Big Interview: Nathan Amzi (Part 1)

Nathan Amzi was recently seen competing on the current series of BBC1’s The Voice. He wowed the Kaiser Chiefs’ Ricky Wilson at his blind audition and went on to compete in the battle rounds, impressing the nation with an epic rendition of ‘The Power Of Love’ alongside Christina Marie, which was broadcast last weekend. Despite losing the battle, the performance has been described as the battle of the night with many bowled over by Nathan’s epic vocal talents.

Nathan was most recently in the original West End production of Rock Of Ages which premiered at the Shaftesbury Theatre before transferring to the Garrick. Prior to Rock Of Ages Nathan performed two seasons at Shakespeare's Globe in The Merry Wives of Windsor including touring to LA, New York and around the UK. 

His other theatre credits include: Eddie/Dr Scott in The Rocky Horror Show (West End/Tour), Wolf in Hansel & Gretel (Theatre Royal Stratford), Roy Rustin in Alan Ayckbourn’s A Small Family Business (Watford Palace) and Miss Saigon (UK Tour). Nathan is also a respected producer (Amzi Entertainment), recently producing Scott Alan’s acclaimed concert at The IndigO2. 

In part one of my interview with Nathan we discuss the huge response to his appearance on The Voice, the stereotype surrounding musical theatre performers on reality programmes and what was going through his head before, during and after that epic battle…

You have received such an overwhelming response following your time on The Voice, have you had a moment to take it all in yet?

No, it has been absolutely mental! On Saturday night I had something like 700 mentions on Twitter in one go – it crashes your phone [laughs]! Facebook went mental, but the thing that was nice for me was that the theatre audiences, who have stood by me through all the shows I’ve been in, were prolifically Tweeting – even WhatsOnStage said ‘@TheAmzi did the West End proud’, you wrote something and so did @WestEndProducer. It’s hard when you go on a show like The Voice because being in theatre can be a hindrance – people can think things like ‘if he was good in the West End he would still be there’. 

Big Interview: Leanne Jones

Next month Leanne Jones will reprise her performance in Molly Wobbly’s Tit Factory which receives a concert staging at the Phoenix Artist Club between Saturday 8th and Wednesday 19th March 2014.

Leanne previously starred in the world premiere of Paul Boyd's musical at the Lyric Theatre Belfast and subsequent season at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2012. It was originally planned for Boyd's musical to receive its London première at the Hackney Empire last September. However, the run was cancelled last minute when an investor pulled out.

Leanne won Best Actress in a Musical at the Olivier Awards in 2008 for her portrayal of Tracy Turnblad in the West End premiere of Hairspray at the Shaftesbury Theatre. 

Her theatre credits also include: Saucy Jack and The Space Vixens (Leicester Square Theatre), The Sunny Side Of The Street (Jermyn Street Theatre), Bedroom Farce (New Wolsey Theatre), You're A Good Man Charlie Brown (Tabard Theatre) and Tick Tick Boom (Union Theatre). She was recently seen auditioning for will.i.am, Kylie Minogue, Sir Tom Jones and Ricky Wilson on BBC1 talent show The Voice.

I recently spoke to Leanne about her return to Molly Wobbly, what people can expect from the show and why she thinks it has the potential to become a cult classic as well as the incredible response she received after performing on The Voice, why auditioning for the talent show was an interesting experience, Hairspray and the highs and lows of her career…

What made you want to return to Molly Wobbly?

Timing, and wanting to support the project massively. I was doing Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens last summer and it was really weird because they were flyering outside our show and then a day or two later it all went tits up – pardon the pun - and I felt really sad for them, especially my friends in the cast and Paul – it was devastating for them. So when I heard it was coming back and they were doing this concert version I was like “if I can make it work I’ll be there”.