Jonathan Ansell & Friends Sing The Songs of G4; 23 Venue UK Tour Set

Jonathan Ansell, the charismatic singer who shot to fame on The X Factor with pop opera group G4, is embarking on his first solo tour, Jonathan Ansell and?Friends Sing The?Songs of G4, performing G4's greatest hits, along with some of pop and opera's most popular songs and arias.

Jonathan Ansell and?Friends Sing The?Songs of G4 will open on Friday June 3 at the Ochard Theatre, Dartford, and visit a further 22 towns and cities.

Full tour dates below.

Jonathan quickly became the stand-out favourite of the fans on The X Factor, achieved amazing success with the classically-trained group G4, who announced their split in 2007. Most acts discovered on TV reality shows have quickly fallen by the wayside, but G4's final concert was a Royal Albert Hall sell-out, and the group still had a recording deal when they decided to end the group.

Hailed as the "Justin Timberlake of opera" Jonathan's natural modesty and delightful charm has remained unaffected by his subsequent success. Since G4 he has released two consecutive number one albums, 'Tenor at the Movies', and 'Forever'.

Last year, Jonathan took the lead role in a national tour of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jim Steinman's hit Musical "Whistle Down the Wind", where his performance won rave reviews. He recently played 'Boamer' in the national tour of the new revival of Keith Dewhurst's original stage adaptation of the much-loved 'Lark Rise to Candleford'. He has performed in the USA with Marvin Hamlisch and his orchestra for 10 sellout concert.

Brought up in Bognor Regis where both his parents were primary school teachers, and influenced by his mother's tapes of Pavarotti and the Three Tenors, Jonathan, the middle child, joined the West Sussex Boys Choir at the age of eight. He also learned to play the violin and trumpet. And music was not just a passion, but a solace. "I loved primary school, always loved the hands-on expressive subjects, particularly music," he says "I loved science too but as school got more academic, I found it harder and harder. It wasn't until I went to the Guildhall School of Music when I was 18 that I saw a poster about being assessed for dyslexia.

"I was diagnosed dyslexic. I had gone through school without anyone noticing it. But at least I knew why I had such issues. I felt alienated all the way through school, and the only time I ever chilled out was when I was on stage doing musical stuff." Jonathan started by landing the lead role in his primary school production of Joseph at the age of ten: "It really inspired and excited me. I got a real buzz out of that." He toured extensively with the choir, sang many times in Arundel Cathedral, to great acclaim. But in his teenage years his passion for singing had a downside. He was bullied at school because of it.

"People just thought it wasn't cool," he says. "I really got picked on, badly. What didn't help was that I had the worst acne ever. So when I was 15, I was in the school choir, doing what I loved, but getting bullied for it. I was in the rugby team wearing what they thought was make-up, but was in fact cream to treat my acne. I was also struggling with my school work at the same time- I felt completely alone. Music was my only joy." It all changed when he was asked by his music teacher to sing at the end of Year 11 Leaver's Service.

"I sang Andrea Bocelli's 'Time To Say Goodbye', and suddenly people understood my love of singing. After that I got the support of both teachers and pupils." After a show-stopping performance of 'Love Changes Everything' at a choral society concert in Littlehampton, his local MP, who was in the audience, arranged for him to have a preliminary audition at the Guildhall. He won a place two years later, and felt he had come home. It was during his happy student days that he started busking in Covent Garden with friends, to make ends meet.

"We didn't make much at first, but soon hit on a technique," he says. "We'd sing a couple of big arias, like 'Nessun Dorma', then something a bit less showy. Which meant that people would pay us and move on. If we didn't do that, they'd just stay. Then new people would arrive. I once went out on my own and made £520 in just three hours! "When The X Factor auditions were advertised on TV, he persuaded his busking chums from the Guildhall to enter, and the rest is television history. "It's been a real whirlwind for me, I'm very lucky to have these opportunities, and I'm just glad things have kept developing. I love entertaining people, and touching them with what I've been lucky enough to be blessed with. My voice. I've always enjoyed that, since I was very young."

TOUR DATES

Friday 3 June
DARTFORD
The Orchard
01322 220000
at 7.45pm

Saturday 4 June
SOUTHEND
Cliff's Pavilion
01702 351135
at 8.00pm

Sunday 5 June
BOURNEMOUTH
Pavilion?Theatre
0844 576 3000
at 7.30pm

Monday 6 June
BRISTOL
Hippodrome
0844 847 2325
at 7.30pm

Tuesday 7 June
TORQUAY
Princess Theatre
0844 847 2315
at 7.30pm

Wednesday 8 June
EASTBOURNE
Congress Theatre
01323 412000
at 7.30pm

Thursday 9 June
WOKING
New Victoria Theatre?
0844 871 7645
at 7.30pm

Friday 10 June
RHYL
Pavilion Theatre
01754 330 000
at 7.30pm

Sunday 12 June
SOUTHAMPTON
Mayflower Theatre
02380 711811
at 7.30pm

Monday 13 June
MANCHESTER
Opera?House
0844 847 2295
at 7.30pm

Tuesday 14 June
LIVERPOOL
Empire Theatre
0844 847 2525
at 7.30pm

Wednesday 15 June
HULL
New Theatre
0844 847 2325
at 7.30pm

Friday 17 June
CAMBRIDGE
Corn Exchange
01223 357851
at 7.30pm

Tuesday 21 June
BUXTON
Opera House
0845 127 2190
at 7.30pm

Wednesday 22 June
WIMBLEDON
New Wimbledon Theatre
0844 871 7646
at 7.30pm

Thursday 23 June
ST?ALBANS
Arena
01727 844488
at 8.00pm

Friday 24 June
OXFORD
New Theatre
0844 847 1585
at 7.30pm

Saturday 25 June
BIRMINGHAM
Alexandra Theatre
0844 847 2302
at 7,30pm

Sunday 26 June
GLASGOW
Theatre Royal
0844 871 7647
at 7.30pm

Monday 27 June
WOLVERHAMPTON
Grand Teatre
01902 42 92 12
at 7.30pm

Friday 1 July
BRADFORD
St George's Hall
01274 432 000
at 7.30pm

Saturday 2 July
MALVERN
Forum
01684 892277
at 7.30pm

Tuesday 5 July
MILTON?KEYNES
Milton Keynes Theatre
0844 871 7652
at 7.30pm

 

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