John Owen-Jones
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John Owen-Jones is a British musical theatre actor, best known for his portrayals of The Phantom in Andrew Lloyd-Webber's The Phantom of the Opera and of Jean Valjean in Alain Boublil & Claude-Michel Schönberg's Les Misérables.
He is currently appearing as Jean Valjean in Les Misérables.
John comes originally from Burry Port in Carmarthenshire and trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. He graduated in 1994 with a B.A. in Acting.
During 1995 he played the 'liebeslieder' in Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music at the National Theatre along with Dame Judi Dench, Patricia Hodge, Joanna Riding and Sian Phillips, and in The Ladies Paradise (also by Sondheim) at the RNT Studio.
In 1998 he became the youngest person ever to play the role of Jean Valjean full-time when he took over in the London production at just 26 years of age. He had previously understudied the role, and played the factory foreman, Feuilly and Grantaire. John also appeared in the choir of the Tenth Anniversary Concert at the Royal Albert Hall in 1995.
In 2000 he was part of that year's season at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. He played roles in The Pirates of Penzance and Much Ado About Nothing.
In 2001 he was chosen to succeed Scott Davies in the title role in Phantom of the Opera. He left the role on 26 February 2005, after three and a half years and nearly 1400 performances, making him the longest running London Phantom.
His other theatre work includes Antipholus in The Boys from Syracuse and Lorenzo in The Merchant of Venice at Harrogate Theatre, Herr Zeller in The Sound of Music, Cleante in The Hypochondriac, Valere in Le Medecin Volant at the West Yorkshire Playhouse and Uprooted at the Tricycle Theatre.
John's work on television includes The Bill; The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickelby; The South Bank Show; The Margaret Williams Show; A Week in the West End; Record Breakers; and Backstage: Pebble Mill.
In December 2004 he appeared in a Christmas Concert as a featured soloist, alongside Michael Ball.
He has been reprising his role of Jean Valjean in 'Les Miserables' at the Queen's Theatre in London since June 27th 2005. From June 10 2006 he will play the role of Ravenal in Show Boat, which will be the first fully staged musical perfomed at the Royal Albert Hall and will play for a limited season finishing on June 25, after which he will return to 'Les Miserables' for another year.
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