JON ROBYNS, Manchester (United Kingdom) 1982

His professional debut was in 2004 when he joined the UK touring company of MISS SAIGON understudying the role Chris and playing the part on many occasions.

Other theatre credits include the role of Mark Cohen in RENT with the English Theatre Frankfurt, Germany. In 2006 he joined the original London cast of a new West End musical AVENUE Q playing the duel puppet parts of Princeton and Rod. 2008 saw Jon complete a run in CINDERELLA at the Cliffs pavilion in Southend-on-Sea, playing Dandini the prince´s servant, and open a new work by Adam Long - DICKENS UNPLUGGED at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford. He also has performed as a featured soloist in CHESS IN CONCERT at the Royal Albert Hall in spring 2008. After this, he played Marius in the original London production of LES MISÉRABLES at the Queen´s Theatre.

Currently he is performing Enjolras in the 25th Anniversary International Tour of LES MISÉRABLES.


- The first musical you saw and/or most impressed you: The first West End musical that I saw was LES MISERABLES, while it was at the Palace Theatre. It was my mum’s 40th and she’d been looking forward to it for about 6 months. So I think of that whenever I go on now “it’s probably someone’s big treat and they’ve been looking forward to it, so give it all you’ve got”.

-You would like to make a duet with: … singing the song: … That’s a hard one. I’ve been lucky enough to work with some amazing people already. When I went back to do AVENUE Q for the opening at the Gielgud, I got to sing with Julie Atherton again and while rehearsing I thought “god, I’ve missed this”. I guess I don’t really aspire to sing with anyone I haven’t met. I enjoy singing friends most. Drew Sarich is my buddy and I love singing with him because everything about how he approaches his work is inspiring. The same with Nancy Sullivan, who was (and always will be) my Eponine.
And sing a song of my choice? Depends on the circumstances. I’d love to have a go at some of the massive standards with a huge orchestra. “Anthem”, “Heaven on their Minds”, “Being Alive”, “Johanna” I think all come into their own when done on that sort of scale.

- Webber o Sondheim? Definitely Sondheim. Got nothing against “The Lord” but I feel Sondheim really gets what’s going on with the actor and character while they have to express through song. I played Sweeney in my last year at college and when you start to dissect his scores, the genius begins to shine through and you find yourself almost laughing at how brilliant he is.

- London or New York? Another tough one. My wife and I love going to New York, we’ve got friends there and the vibe is so tangible. I’d love to live and work there for a time (what actor wouldn’t!?). I also love working in the West end. I feel like we’re at the start of a very exciting time in London now there’s an infrastructure for new writing with projects like Perfect Pitch and performers and money men are beginning to invest their time and money in new work.

- Do you keep the programmes of the musicals you watch? Funnily enough, I do. We were clearing out some stuff when we moved house and I found the programme from the LES MIS trip we took for my mum’s birthday. It had John Owen-Jones in it playing “Grantaire”. I took it into work to show him and all he said was “Yeah, good looking wasn’t I?”

- The worst moment you’ve had live on the stage was (as a performer and/or as a spectator): Any time I crack on high notes I HATE. It happens to everyone at some point and it never gets easier to take. Just have to make sure you work a little harder, or sometimes stop and rest to sort it out.

- An unforgettable moment (as a performer and/or as a spectator): I did a rather camp “clutch my pearls” moment while watching Idina Menzel perform “Defying Gravity” when she opened in London. The midnight matinee of AVENUE Q was pretty incredible also. Not a crowd that will be forgotten.

- Do you have any superstitions before the opening night? I’m not really a very superstitious person, but I do have routines during shows. Food, coffee and toilet breaks get timed to a strict schedule. For opening nights I always try and give myself some quiet time, attempt to relax and visualize what I need to do that night.

- A musical character that you would like to BE (not perform): This is hard as all the characters that I find interesting are intrinsically flawed people. That’s what makes them brilliant to watch. I’m a very low key kind of person so it’d have to be someone who’s got no real drama and likes things calm – and who would want to watch that one stage!?

- A character of your opposite sex that you would like to perform: Maybe “Gypsy”. Miss Rose seems like that sort of goliath role for women that really marks them out as actors who can command. She’s got such depth and angst, it looks like it’d be fun to play.

- What do you like best/least about your work? Best – That we get to do what we’re best at and enjoy the most for money, which is something not a lot of people can say about their jobs and that makes me feel endlessly lucky. Least – You make a lot of wonderful friends and then have to say goodbye to them knowing you won’t have time to keep in touch with all of them.

- What is your favourite musical movie? I was never into the old MGM biggies as a kid and have only watched a handful as an adult. I saw MOULIN ROUGE at the cinema 3 times so I guess that would be it. That was the year I started college and it was all anyone could talk about.

- The last CD/DVD related to Musicals that you have bought is: The last one I bought was HAIR. The new cast that came over from Broadway to the West End really makes it seem new and relevant, which is something I was sceptical about before I heard it.

- What is your favourite line from a musical: This will get groans, but it’s “Everything in life is only for now”. I truly bought into the whole ethos of AVENUE Q and final sentiment of that show is really what life is like. Some good, some bad, you’ll most likely get through it. It’s beautiful and simple and honest.

- Agree or disagree with TV Shows finding new Musical Stars (as ‘Over The Raibow’ or ‘I’d Do Anything’): Totally agree. For a start, most of the winners are trained and experienced musical performers anyway. And putting one newly famous face in a show that sells out the moment it goes sale will provide employment for about 50 other people in cast, stage management, costume, wigs, lights, sound, crew etc. So I’ve no problems with it at all. It’s brought a whole new audience to the West end and people are interested in the genre again. London had record attendance over the last year and that can only be a good thing.

- You feel proud of: Quite a few things. One would be bringing Avenue Q to London and working our butts off to make it successful. Also, I produced and performed a Rock gig for Theatre MAD that raised over £2000 for charity.

- Of this moment you’re living as an actor, the most important thing to you is: Being involved with new projects that challenge me and finding new angles on established roles. That’s what I get off on most in Musical Theatre.

- Other projects you are working on: There’s talk of putting an album together, but that’s still in the planning stages. I write, mainly acoustic stuff, so I’m looking forward to doing some more gigs when I get back to London.