Page 14 - Phonebox Magazine October 2016

The Buzz
What’s on in your area this October?
best he can be and passes on that advice to others that aspire to be in the industry “Be the best you can be, if you can play an instrument, sing, dance – practise, practise, practise! It’s a tough industry and there will always be someone else out there that wants your part, put in the work so that you’re the one that stands out”.
We asked Gareth to describe to us a day in the life of Gareth Gates – how does that look? He starts his day bright and early, works on his Cuppanut business and sets his team up for the day. He would usually then head off to the gym around midday followed by a healthy lunch, ‘There’s a part in the show where I am stripped down to hotpants! So it’s really important to stay in shape’. If he’s around London, he’ll spend the afternoon with his daughter before heading off to the theatre for pre show warm ups around 6pm. After the show, he makes it home for a good night’s sleep around 11pm. He tells us he has no time for relaxing and he certainly sounds like a very busy man!
Finally, we wanted to know a couple of random facts about our busy talented friend. In another life – what would he be? Well, he’s been closely involved with the design and development aspect of his coconut tea, is really interested in art and design and so he would see himself in creative media and graphic design. And Phonebox’s favourite question to our stars: what track would he take with him to a desert island? “I’m a big dreamer and have lots of ideas so a particularly inspirational song for me would be ‘Yesterday’ by The Beatles – I saw an interview with Paul McCartney on TV where he said how the song had come to him in a dream and when he woke up he had to write it and bring it to life”. Good choice Gareth! Gareth is starring in Footloose: The Musical from 17th to 22nd October at Milton Keynes Theatre – you can book tickets online at atgtickets.com/miltonkeynes.
Big Fun Run!
After the success of the Big Fun Run Series last year, the events are set to be bigger and better than ever! Whether you’re running for tness, charity or just for fun, the Big Fun Run happening on 16th October promises to be a fantastic event. It’s all about getting involved, having fun, and enjoying the whole experience of the day with your friends and family!
Last year, over £200,000 was raised for charity and the series is supported by hundreds of charities countrywide. Booking is required; see bigfunrun.com/milton-keynes for more information (free entry for children under 5 years of age).
Gareth Gates talks Footloose, RCoconut Tea and Hot Pants!
ecently, we had the fantastic opportunity to chat to noughties pop sensation Gareth Gates, who is currently touring the UK with the
worldwide smash hit musical – Footloose: The Musical. He stars as Willard, Ren’s humorous friend and absolutely loves it! Having started in January, the show arrives at its nal destination in Milton Keynes Theatre this month and from what we hear, it’s not one to be missed with a full cast of brilliant talent and the show being greatly received by audiences across the country.
The musical is closely based on the original story from the 1984 classic starring Kevin Bacon, so if you (like us), love to kick off those Sunday shoes, then you should head on over to watch this stage production. Gareth tells us this is his rst comedy role in his seven years on stage which is a great, rewarding experience and he adores how it gets the laughs every night.
Gareth explained that the wonderful thing about this show is it’s an actor-musician show, which means the actors are singing and playing their own instruments at the same time. It shows off their skills and talent as well as the hard work and dedication that goes into learning and performing a role with so much multi-tasking.
Gareth, originally from Bradford, rst came to Milton Keynes around ve years ago when he performed in the Christmas Panto, Aladdin. He loves the city and believes MK theatre is a fantastic venue. “It’s a fabulous place to work in with great atmosphere and I’m really looking forward to coming back”.
Does he get nervous performing on stage? “You certainly get pre show nerves but after performing a role for so long (around 250 so far!) it becomes second nature”. He sounds like a natural.
Gareth tells us the tour is going really well, there’s not much time for practice, but they get ve or six weeks at the start to rehearse the role and then the show runs itself from there – they like to change things up a bit now and again to keep things fresh for the audiences.
We wanted to know what’s next on the agenda – are there any more plans or projects he can tell us about? “I’m jumping straight into my
14 Phonebox Magazine | October 2016
next panto when the Footloose tour nishes”. This year, Gareth will be performing as Prince Charming in Belfast. “Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without Panto!” – he’s right there – and his daughter Missy loves to see him perform.
The runner up to the 2001 Pop Idol series that aired on ITV1, who went on to sell 5 million records worldwide, tells us all about his latest business venture – in coconut tea! It’s called Cuppanut and sounds tasty, combining various flavours with natural coconut to create the delicious infusion found exclusively in Holland & Barret stores. Gareth lives a very healthy lifestyle and his continued desire to be t and healthy mixed with his love of coconut, gave birth to Cuppanut.
We asked Gareth to tell us more about his career highlights. Of course those catchy number ones from the early 2000s are his biggest highlight, but it was dif cult to be speci c, “I really enjoy the world of musical theatre and I’m so happy with the musical career that I’ve developed for myself”. He was also thrilled to be a part of the 25th anniversary tour of Les Miserables as Marius back in 2009.
At a young age, Gareth had always aspired to be a popstar and he idolised superstars such as Michael Jackson and Elvis. He’s met a lot of inspirational people throughout his career including when he worked closely with George Michael when they were both recording in the same studio.
Gareth is a rm believer in a strong work ethic – if you put the work in, you’ll get results. He’s always been advised to work hard and be the