Arts:Blog

JOHNNY: Hmmm… I’ve sat here for literally ten minutes trying to remember… I think we first bonded at a thing called INK at the Tron. Basically we had to write an excerpt of a play overnight. There was a gaggle of playwrights there. I was loaded with the cold and Stef was having a wee whisky (I think) before she started writing. We got chatting there and realised that we shared the same sense of humour. From there on we’ve been good friends both socially and we also share some of our new work with each other to pass comment on.

JULIE: I first met Stef in the cafe bar at the Arches. For the life of me I can't remember what show I had been to see, must have been a couple of years ago or so. Stef and Johnny were having a wee social nightcap. I think her hair was very different back then! Her hairdos are her timeline! Now I see Stef regularly as she uses the Playwrights Studio Scotland writing room, which is directly opposite the Random Accomplice office in the CCA. Stef often pops in when she hears me playing the 80's classics!

Do you share a mutual love of Cher? She's quite the gay icon!

JOHNNY: Do some people not love Cher!?!? WHIIIIIT! Ha. Yeah, we both love Cher, though Stef is much more of a geekdom fan than myself or Julie. It was her idea for the show, a starting point of why a couple might decide to spend their life pretending to be their icons…and its sort of grown from there, and I have to say grown more tragic and darker than I think any of us expected, which is the wonderful thing about new writing…

JULIE: I love that Cher constantly reinvents herself and sends herself up. Her cameo in Will & Grace was genius! If you read her twitter feed she's genuinely funny.

Johnny, does it annoy you that you have this reputation of being the Panto King, when you have achieved so many more brilliant things?

JOHNNY: Not at all actually, I’m only more disappointed that I haven’t received a crown. I genuinely love panto and consider it a real privilege to be working on it every year in one venue or another. I’m also really practical because I don’t think that will last, things change and there will be a new person on the ‘throne’ so I’m happy to take that title when its offered. I don’t really consider myself fully there in any of the jobs I do - I’m constantly in a state of delight, stress and nerves whenever I’m working on anything. I just need to keep learning and focus on myself rather than how other people choose to categorise me. The one thing that is good though is that you can take people by surprise if they don’t expect it from you…

JULIE: Oh yes you can :o)

To the play. So, And The Beat Goes On is about a Sonny and Cher tribute act. How much can you tell us about the characters?

JOHNNY: Peter and Lily are a tribute act to Sonny & Cher but they haven’t ever had an audience. They’ve practiced their act for years, and it’s a mask for a deeper and darker pain that’s covered over by sequins and punchlines. I think its a really unique and special piece that Stef’s made - originally we all imagined it to be an out and out (pun intended) Sonny & Cher love letter. Now it’s shifted and become a real intense piece of drama that’s continually undermined by the characters returning to their tribute act.

JULIE: I second that. Their (Peter & Lily) reasons for performing as Sonny & Cher don't come from a place of ego or wanting to perform in front of an audience. Peter and Lily could easily be the next-door neighbours you don't know too much about, they keep themselves to themselves.

Do you think that getting famous so quickly was what affected the real Sonny and Cher's relationship?

JOHNNY: Hmmmm…no, actually. I think that fame (whether overnight or built up) is a poison chalice. I think you need to be so certain in who you are before fame happens that you can be destroyed by it. I wonder what it would be like…and I don’t think it would be worth it…I think privacy is to be valued and treasured. I also think that a famous partnership needs to be solid to work. Cher’s talents were outgrowing Sonny’s - she had more of that X Factor. He worked hard and sweated and toiled to make the act work, but she just had ‘it’.

JULIE: In some ways I think maybe it did…if you take what they did for a living out of the equation, the relationship would have been very different. Perhaps that fame, that glare, intensified things. I wonder often what they were like at home - I'd love to see Cher curled up on the couch in her PJs watching soap operas. But I do wonder if the public personas were taken home - and picking up on what Johnny said, was Sonny jealous? How do you leave your work behind when your life is your work and your partner is your life and your work?

My favourite tribute act names are Oasish (quality), Peat Loaf (hmmmm) and Faux Fighters (positively Wildean). What are yours? Have you ever experienced any, and what do you think of them in general?

JOHNNY: I remember a New Year with Bjorn Again (fabulous!). But it pains me sometimes because you want the real article. The good thing about Sonny & Cher is that they obviously can’t perform again, so that perhaps lets us off the hook. I have to say Angie Darcy doing her Janis Joplin was just sensational…thank god that Sonny wasn’t really that good a singer. We’re still having the discussion whether Peter and Lily mime or sing live and the questions of - how good are they really? (Aye, it’s a cop out conversation, haha.)

JULIE: Oh I've seen a few. Bjorn Again at the Barrowlands would have been the first. Brilliant night out. I also saw the Australian Doors at King Tuts. I remember loving that but at the same time being disappointed - you're singing along to Love Her Madly but you are so aware it's not Jim Morrison in front of you. I've also seen the Bootleg Beatles but I wasn't a fan of the original so found it all a bit beige! I have noticed Stars in you Eyes is back on TV - brilliant!

Music is incredibly important to you. Would you ever consider creating an out-and-out jukebox musical, giving it the specially patented Random Accomplice treatment?

JOHNNY: I absolutely would LOVE to do a jukebox musical. In fact it’s been swithering around my head for ages, but scale wise its bloody huge and would require a long development period I think to really ace it. Jukebox musicals can be so crass if they’re done badly, but done right (Jersey Boys) - just brilliant. I’d love, love, love to work on a musical… It’ll happen somehow…

JULIE: Johnny and I used to share a flat together, and many a night was spent singing through our musical of choice (I remember a particular penchant for Moulin Rouge!). All I would say is never say never…!

Finally, what is the next project for you?

JOHNNY: Well I’ve The Little Mermaid to write for macbob…and I’ve just been commissioned to write something that I’m really excited/scared/itching about but frightened to tell anyone about because there’s no contract yet and I’m superstitious…but if it works I think it might surprise a few people. I’ve a lot of plans and my New Year’s resolution is to try and get them realised…

JULIE: I'll be directing a double bill for the Scottish Opera Connect Company - young company of 30 singers, an orchestra, 2 soloists and only enough room in the dressing rooms for 12. Love the logistics!

And the Beat Goes On is a co-production between Random Accomplice and Horsecross Arts, and it tours March 24-April 24. Go to Random Accomplice’s website for details. Also see Stef Smith's website.

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