| Biography | Born in Llanelli and brought up in Burry Port, South Wales, John trained in acting at Londons Central School of Speech and Drama and, after a varied career so far, is probably best known for his portrayals of the iconic leading characters in The Phantom of The Opera and Les Miserables.
He has a long and happy association with Les Miz in particular for at the age of twenty six, John became the youngest actor ever to play the role of Jean Valjean in the West End production of Les Miserables. He is one of a handful of actors to have played the role of Valjean both in the West End and on Broadway and was the first British actor to do so. In an online poll, John was voted the Best Ever Valjean and Best Ever Performer in Les Miserables" by fans of the show worldwide. John returned to play the role of Jean Valjean in a brand new production of Les Miserables for its 25th anniversary tour and was awarded the Manchester Evening News Award for the Best Actor in a Visiting Production for his performance as Jean Valjean. The Manchester Evening News described his performance as a truly astonishing achievement that must be one of the greatest stage performances of all time. John was also part of the Valjean quartet featured in the finale of the Les Miserables 25th Anniversary Concert at the O2 Arena, London. He has played Jean Valjean to great acclaim twice on Broadway and most recently appeared as Valjean in the show's Middle East premiere at Dubai Opera, Dubai. He can be heard playing Jean Valjean on the official cast recording Les Miz Live! (2010)
John originally played the role of The Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera between 2001 and 2004 in the West End production to great acclaim -The Daily Mail said he was "better than all the actors that preceded him in the role" He returned to the role of The Phantom in the West End in 2011 culminating in a performance as part of the Phantom quartet in a special finale at the Phantom 25th Anniversary Concert at The Royal Albert Hall. He is the West Ends longest running Phantom with nearly 2000 performances in the role. He appeared in a special finale of the show at the Majestic Theatre, New York to celebrate Phantom's 25th year on Broadway and is the first British actor to have appeared as The Phantom in Russia - in a special excerpt from the show commissioned for the 2014 Golden Masks Awards at the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow.
After reinterpreting the role of Valjean on the 25th Anniversary tour of Les Miserables in 2010, John was asked to reinterpret the role of The Phantom in the brand new production of The Phantom of the Opera for it's 25th anniversary UK tour in 2012. His performance on the tour earned him a nomination for Best Actor in a Visiting Production from the Manchester Theatre Awards and he is in the unique position of being the only actor to have the opportunity to reinvent Valjean and The Phantom - two of the greatest roles in musical theatre history.
John has performed extensively in other theatre productions throughout the UK and he has appeared on television and radio numerous times. He has performed as a soloist in concerts all over the world.
John has released six solo albums. The independently released Hallelujah (2006) and on the Sain Records label 'John Owen-Jones' (2009) and 'Unmasked' (2011) and 'Rise' 2015; and two compilation albums - "Bring Him Home" (2017 Sain records) and the Japan only compilation "Music of the Night" (2015 Sony Records Japan). |