Jason Capewell has certainly achieved big things since his primary school days in the Midlands. The Dudley-born actor/director has played a major part in some of the biggest shows ever to tour the UK, including Rock Of Ages, Grease, The Bodyguard and the upcoming Priscilla Queen Of The Desert. Despite this success, Jason remains keen to stay in touch with his amateur theatre roots, and this month directs West Bromwich Operatic Society’s production of Sunset Boulevard. 

What’s On recently caught up with him to talk about his journey so far...

What’s your earliest memory of theatre, Jason?

That would be my primary school pantomime, which was Aladdin. I was about eleven at the time. From that, I got picked to do a BBC TV programme called One By One. It was filmed at Dudley Zoo. They needed local lads to perform and I played a naughty school kid.
Then, when I was thirteen I auditioned with West Brom Operatic Society, who were looking for children to perform in their production of Oliver!. I was successful, so that was my first experience with the company.
I was quite an independent child. At sixteen I decided to go to London, where I studied drama educational studies for three years. My parents were always very encouraging and allowed me to spread my wings. In fact, my dad bought me a suitcase for my sixteenth!

How easy was it to get those first roles after leaving college?

It was a slog. To survive in this profession you have to learn how to cope when you’re not working. If you can do that - and you can also cope with the rejections - then you’re fine and you can survive. Getting older, I decided to diversify - and that’s when the directing kicked it. It’s all about keeping a career going.

Did you have a back-up plan when you were younger or was it all about performing?

I think it was more that I wasn’t good at anything else. I’ve always been artistic, never very academic. My dad has his own building company, so I always thought I could maybe do that if push came to shove. Ironically, now I’m teching with Priscilla and working with a load of technicians getting the show ready for the cast, I’ve found that my dad’s building skills have been very handy.

Was that transition, from performing to working behind the scenes, a conscious decision or something that just evolved?

It was a mixture of the two. It was something I was really interested in, and then a job came up on Grease. They needed someone to look after the show directorially as well as perform in it. That’s when I made the crossover into directing. Now I just solely direct and don’t perform. That was a conscious decision because of having a family. I didn’t want to be performing six days a week up and down the country. Now I can come to a show, put it up and send it on its way, and not be spending a whole week with it, week in and week out.

What’s the first day on a new production like for a director?

We have a lot of pre-production meetings beforehand, looking at how we want the show to be. We sit down with the sound designer, the lighting designer and the set designer. We work out how we want it to look, how we want it to be lit and how we want it to sound. It’s probably about a year and a half before any type of audition takes place. It normally takes three or four weeks assembling a cast. Rehearsals normally take around four weeks. That said, with Priscilla - because it’s been on tour before - we only had a three-week rehearsal period, which is extremely tight.

In Priscilla you’ve got both Jason Donovan and Duncan James playing the role of Tick at different times. How flexible or rigid do you have to be when dealing with two actors who have the potential to bring very different things to the table?

It would probably be easier to go, ‘This is what you need to do and this is when you need to go’ - but you can’t do that with actors, as they all work very differently. Some actors will want to go through a whole process. They want to know the motivation and the reasons behind things, whereas someone like Duncan would probably prefer to be guided a bit more. 

As well as working on the professional tours of Priscilla and The Bodyguard, you’re this month also directing West Brom Operatic Society’s production of Sunset Boulevard. What are the hardest things about wearing two hats simultaneously?

I think in some aspects the amateur performers have a lot more passion, but they also have normal lives, often working in their day jobs until five or six o’clock before whizzing over to rehearsals at night.
What I find tricky is that in the professional world you’re paying a performer to be with you Monday to Saturday, ten ’til six, where sometimes the amateur performers can’t take part in rehearsals because they work late at night. So trying to get my head around not being able to have everybody there can cause a headache. You have to start compromising and thinking outside the box. It’s tricky. But on the flipside, when they do come in, they’re so keen to learn. They get it right and have fun, which is also important. It’s all a really refreshing experience. Some of our professional performers have done the rounds now for ten to fifteen years. It can become a bit of a job for them - which is fair enough, really - but you don’t get that with the amateur performers.

This is the first time that Sunset Boulevard has been staged at the Grand Theatre. Do you consider it quite an ambitious project for the company to undertake?

Yes, I do. It’s a beautiful and luscious show musically but it’s also quite a tricky one, especially for the ensemble. The opening number, Let’s Have Lunch, has got so many complicated rhythms and harmonies. It’s taken a good few months for them to get it. Now that they have, they feel like they’ve really achieved something. With regard to the lead role of Norma, I’ve taken the decision to cast two ladies because it’s such a big role. It’s a big enough thing for a professional, so for our amateurs to do eight solid shows and give one hundred percent was asking too much. So I went with the decision to have two Normas, which I still think is the best way to go.

How do you juggle and allocate time to each of your projects?

That’s the hardest part. It’s very hard to say no to a job opportunity when it’s offered to you because you remember the cold, dark days of working as an actor.

So that insecurity has crossed over to your role behind the scenes?

It stays there always, constantly. My wife tells me I should learn to say no, but it’s hard. You have to say yes so far in advance - and at a time when you have no idea what else is coming up. You look in the diary and haven’t got anything happening, then two jobs will come in at once. Before you know it, you’ve said yes to both. 

You’ve got two high flyers with Priscilla and The Bodyguard. Is there a particular show that you’d really like to direct in the future?

I’ve never really thought about it. I suppose directing a brand new show is an exciting prospect - literally creating it from the words on a page. Maybe a film that’s turned into a musical or, even better, creating a musical out of some kind of story. That would be the ideal thing to do.

Have you ever considered putting pen to paper and writing your own musical?

I’ve always had some interest in doing that, but I know it would take a massive amount of work and a massive amount of brainpower. Sometimes I think that bit has passed me by. I now have a one-year-old daughter, so my time’s at a premium. To do something like that, which may not even get off the ground, is such a big risk.

Do you ever get starstruck?

I do sometimes - funnily enough with someone like Jason Donovan, who I used to watch on Neighbours when I was a kid. But when you meet, you’re like, oh, okay, it’s Jason Donovan. You’re always intrigued to know what people are like when you meet them, but Jason is just charming. He’s the nicest man you could possibly want to work with. It’s always a bonus when that happens.

Have you ever been disappointed when meeting someone?

Yes, but I won’t tell you who! There are always a few people who prove to be hard work. But then there are also people who you’re dreading putting into a show but they just fly and are great. I think what’s great about the business is you never know what the outcome’s going to be until you start working with someone.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned from the productions you’ve put on?

I think growing up as an actor myself - being shouted at by directors and choreographers to the point that you’re too fearful to relax - has taught me as a director that I have to be very patient. I need to learn about each actor and understand how they work.

What makes you most proud about being a Midlander?

It’s the people. Every time we come to the Midlands the audiences are so much fun. There’s something nice about the familiarity when, as a director, I sit in the auditorium taking notes and listening to the people around me talking exactly how I talk.