On his musical plans, Jason says: "I'm writing one at the moment, we've just been putting that together sort of the last year or so with Gary Barlow.
"We're writing a musical about Captain Hook. I played him in panto one year and I thought 'I like this guy', you know, he's a good character.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1583517504/1742610876/articles/WACTSG4GJs1YYCRvaQsys/6166141244.jpg]
"Why has nobody done an origin story? So yeah, me and Gary had been writing a couple of other projects, and we both just really like this one. So it just came up and we thought, why not?
"I don't know if I will take the lead, but part of me is hoping to just be the writer and, you know, so it can just be on, and I can be at home.
"But we are just writing that now, with another guy called Joe Stilgoe who's a brilliant pianist and lyricist... and just seeing that, seeing where that goes."
Jason, 43, says his love of musicals began at an early age when a primary school teacher took his class to see an amateur performance of Sweeney Todd. He says: "She obviously didn't know what it was about.
About 20 minutes in, she was like, I have messed up here, but yeah it was great.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1583517504/1742610876/articles/WACTSG4GJs1YYCRvaQsys/6266339972.jpg]
"At school I was an orphan in Annie, an orphan in Oliver, I was an orphan in a lot of other musicals.
"I used to go to watch a lot of standup and a lot of musicals.
"And then getting the chance to do it professionally, it's been wonderful." All of which makes Jason an ideal choice to front The National Lottery's Big Night of Musicals, an epic musical spectacular, which airs on BBC1 tonight.
Filmed earlier this year at Manchester's AO Arena, it includes a breathtaking performance of Maybe This Time by Marisha Wallace from Cabaret and a surprise performance from stage star Michael Ball.
Speaking about the show, Jason added: "We have got all the best songs from all the best shows, either on tour or on, you know, in the West End this year.
"We've got Disney's Hercules, we got The Steps Musical, which could have gone either way, but it's actually very good and that's going to be good fun.
"Dear Evan Hansen and Mary Poppins, Calamity Jane.
"It's one of those jobs that just feels like an absolute privilege, you know, to be there. In fact it's not even really a job, it's a joy. I did a number this year with Danny Mays and we had, like, maybe an hour on the Sunday and an hour on Monday to rehearse it.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1583517504/1742610876/articles/WACTSG4GJs1YYCRvaQsys/6466114714.jpg]
"We'd never really met before and then we had to just do this number together, you know, singing and dancing and moving around the stage.
"So that's a bit nerve-racking but it was more exciting than anything" Jason, who is married to TV producer Lucy Dyke, is also back on the road with his stand-up comedy tour.
A Manford All Seasons has 176 dates all the way through the year, similar to the mammoth run his pal Peter Kay is currently on.
And he is quick to defend Peter for kicking out hecklers when he had problems at a recent gig.
Jason said part of the problem is people see comedians being heckled on social media. Stand-ups are happy to share those clips as they don't ruin material from their routines which they need to use for months on tour.
But that has backfired and made some people think heckling is part of the...
"We're writing a musical about Captain Hook. I played him in panto one year and I thought 'I like this guy', you know, he's a good character.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1583517504/1742610876/articles/WACTSG4GJs1YYCRvaQsys/6166141244.jpg]
"Why has nobody done an origin story? So yeah, me and Gary had been writing a couple of other projects, and we both just really like this one. So it just came up and we thought, why not?
"I don't know if I will take the lead, but part of me is hoping to just be the writer and, you know, so it can just be on, and I can be at home.
"But we are just writing that now, with another guy called Joe Stilgoe who's a brilliant pianist and lyricist... and just seeing that, seeing where that goes."
Jason, 43, says his love of musicals began at an early age when a primary school teacher took his class to see an amateur performance of Sweeney Todd. He says: "She obviously didn't know what it was about.
About 20 minutes in, she was like, I have messed up here, but yeah it was great.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1583517504/1742610876/articles/WACTSG4GJs1YYCRvaQsys/6266339972.jpg]
"At school I was an orphan in Annie, an orphan in Oliver, I was an orphan in a lot of other musicals.
"I used to go to watch a lot of standup and a lot of musicals.
"And then getting the chance to do it professionally, it's been wonderful." All of which makes Jason an ideal choice to front The National Lottery's Big Night of Musicals, an epic musical spectacular, which airs on BBC1 tonight.
Filmed earlier this year at Manchester's AO Arena, it includes a breathtaking performance of Maybe This Time by Marisha Wallace from Cabaret and a surprise performance from stage star Michael Ball.
Speaking about the show, Jason added: "We have got all the best songs from all the best shows, either on tour or on, you know, in the West End this year.
"We've got Disney's Hercules, we got The Steps Musical, which could have gone either way, but it's actually very good and that's going to be good fun.
"Dear Evan Hansen and Mary Poppins, Calamity Jane.
"It's one of those jobs that just feels like an absolute privilege, you know, to be there. In fact it's not even really a job, it's a joy. I did a number this year with Danny Mays and we had, like, maybe an hour on the Sunday and an hour on Monday to rehearse it.
image [https://cdn.magzter.com/1583517504/1742610876/articles/WACTSG4GJs1YYCRvaQsys/6466114714.jpg]
"We'd never really met before and then we had to just do this number together, you know, singing and dancing and moving around the stage.
"So that's a bit nerve-racking but it was more exciting than anything" Jason, who is married to TV producer Lucy Dyke, is also back on the road with his stand-up comedy tour.
A Manford All Seasons has 176 dates all the way through the year, similar to the mammoth run his pal Peter Kay is currently on.
And he is quick to defend Peter for kicking out hecklers when he had problems at a recent gig.
Jason said part of the problem is people see comedians being heckled on social media. Stand-ups are happy to share those clips as they don't ruin material from their routines which they need to use for months on tour.
But that has backfired and made some people think heckling is part of the...
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Daily Record (Digital) - 1 Issue, March 22, 2025