Seeing his big brother on stage as an evil panto wizard was the springboard for a Wrexham phone shop assistant to land a spell working on the Phantom of the Opera in London’s West End.
Nathan Jones will be using his annual leave from the Carphone warehouse at Wrexham’s Eagles Meadow Shopping Centre to head to Her Majesty’s Theatre in the capital, to be a sound technician on the Andrew Lloyd-Webber hit musical.
The 19-year-old combines his job as a sales advisor at the mobile phone store with his work as a sound engineer on stage shows, and now counts rugby-player turned celeb Gareth Thomas, singers Andy Scott Lee and Sonia plus Big Brother hunk Dale Howard among his star friends.
“It’s the best of both worlds really. I love gadgets and so I get to be with all the latest technology, and explain it to people with Carphone Warehouse at the Eagles Meadow shopping centre with my day job. Plus I am able to pursue my career in the world of theatre and music as my shifts allow,” said Nathan.
He plays piano and guitar plus finds time to be a drummer in two groups – alt-folk rock band Danny Gruff And The Peacemakers, as well as covers band The Dancing Wo-li Masters, which performs at functions and weddings.
“It all started really when I was kid and saw my brother James, who is a decade older than, as Abanazar in an amateur production at the Grove Theatre. I thought he was really cool and wanted to be part of the theatre world.”
Later a relative joined the management team at Rhos’ Stiwt Theatr, and Nathan began to volunteer behind the scenes, whilst studying for a BTech in music technology at Ysgol Clywedog in Wrexham.
“I was doing all sorts of things at The Stiwt, but started to do more backstage with the technical side as I really enjoyed that – though I also helped out in the box office and serving coffees,” added Nathan, who lives with his family in Park Avenue, Wrexham.
“LHK Productions, one of the largest in the country, put on several pantos at The Stiwt, which is how I got to meet Gareth Thomas, Andy Scott Lee, Dale Howard, Nikki Graham and Sonia. I still keep in touch with them by text – for instance, Gareth was up in Wrexham the other day and we met up.
“Now I get a lot of other bookings through LHK, such as the Epstein, Empire and Playhouse Theatres, and the Philharmonic Hall, in Liverpool, for talent shows, musicals and plays.
“The role of the sound engineer is to make sure that the audience can hear what’s happening on stage, that all the levels are correct and the microphones are working properly. The technician’s role – the job I will be doing with the Phantom – is to set up the system and to be on call throughout the performance in case there’s any problems.
“I was invited to work on the musical through a friend who knows the music director, and I’m really looking forward to it. I’ll be using my holiday leave from the Carphone Warehouse, plus I will stay with my sister in London to save costs while I am there.”
Nathan will be working in the long-running romantic musical alongside Argentinian singer and reality TV star Gerónimo Rauch, who plays The Phantom, the character for which Michael Crawford picked up a host of awards in the West End and Broadway when the show began in 1886.
Soprano Sofia Escobar is the disfigured musical genius’ love interest Christine Daaé – the role first made famous by Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s then wife, Sarah Brightman.
Eagles Meadow Manager Kevin Critchley was mightily impressed with Nathan’s theatrical exploits.
Kevin said: “Nathan is obviously a very talented young man and this is a fantastic opportunity to be part of a massive hit show. I’m looking forward to hearing all about his experience.”
