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London’s West End, Theater Land.
The place of music, and lights, and applause,
and the smell of the greasepaint, to the roar of the crowd.
And it’s a place in this one square mile
where dreams are taken and created.
One day back in 1989, here at the Prince Edward Theatre,
a young 22-year old unknown actor
arrived and his dreams came true.
A bit like the plots of the musicals that he’s so famous for.
The young man just starting out on his career that day
has now become a staple of our television screens.
He is of course the entertainer John Barrowman.
He walks into a room
and he demands attention without doing a single thing.
All I saw were teeth,
and this very tall good-looking young man,
and this broad Glaswegian accent.
He had something,
he just had something special about him.
A man now equally comfortable as West End star, quiz show host...
If you don’t know this, you’re an idiot!
... warrior of small animals,
friend to aliens,
talent show judge,
and sometimes companion to the world most famous time traveller.
Hope I’m not interrupting. Jack Harkness, I’ve been hearing all about you.
He knows. I had to tell him about us being Time Agents.
And it’s a real pleasure to meet you Mr Spock.
He’s always been one hundred per cent confident about his chosen career.
John was firmly convinced that he did not need a plan B.
He lives to work.
It’s a huge thing for him to be busy busy busy all the time.
You want him to sing, he’ll sing, he can dance, he can act, he can do it all.
He’s famously straight talking,
what you see is what you get,
and he’s not afraid to fight for what he believes in.
These people who claim to be Christians
are telling these young men and women that they’re wrong
that they’re evil, that they shouldn’t love,
that they were not made this way.
How dare you?
He is a man of faith,
but with an antipathy towards what he sees
as the traditional teachings of the Church.
I’m living proof I’m born and made this way.
I won't let anyone tell me that I am wrong, bad or evil.
And behind the showbiz veneer,
is a man who absolutely believes in practising what he preaches.
'Love you.
Two men, as two women,
and as a man and a woman,
can have a loving relationship and make a commitment.
And that's what marriage is about.
And despite encountering prejudice
he still has a great energy and appetite for life.
He's a bit like Tigger. Bounces around a lot.
He's such a positive person, and it's infectious.
I'm fascinated and want to know more about John Barrowman.
That young man who waltzed into the Prince Edward Theatre all those years ago,
with dreams in his heart and fame at his fingertips.
And I want to find out what created this exuberant and energetic performer,
and the faith which underpins his zest for life.
How would you describe yourself nowadays, Mr Barrowman?
Uhm… I think I have to…
Part of me says I should say what I always say,
part of me thinks: “Do I wanna change it?”
No, I want to keep calling myself an entertainer.
And that's...
what I've always considered myself,
that's what I think people expect from me,
whether it's on stage,
hosting a morning show with someone,
or doing a book or an album;
whatever it may be,
my main objective in the project and who I am is an entertainer.
And I expect people to be entertained by what I do.
- That's it in a nutshell. - That's it in a nutshell. Ok.
He's an incredible singer, a wonderful dancer
and a wonderful actor.
He's a smashing presenter because he's great with people.
Here we go…
It's not work to John.
Chocamocafrappa!
- John, are we ready? - No I'm not ready yet. Just a minute.
Now I'm ready.
He's just your regular guy, with a big heart. He loves what he does.
Actually, I am John Barrowman.
I'm from BBC1’s Tonight’s the Night, and I'm going to make your dream come true.
This is all a big setup. You are the star of this show. Not me.
It seems this man clearly destined for show business
had Hollywood in his veins.
But despite the accent,
John was in fact born in Mount Vernon,
a middle-class suburb of Glasgow.
The youngest of three, born to parents Marion and John Barrowman Senior,
his arrival in 1967 was hardly greeted with joy by his siblings.
I was eight when he was born,
and you know I thought I ruled the roost.
And suddenly, here is this little baby that is just adorable and cute,
but he cried all the time.
In retrospect, he probably had colic or something,
or he was starting his obnoxiousness early in life.
Were you attention seeking as a baby? Crying a lot? Noisy?
Someone told you this?
Well it was mentioned.
Yeah, I was not a quiet baby,
and I only know this by what I've been told.
I thought I'd have been an angel.
But my brother and sister, I think, when I was a child, hated me.
My mum and dad would send them up sometimes just to rub my ears,
to do that, or just to do that with their fingers,
and I would eventually fall asleep.
But I love that. You do that to me now, I’m out like a light.
I learnt that I really liked it, so I'd sit up for hours and just let them,
And if they stopped, I would… start crying.
And my dad walked into the living room one day,
with John in a paper bag,
and said, in his Scottish accent of course,
"If you two don't decide that you like this baby,
your Mum and I are getting rid of him.
We are just going to put him in the rubbish."
And so they headed out -
I was 8, my other brother was about 5 -
and of course we looked at each other and thought
" oh well, maybe he’s not so bad after all."
Thanks to the Barrowmans' distinctive sense of humour,
John was allowed to stick around.
Whilst his father was a manager at the local heavy machinery company
it was his mother's job, in a record shop,
that had a particular influence on this future career.
I used to come down after school,
customers would come in, I'd stand on the counter,
and I'd sing the top 5 or 10 chart hits or whatever,
it was just the norm for the record store.
- So, not a precautious child. - Not at all.
But I always wanted to sing Lena Zavaroni’s songs.
I would sing “Ma! He’s making eyes at me”
I should've known then.
Actually, my parents were like the total hip 70s entertaining couple.
They used to have big parties,
with colleagues and business partners from Europe...
They'd come in and again: “Go on John, get up and give us a song."
I'd grab a double-ended shot-measuring thing, and it was my microphone,
and I’d get up and I'd sing… You didn't have to ask me twice…
I'd get up and sing.
- You haven't changed. - No. I might pretend.
- Oh surely not all of it! - Nooo! Yeah, no problem!
Everyone would say “Can you bring wee John down and have him give us a song?”
They never said “Bring Carole and have her do a reading from Shakespeare.”
But John’s performing tendencies weren't so appreciated by his teachers.
So I'm sitting, doing some work
and I must have been singing or humming,
probably the most current Lena Zavaroni tune,
or something I saw on television.
She came up to the back of my head and she just started:
“Stop that. Stop that humming. Do your work”
I went away and told my Gran:
“I’ve been hit at school, they hit me at the back of the head."
“Who hit you at the back of the head?”
“Teacher hit me at the back of the head”
"“Right, ok, going down to the record shop, to see your Mum."
So I was in school the next day,
and I’m sitting at the desk, doing my stuff,
the teacher’s walking up and down...
And all of a sudden, you hear at the door… a knock.
I don’t remember the teacher’s name, but let’s call her Mrs Johnson.
And this older lady, steps in... My Gran...
She had on her jacket, all buttoned up, a scarf,
it must have been height of summer...
She had her turban on, she had a handbag...
across like that, it was like a Les Dawson sketch.
but that was how women like that dressed back then. She walked in, she said:
“You Mrs Johnson?”
And Mrs Johnson went “Yes”.
And she just marched to the front of the room,
and she went “Don't you ever hit my grandson on the back of the head.
See you later, son." Walked out...
And Mrs Johnson was startled!
And everybody just looked at me.
I was like “Oh my God” but inside I was going “Yesss!”
The great defender was his grandmother, Murn,
a lady who'd play an important role in shaping John’s attitude in later life.
The one thing that would send John over the edge, even in public,
is if he sees somebody being rude, mean or disrespectful to an elderly person.
Definitely that relationship has been a defining one, I think, in his life.
His family is everything to him.
He’d be the first person to say if someone said something untrue,
or was upsetting him or somebody that he cared for or loved,
he’d be the first one there.
He’s got a cheeky persona, he knows how to laugh and to enjoy life.
I think that stems from somewhere a lot deeper.
And that’s because he’s really close to his family.
That is apparent immediately.
The Barrowmans’ family values had their roots in church,
which the whole family attended every Sunday.
My Mum and Dad always went to church, and they took us to church.
I grew up in a church.
My love of music, I have to give credit to the church for that,
because I first started watching my Mum singing in the church choir.
And then, when I was old enough and realized I had a voice,
I was singing in the church choir.
And to hear a group of people singing together, in that context,
is one of the most beautiful things.
And I still listen to that music nowadays.
So, you say you are not an avid church goer or Bible reader,
I don’t go to church.
And yet, the faith you have is basically Christian.
Do you believe in Jesus? God? The Afterlife?
I believe there’s a higher power.
I don’t know if that is a God, or a… I don’t know if that’s a person.
Or an energy...
It’s an energy or an entity.
But if I were to say if I’m a Christian,
yes I am, because I’m a good person.
And that's my idea of Christianity.
I think everybody should have a faith,
but I am not sure faith is always taught to you by somebody else,
or you're told how to have a faith.
I think spirituality and faith come from your own morals and beliefs,
your own growth as a human being.
And if that is Christianity, then yes I’m a Christian.