Oliver Watton is currently starring as Jason in Ordinary Days at the London Theatre Workshop, a new fringe venue in Fulham.
Ordinary Days had its London premiere in 2008 at the Finborough Theatre, and was later presented at Trafalgar Studios 2 in 2011. The musical is set in New York City and follows the lives of four characters – Claire, Jason, Warren and Deb - who find themselves connecting with each other in remarkable ways. This new production is directed by Artistic Director of London Theatre Workshop, Ray Rackham.
Oliver recently finished a two year run understudying Fiyero in the West End production of Wicked. Just a few of his extensive theatre credits include: Godspell's 40th Anniversary Concert (Manchester Palace), Rolf Gruber in The Sound of
Music (Plenary Hall Kuala Lumpur) and the UK Tours of Kes, The Witches Of
Eastwick and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. His screen credits include playing Olly Larkin in Hollyoaks.
I recently caught up with Oliver to discuss what attracted him to Ordinary Days, how he's finding his first experience of fringe theatre, his time in Wicked and which three songs he would take with him to a desert island...
How has your Ordinary Days experience been so far?
Really good, I’ve never done a fringe show before so it’s been very exciting and different. It’s nice to be creating something as a team from scratch and this production is opening a new venue in Fulham. The whole venue has had a refurb and the pub downstairs is really stylish. It’s a boutique theatre and a really nice space to work in.
Did you know anything about Ordinary Days before the part came up?
No, I had never heard of it actually. When I was suggested for the role I downloaded the album and it’s really beautiful music. It’s just one act and mostly sung through, with the odd line. It’s modern, contemporary musical theatre and the writing is sort of based on speech rhythms. The composer, Adam Gwon, has been very supportive. It’s a really lovely piece.
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| Oliver in Ordinary Days |
And it’s one of these shows about four people who have stories which intertwine and link up, isn’t it?
Yes, there are only four of us in it and it’s about their lives in New York, how their busy lives connect and how they’re struggling to connect with each other. There are two stories and eventually they connect in a really beautiful way. It’s been interesting seeing the show come together; the music was quite difficult to learn but Tom (Lees) the Musical Director has been great. It’s a really different style to Wicked and we’ve only had a small space of time!
Going from a huge West End theatre to a tiny fringe venue is a huge change. How are you feeling about performing in such an intimate space?
As you know the Apollo is massive! When you’re on that stage, which is a relatively small stage for the size of the auditorium, you feel quite far away from the audience. This is going to be completely different, but I like the idea of being able to see the subtleties in the acting. It’s about finding the right balance because in such a small space you don’t want to be too big with your expressions or movement – it’s almost like TV or film performance, although not quite as small as that.
What are the cast like to work with? What has the vibe been like in the rehearsal room?
Everyone is really nice. Marcia, Olga and Anton have all worked with Ray (Rackham) the director before and all knew each other already, so I’m the newbie. They’ve been so welcoming and we're like a little family. Everyone pitches in and we’re all helping out. Because we’re the first show we’ve been able to rehearse in the venue, and when we started out the room was just a room and it’s been slowly developing around us – the tiered seating has gone in, the back wall gone up, and so on. It’s been really nice to watch it grow around us like that, when something gradually changes you don’t notice it as much but when I think back to the dusty room it was when I first got there it’s cool to think about it now, ready with the set and lights.
What can somebody who knows nothing about Ordinary Days expect from the show?
I think it’s quite a heart-warming show. It’s also very funny and one of those shows that will make you reflect about your life and things that have maybe happened to you, it’s quite a hopeful piece. There are sad moments but it will leave you feeling content and happy.
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| Oliver in Ordinary Days |
You recently finished a two year run in Wicked, what’s it like looking back on your time in the show?
I absolutely loved it! It’s just a brilliant show and it felt so amazing to be in it and to be in something of that scale with all the effects and costumes. The support of the audience and fans was incredible and everybody in it was lovely. It was one of the best experiences of my life! It was hard to leave, but if you don’t leave you can’t do other things. I have fond memories!
Imagine you had to go to a desert island and could only take three musical theatre songs with you… which three would you take?
Erm… [laughs] this is hard! I don’t want to embarrass myself! I usually prefer musical theatre duets instead of solos – I don’t know why! I really love ‘Take Me to the World’ from Evening Primrose; it’s a real big duet. I was introduced to it by someone else and love it! My next one is really stagey and my mates are going to laugh at me... it’s 'Just Arrived' from Copacabana. It's a proper big cheesy musical theatre number! It makes me smile [laughs]! It’s one of those songs which really builds, there’s lots of different people singing on different parts of the stage and it builds until they’re all singing over each other to a big finish. My last one is ‘Carrying the Banner’ from Newsies which I’ve loved for years, before it was even a stage musical.
What was the last show you saw?
The Phantom of the Opera, it’s one of the shows I’ve seen the most – I really love it. I love big, traditional musicals.
What are your other favourite shows?
Miss Saigon! I like most things but I do really enjoy seeing an epic show. I don’t really know what makes something epic? I guess the scale of it and a big story so you feel like you’re getting your money’s worth. It’s escapism.
When you’re in a big show like Wicked there’s so much support behind you, and then those people will continue to follow your career. What is it like having that kind of support behind you?
I never really experienced any of that until Twitter came along… and then Wicked came along. People have been so supportive and so vocal; every time I went on as Fiyero the comments were so lovely. When you do a performance sometimes you might be thinking ‘that wasn’t my best’ and then you get a few Tweets saying ‘you were brilliant’. It’s nice because you think ‘maybe it wasn’t so bad after all!’ Everyone has those kinds of doubts so it’s amazing to have that kind of support.
Interviewed by Andrew Tomlins (Editor)
Ordinary Days runs at the London Theatre Workshop (65 New Kings Road, London SW6 4SG) until Saturday 29th March 2014. Please visit www.londontheatreworkshop.co.uk for further information and tickets.
Visit Oliver's website: www.oliverwatton.co.uk.
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