Fort Worth actor coming home with latest Broadway show at Bass Hall
Jay Armstrong Johnson is returning to the place his professional career as a performer began. At the age of 13 in 2000, he joined the touring company of “Peter Pan” starring Cathy Rigby when it came to Bass Hall.
Now, he’s back as the male lead role of Christian in “Moulin Rouge! The Musical,” the latest production in Performing Arts Fort Worth’s Broadway at the Bass Series Presented by PNC Bank. The jukebox musical from the 2001 Oscar-nominated movie of the same name will be at Bass Hall June 10-15.
“I was just a kid having fun back then. This time I’ll actually be in one of the star dressing rooms,” Johnson said with a laugh. “I remember Cathy turned 50 that year and took the whole cast out to celebrate at a Mexican restaurant downtown.”
He also remembered getting what he calls some of the best advice he’s ever received from the former Olympic gymnast turned actress.
“She said, ‘Don’t ever read your reviews,’” he recalled.
Not that there’s been much negative to read concerning his performances. Johnson has performed a host of top roles in a variety of venues, including Broadway, off-Broadway, and even onscreen.
Long sought role
The role of Christian features a young man with a passionate love and his desire to express that love through his artistic talents as a writer and composer. It’s a role Johnson has long wanted to perform.
“When I saw ‘Moulin Rouge!’ the movie as a kid I fell deeply in love with it. I felt it would become a musical (onstage) and I said that someday I would play Christian,” he said. “So this is sort of a self-fulfilled prophecy.
“The role is probably the hardest I’ve ever undertaken. It takes me on an emotional journey. I tell people I’m living like a monk on the road doing this eight performances a week, this role takes so much out of me.”
Return to Fort Worth
This will be his first time to perform in Fort Worth in a decade. He was last here for a homecoming concert at the Scott Theatre to promote his first album.
“I got together with a few of my friends I grew up with — mostly from Texas — and it just felt natural to do it in Fort Worth. I’m kind of aching to do it again,” he said. “I did a country show in New York a few years ago. I’d like to do a country show in Fort Worth.”
Johnson described the music on his first album as “eclectic.”
“That’s also what I love about ‘Moulin Rouge!,’ it has an eclectic list of music,” he said. “I love singing ‘Roxanne’ by The Police and ‘Your Song’ by Elton John.”
Johnson said fans of the movie will get the same story dish, but the music has been updated.
“The creators of the show have done a great job bringing the music into more current times,” he said. “Lady Gaga wasn’t a thing yet. Adele wasn’t a thing yet.”
This is also the first time Johnson has performed with a U.S. national tour in a long while. He said it takes him back to his days in “A Chorus Line” in 2008.
“Each city has its own new excitement,” he said.
More than stage
Johnson’s career has also included one film appearance in “Sex and the City 2.” His host of TV performances ranges from “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” to a recurring role as Will Olsen in the TV series “Quantico” from 2016-18.
“That time in my life was so exciting,” he said of “Quantico.” “And the money was great. I was able to produce my own work. It’s why we could do the concert in Fort Worth.
“Of course I want to do TV again. I loved being a student on those sets. It’s so vastly different than the skills set needed for theater.”
As for his one movie appearance, he said, “I got to dance with Kim Cattrall and that was really cool.”
He noted that a special time for him was when he was part of the Broadway production of “Hair,” in 2010, when he was a swing performer and an understudy for the characters of Claude and Woof. Even as he was performing in a protest play, he spent his days in between protesting for same sex marriage.
“We were protesting onstage and our producers gave us a couple days off to go protest for real,” he said. “That show kind of changed my life.”
Halloween fundraiser
In 2016 Johnson began a Halloween fundraiser that is dear to his heart and continues today.
“We’re celebrating our 10th anniversary this year, which seems crazy,” he said. “It started when we celebrated the release of my album. We had such a wonderful time we decided to keep it going.”
For years it benefited Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids. Now it benefits the Ali Forney Center in New York, a refuge for LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness.
Today, the annual event features over 200 artists working together for the same cause. Johnson said it has also opened him up to other possible career opportunities as his involvement in the event includes producing, directing and creating.
“This one show has led me in many directions. “I’m hoping to start my own production company someday.”
Johnson said he has a week off after “Moulin Rouge!” completes its Fort Worth run. He is looking forward to some down time with family and friends in the area.
“My family hasn’t gotten to see a lot of my work in New York, so I’m also glad for them to see me here,” he said. “For my family and friends to see me in a show like this, a role like this, is so special.
“I’m so excited to be home.”