatre that you would like?
Who knows what tomorrow brings, we can wait or we can create. Hopefully there will be more tours, maybe some oversea dates, new albums and maybe further opportunities in musical theatre. There is one role that I would dearly love to play and that is Jean Valjean in Les Miserables, maybe one day I may get the chance.
I think you’d make an ideal Jean Valjean as did Killian Donnelly, someone needs to drop Cameron Mackintosh a clue. I believe we’ve only seen the beginnings of your career and who knows what the future holds – except that it will be even brighter and more diverse than we might even imagine. Thank you Matt for spending the time with me today, can’t wait to hear the album on 10th January, but before then I’ll see you in Southampton.
