Review: John Barrowman at the Victoria Theatre, Halifax

John Barrowman is 'Laid Bare'John Barrowman is 'Laid Bare'
John Barrowman is 'Laid Bare'
John Barrowman is an entertainer extraordinaire.

He is versatile, engaging and very talented - singing, dancing, acting, writing, presenting and judging.

Barrowman has starred in dozens of West End shows over a 20-year period notching up 21 leading roles. He’s also made countless recordings - 10 of them as a solo artist.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

During two hours of singing, chatting and cavorting around on stage he wowed his ‘fan family’ at Halifax’s Victoria Theatre on Tuesday night.

I must admit, rather shamefacedly, to not hearing John Barrowman sing before. I only know him from his time playing Captain Jack Harkness in Doctor Who in 2005 and then Torchwood from 2006-2011 so it was good to see a different side to him.

Opening with a rousing rendition of When I Get My Name in Lights from the musical The Boy from OZ, he performed numbers from his albums and his many theatrical performances.

All were beautifully delivered but a few really stood out: Corner of the Sky from the Stephen Schwartz musical Pippin (and incidentally Barrowman’s go-to song when he still had to audition for roles); Cole Porter’s I Get a Kick out of You; Don’t Cry Out Loud, which charted for Elkie Brooks 46 years ago and the Andy Williams hit Can’t Take My Eyes Off You which had the audience singing along.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Barrowman said at the beginning of the show: “We’re going to talk about music, we're going to talk about laughter, we’re going to talk about celebration and a look back at my career.” And we did.

Interspersed with the music were revelations and anecdotes about his life and loves.

Many, if not all, were self-deprecating and at times cringeworthy but they nevertheless served to give an insight into the private man and the professional entertainer.

A long-running tale about his visit to the discount store Home Bargains in Halifax had the audience in stitches. Occasionally his gags and anecdotes might have been a bit near to the knuckle but he never resorted to profanities – it was all good clean fun and all the better for it.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He called this tour Laid Bare and anyone who has followed his meteoric fall from grace in 2021 will understand the irony.

Barrowman devotes a segment of his show to the allegations which caused the furore. He sits down with a sheet of paper and, after saying: “Some of you may know, some of you may not. The last few years have been a bit shitty for me’, he reads a prepared statement detailing the horror of that time and how, with the support of his family and his husband Scott, he came out of the other side.

After thanking the people of Halifax profusely for allowing him to come and entertain them he finished off with Don’t Rain on My Parade from Funny Girl, a song associated with Barbra Streisand from the 1968 film of the same name.

For his encore he performed I am What I Am from La Cage aux Folles to rapturous applause and a standing ovation.

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.

Leeds news you can trust since 1890
Follow us
©National World Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.Cookie SettingsTerms and ConditionsPrivacy notice