Jonathan Roxmouth has the preternaturally chiselled jaw and streamlined features of a “born to be a star” leading man.
His voice is mesmerising in the manner of a man used to applying it to maximum effect — like the well-tuned instrument it clearly is. Every word rings with clarity and intent. Which is quite something to experience when you are sitting in the cool white interior of Plato Coffee on Malibongwe Drive nursing your morning cappuccino and a croissant.
We had to carve out this interlude before the morning rehearsals for his first show back in South Africa after several years overseas — My Favourite Broadway — and before he departs for Cape Town to go into rehearsals for Chicago. I picked Plato for obvious reasons — it had to be somewhere close to Montecasino for the rehearsal, and I love a spot of philosophical musing with my almond milk.
Jonathan is outrageously prolific — name a musical, any musical, and he has starred in it, locally and on tour around the world. He tells me we are not far from the birthplace of his career. He was born and raised in Randburg and went to Northcliff High because — you guessed it — they put on a huge musical every year on a practically professional level.
“We had a principal who said that if the rugby boys can go on tour, so should the drama boys. So even to this day, every single year, the drama department rents the Playhouse theatre in Durban for a week. So I did that five times from grade 8 all the way through to matric. So by the time I finished high school, I had five professional shows under my belt — in inverted commas.”
While he was writing his matric finals he auditioned for a production of Grease. “They wanted slightly more age-appropriate characters and Ian von Memerty was directing that production. That was the first milestone for me because he became a mentor.”
The second lucky break was meeting Pieter Toerien on his next show, A Handful of Keys.
“Ian taught me the show and Pieter taught me the business. Between the two of them they taught me and mentored me. What most kids get in high school and university over five years, I got in the space of about four months. Between those two gentlemen, I realised that not only did I want to work in the theatre, but there actually might be a space for me in the theatre. And from there to here, I’ve done my own shows. I’ve done my own musicals, as well as being in musicals. They both encouraged me over time to always surprise with the next project, never do the same thing twice. So it’s been amazing, but it still comes down to that old-fashioned thing: the harder you work, the luckier you get.”
The defining role that amplified his talent and skill is without doubt Phantom of the Opera, which took him all over the world.
“You know, I sort of have a phrase: BP and AP, before Phantom and after Phantom, because up until Phantom I was doing comic roles, like in Beauty the Beast. And you do Phantom and you’re suddenly a real actor, you are legit.
“Suddenly, in the audience’s eyes, I became an actor, not just a singer any more. And if you look at anybody who’s played that role, that’s the way it is.”
Finding his own voice and realising the audience would follow him was a liberating moment. “About two years ago I did a piano show called Key Change, where I was just being myself. I had a five-piece band and I basically told my story as a show, and I didn’t have to act. Usually, at the end of a show, people clap for me and tell me how well I pretended. But I was just myself, and I got the same response, so it was quite rewarding, amazing to me, and so this show with my favourite hits does both.”
He believes musicals allow us to access deeper emotions than the mere spoken word.
“I think for an audience in 2025, to go and watch a play about something serious is a bit of a downer for them, because there’s no escape. But you can have the most dramatic musical in the world with the saddest songs, and because it’s a song people listen differently.
Suddenly, in the audience’s eyes, I became an actor, not just a singer any more. And if you look at anybody who’s played that role, that’s the way it is.
— Jonathan Roxmouth
“The point of singing in the theatre is to take it to the next level emotionally. Words aren’t enough any more. I have to sing about it because that’s how deeply I feel it, which tells me musicals come from deeper inside you than spoken words. So no wonder musicals relate to the audience better, because it’s about connection. Smartphones are not going to sing for you.”
He says that if he had not pursued musical theatre he would have studied law at Wits, prompted by his mother’s appreciation for his gift of the gab and his childhood love for LA Law and Boston Legal.
He jokes that performing in Chicago, which will run until September in Cape Town and then in Joburg, will be the first time his mother’s aspirations for him will coincide with his theatrical career on stage.
I am taking to heart his advice to aspirant musical thespians who dream of the stage: “Dreams are what you do when you’re asleep. Get a goal. You do that when you’re awake.”
This article was first published in the Sunday Times.
