United Kingdom John Barrowman – Camp as Christmas: Towngate Theatre, Basildon, Essex, 9.11.2025. (JPr)
As I have written before, I have seen and heard John Barrowman several times since he was in Anything Goes in 1989; subsequently there was Miss Saigon (1990), Matador (1991) and Sunset Boulevard (1994). Those were just the musicals and there were other concerts – the Henley Festival in 2009 for instance – and personal appearances at conventions along the way. When I saw his Laid Bare tour (review here) John revealed how in 10 years there were actually 21 leading male roles in musicals, so it is exciting how his 2026 tour is titled My Life in Musicals. I will stick with what I wrote the first time I reviewed John in 2009 and then repeated last year: ‘On TV John Barrowman’s personality can be over-bright in toothy smile and charm but that should not deflect from what a fine singer he is … He has a wonderful way with the words of a song and gives everything he sings the respect it deserves.’
Returning to Basildon this year with his new Camp as Christmas show this held true whether it was – or was not – a Christmas song he was singing. Once again in the fairly intimate setting this was another wonderfully joyful, cabaret-style evening with laughter and song, and not a little dancing (as John often moved across the stage with the undimmed energy of the Duracell Bunny). Three hours (with only a short interval) didn’t seem a minute too long and as it ended with John’s signature ‘I Am What I Am’ (from La Cage aux Folles) the packed Basildon audience were on their feet, acclaiming what they had seen and certainly not because they were eager to leave! With lines like ‘I am my own special creation’ / ‘And so what if I love each sparkle and each bangle?’ / ‘And what I am needs no excuses’, the song could have been written for him.
All-round entertainers like John Barrowman are a dying breed, someone who firstly, can tell a story in song and convey a range of emotions through music, and secondly, is a great comic too. John – once again – had everyone laughing with his anecdotes and engaging quick-witted repartee with audience members, his partner-in-crime, super-talented pianist (and musical director) Ben Papworth, as well as life partner, husband Scott Gill. Thankfully the very youngest ears won’t understand John’s more risqué quips, so nobody will come away from Camp as Christmas offended by anything. Again, for this tour there is a Q&A section in the second half where audience members can submit their questions using a QR code. (You had to be there when John was asked, hypothetically, if he could get away with it what celebrity would he choose to run over if he was driving a car.) Significantly too, there were a few tears along the way.
The set is a simple one with basically three Christmas trees, four banks of lights, some large soft toys and other Christmas gifts, the virtuosic Ben at his piano (helped by some judicious backing tracks) and a large screen showing a snowy scene or frequently funny videos, as well as personal photos, featuring John and Scott’s family, friends, dogs, Dr Who memorabilia or Lego models.
John bounded on to the stage in the first of a series of glittery outfits to the first of several Christmas classics, ‘It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year’, before telling us ‘I want you to be stupid, outrageous and camp’. Then we heard about John and Scott’s trip to a Tesco Extra in an ‘interesting’ part of Basildon which set the tone for some of the tales we would subsequently hear. John was happy to admit some of the transitions from his stories into the songs were ‘not so good’ and later seasonal numbers were ‘My Grown-up Christmas List’, ‘Have Yourself a Very Merry Little Christmas’, ‘When a Child is Born’, ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’ and ‘Silent Night’. Other mostly upbeat numbers exuberantly sung were ‘Blame It on the Boogie’, ‘What Was I Made For?’ (from the Barbie film), ‘Save the Last Dance for Me’, ‘The Candy Man’ (from the Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory film), ‘Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)’ with Scott reliving how he got the money for their trip to Savannah one time from an amateur strip night (don’t ask!), ‘Time After Time’, as well as ‘Love Is in the Air’.
We learnt a lot about John’s upbringing and his love of celebrating Christmas with family and friends including seeing his home with Scott decorated with its 13 Christmas trees. I particularly appreciated the heartfelt tributes there were to, firstly, his former band director at High School and his choir director at church. As his tribute to their help at the start of his career he sang a reflective mash-up of ‘Be Thou My Vison’ with ‘Away in a Manger’. Secondly there were memories of Scott’s sister, Sandy, who had lost her battle with cancer 20 years ago and his mother who had died only about 2½ weeks before the current tour which is proving ‘A little bit of a blessing in disguise to take our minds of things’. For them John movingly sang Joni Mitchell’s ‘River’ and only the hardest of hearts would fail to feel their eyes moisten.
Another highlight was that there had been a social media competition #singwithBarrowman to find ‘some local area talent’ and we were introduced to 15-year-old Phoebe Croft from Basildon itself – who professed to wanting to be an opera singer. Phoebe revealed her delightfully promising singing voice in ‘Once Upon a December’ (from the film Anatasia) and a confident duet of ‘A Thousand Years’ with John.
In a greeting in the colourful souvenir brochure John concludes how he created the show ‘to share my holiday tradition of stories, songs, and panto bits with all of you, my fan family. Oh yes, I did! I hope you have a fabulous time.’
We certainly did and you will too!
Jim Pritchard
For more about John Barrowman – Camp as Christmas and My Life in Musicals tours click here.
Creatives:
Musical director – Ben Papworth
Music arrangements – Mathew Brind and Brian MacDonald
Sound and Projection manager – Dickson Cossar
Lighting design – Dan Taylor
Sound team – Ellis Griffiths, Jeremy Cooper, Rich Holden