A Younger Theatre
Review: A Conversation with John Travolta, Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Posted on 26 February 2014 Written by Lucy Cave
Grease, Saturday Night Fever, Hairspray… These are just three of the films that have sky-rocketed John Travolta into the spotlight over the last few years – and boy, what a great career it has been! In the second line-up of the “A Conversation With…” series, John Travolta sat down with journalist legend Barry Norman to talk about his life, his career and his love for acting.
Norman opens the event by simply reminding the audience of the absolutely incredible career Travolta has had with a montage of his best hits. Everything from Looks Who’s Talking to Pulp Fiction pops up, making the Theatre Royal audience go wild. Then Travolta walks onto the stagee – or should I say “strut”. Yes, he enters to ‘Staying Alive’, echoing his performance as Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever. I do not think my ears have actually recovered yet…
He sits down on a leather sofa next to Norman, announcing just seconds into the event that he wants to make love to every single member of the audience. He is wonderfully charismatic from beginning to end, leaving no question unanswered, even when Norman says to Travolta that he has been in some terrible films – he is happy to admit that. We also got a look into his personal life with a short film about his flying career, but also hearing about much more personal matters including his faith in Scientology and the death of his son Jett.
The audience Q & A takes the night on a lovely turn, ranging from questions about musicals and films to which characters he would love to return to. However (and quite understandably!) there were also many requests about dancing with Travolta and he was happy to comply. When an audience member asked Travolta if he could teach his wife to dance, and he grabbed her into a lovely slow dance (they both got more than a handful!), while he also seized some lady members of the audience to recreate the famous You’re The One That I Want dance.
But over the hour it is quite clear that Travolta keeps on going for three sets of people – his self, his two sisters and lastly (and something Travolta could not emphasis enough) his fans. He talked profusely about carrying on with his acting career because he loves it, and that because he loves doing it his fans get that vibe too, making his performance much more enjoyable on the eye – and it could not be more true. Even when he is sitting down just talking about his life, he cannot stop looking to the audience. He came across as genuine and free-spirited when he burst on the scene in Saturday Night Fever, and that is why the Theatre Royal was absolutely packed to the rafters with film and musical fans.
It was relaxed, captivating and the most fun I have seen on a West End stage for a long while. The stage and screen are both lacking Travolta nowadays, and hopefully this night will make him want to come back. Come on John – we miss you!
BBC NEWS:
Travolta: Son’s death ‘worst thing to ever happen’
Saturday Night Fever star John Travolta has described the death of his teenage son Jett as “the worst thing that’s ever happened in my life”.
“The truth is, I didn’t know if I was going to make it,” he revealed during an on-stage interview at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in central London.
“Life was no longer interesting to me, so it took a lot to get me better.”
Jett Travolta died at the age of 16 in January 2009 from a seizure during a family holiday in the Bahamas.
Both his father and his mother Kelly Preston have since confirmed their eldest son was autistic and had a history of seizures.
The couple have two other children: 13-year-old daughter Ella Bleu and three-year-old son Benjamin.
Travolta said he “didn’t want to wake up” following Jett’s death and that the Church of Scientology had been pivotal to his recovery in the weeks and months afterwards.
“I will forever be grateful to Scientology for supporting me for two years solid, I mean Monday through Sunday,” he continued.
“They didn’t take a day off, working through different angles of the techniques to get through grief and loss, and to make me feel that finally I could get through a day.”
The 59-year-old has been a follower of the controversial religion since the 1970s and said it had “saved his life” on more than one occasion.
Travolta’s 90-minute appearance saw him field questions about various aspects of his life, career and keen interest in aviation.
Also addressed was the mid-career slump that followed his appearances in Saturday Night Fever and Grease, a downturn that was only arrested when Quentin Tarantino cast him as a heroin-abusing hitman in 1994’s Pulp Fiction.
“It got a little complicated for a few years,” the actor explained. “A lot of things added up to a five-year period that wasn’t so good for me.”
Travolta went on to thank Tarantino for facilitating his career comeback. “There were people who were much hotter than me who wanted the role,” he explained.
“But Quentin put his career on the line and refused to make the movie without me in it.”
The film ended up securing Travolta his second Oscar nomination, following the best actor citation he received for Saturday Night Fever in 1978. To date, though, the actor has yet to win one of the Academy’s coveted statuettes.
Yet the star did not seem unduly perturbed. “I don’t feel at all ignored or not verified,” he told Norman, erstwhile host of the BBC’s Film programme. “You’re not going to find a bitter guy in me.”
Sunday’s event, held near to, and at the same time as, this year’s Bafta Film Awards, came two days before the actor’s 60th birthday and ended with him being presented with a cake shaped like an airplane.
Members of the audience were invited on stage at one point for an impromptu dance lesson, while a discussion on James Bond led to the star impersonating Scottish icon Sir Sean Connery.
“I would love to be a villain in the next James Bond film,” Travolta continued, revealing he had openly courted the role during an informal meeting with producer Barbara Broccoli.
The actor’s appearance followed similar “evenings with” Al Pacino and Sylvester Stallone in London, tickets for which have been offered for as much as £350.
USA TODAY
Travolta: Scientology helped me through son’s death
Actor says the controversial church was there for him every day “for two years solid.”
Following the death of his teenage son Jett in 2009, John Travolta says he lost the will to live.
“The truth is, I didn’t know if I was going to make it,” he admitted during an intimate interview session at London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane on Monday. “Life was no longer interesting to me, so it took a lot to get me better.”
To get through the grief, he leaned on his religion and turned to the Church of Scientology, which he has been a member of for decades. They were there for him every step of the way, Travolta says.
“I will forever be grateful to Scientology for supporting me for two years solid, I mean Monday through Sunday. They didn’t take a day off, working through different angles of the techniques to get through grief and loss, and to make me feel that finally I could get through a day.”
Travolta, who is also father to teen daughter Ella and toddler son Benjamin with wife Kelly Preston, called Jett’s sudden death from a seizure “the worst thing that’s ever happened in my life.”
PEOPLE
Tuesday February 18, 2014 04:30 PM EST
John Travolta Credits Scientology with Helping Him Heal After Son’s Death
John Travolta “didn’t want to wake up” after his son’s sudden death, the actor revealed during a recent interview.
The Savages star spoke during an on-stage Q&A at London’s Theatre Royal Drury on Sunday, BBC News reports. In 2009, his 16-year-old son Jett died from a seizure while on a family vacation in the Bahamas. Travolta, 60, said the tragic accident left him feeling hopeless.
“The truth is, I didn’t know if I was going to make it,” he told the audience in London. “Life was no longer interesting to me, so it took a lot to get me better.”
Travolta credits his faith with helping heal him and his family – wife Kelly Preston, 13-year-old daughter Ella Bleu and 3-year-old son Benjamin, who was born after Jett’s passing.
“I will forever be grateful to Scientology for supporting me for two years solid, I mean Monday through Sunday,” he said. “They didn’t take a day off, working through different angles of the techniques to get through grief and loss, and to make me finally feel I could get through a day.”
Preston, 51, has also spoken out about Jett, revealing he was autistic and suffered from seizures for years. The Last Song actress appeared on The Doctors in 2012 and urged parents to pursue healthy, organic lifestyles for their children’s sake.
“I strongly believe as a mother, as does my husband, that there are certain contributing factors that lead to autism and some of it is very much the chemicals in our environment and in our food,” she said on the show.
US WEEKLY
John Travolta Says Son Jett’s Death Was Worst Thing to Ever Happen, Scientology Helped Him Cope
February 18, 2014 AT 12:20PM By Nicole Eggenberger
As John Travolta celebrates his 60th birthday on Tuesday, Feb. 18, the actor is sorely missing his late son Jett. During a recent on-stage interview at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London (published by the BBC on Feb. 17), Travolta called his son’s death “the worst thing that’s ever happened in my life.”
“The truth is, I didn’t know if I was going to make it,” the Savages actor shared. “Life was no longer interesting to me, so it took a lot to get me better.”
Travolta and wife Kelly Preston’s eldest son, Jett, died suddenly at the age of 16 in January 2009 from a seizure while on a family vacation in the Bahamas. Jett had a history of seizures and was autistic. Travolta and Preston, 51, are also parents to daughter Ella, 13, and son Benjamin, 3.
After Jett’s death, Travolta said he “didn’t want to wake up,” but credits his religious faith and fellow members in the Church of Scientology with helping him cope. “I will forever be grateful to Scientology for supporting me for two years solid, I mean Monday through Sunday,” Travolta explained during the talk. “They didn’t take a day off, working through different angles of the techniques to get through grief and loss, and to make me feel that finally I could get through a day.”
In addition to having the support of Scientology, which he has practiced since 1975, Travolta told Good Morning America last June that late actor James Gandolfini was also by his side during that difficult time. “James went out of his way to come to Florida and he would not leave Florida until I was okay, or he felt that I would be fine,” Travolta said of his Get Shorty and Lonely Hearts costar.
Gandolfini died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 51 in June 2013. Travolta told GMA he is going to make sure his friend’s family — wife Deborah Lin, son Michael and baby daughter Liliana — are taken care of in the future. “My goal is to make sure that his family is okay,” he said. “His little boy, I watched him grow up, and his brand new little girl. We’ll just make sure they’re taken care of. That’s the whole idea.”