He may have made his name as
the dashing Captain Jack in BBC
tea-time favourite Dr Who, but there are many sides to John
Barrowman, as the Scottish-born celebrity is keen to point out.
"A lot of the audience who followed me in my television career didn't know I sang and that I had 16 or 17 years
on the West End stage," he says. "This tour is to let audiences see another side of who I am."
Barrowman's appearance at The Brighton Dome is part of a national tour to support his new album, called,
appropriately enough, Another Side.
The album features him singing
covers of his favourite songs, including Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time, Elton John's Your Song, and Barry Manilow's Weekend In New England.
"The songs I have chosen relate
to certain times or incidents in my life," he says. "It is a very personal album."
The personal feel links in neatly
with the release of Barrowman's
autobiography, Anything Goes, which was co-written with his sister Carole.
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"I spent six months working on it," says Barrowman. "I wanted it to be written by someone who knew me
and could represent me. I recorded everything onto an iPod, and she used my words to structure it.
"I liked reading it. I made myself laugh, and cry. I shocked myself, too."
It seems there is no getting away from Barrowman, who as well as
starring in Dr Who and the sci-fi
spin-off Torchwood, has taken part in the reality show Dancing On Ice and been a judge on the talent shows
How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?, Any Dream Will Do and Andrew Lloyd Webber's latest star search, I'd Do Anything.
"I just enjoy working and I love
what I do," he says. "I will continue
to do it as long as people want me to."
The role he is probably most proud
of is the one which brought him into millions of households across the
country: Torchwood's Captain Jack.
"He gets to do everything I want
to do in real life," says Barrowman. "It's
a dream role that was written for me. I thought he would just be in the
first five Dr Who episodes.
"I still get a great thrill when people ask me for an autograph and say how much they love the character.
"People accept the fact Jack is
omnisexual. It is about time we had
a character like that.
"It is also the first time we have had a show like this, where the hero is played by a gay man. Science-fiction
is notorious for breaking barriers."
Barrowman is not feeling the
side-effects of celebrity yet either.
"I understand my celebrity has
come with the television role and all
the other work I do, and I'm chuffed with that," he explains.
"I didn't come into the industry
to become a celebrity or a star,
but I knew if something went right
I would get this recognition. I don't want to hide from it."
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