Celyn Cartwright joins the cast of The Ballad of Johnny & June on national tour
Celyn Cartwright, a BA Perfformio alumnus from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD), has joined the cast of the new musical The Ballad of Johnny & June, a production based on the lives of iconic musicians Johnny Cash and June Carter. The production will tour across the UK on a national tour from March to September.
Image credit: Glyn Rainer
This brand new musical, created with the support of their family and narrated through the eyes of their son, John Carter Cash, shows why Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash continue to be one of the 20th Century’s most famous couples.
Celyn will be part of the ensemble, and will be the understudy for the character June Carter. On receiving the news, Celyn said:
“I’m fulfilling a dream to be completely honest - and that’s a special feeling. This show is from America, and new to the UK, and is a new genre for me in terms of the music. It’s a new and exciting challenge to play the role of a person who’s lived, and I really want to do it justice.”
This is the first time Celyn has taken on a role as an understudy, and she is looking forward to learning new skills by doing so. She added:
“I will be focusing on my characters, while also learning the lyrics, songs and movements of the main role, in the hope that I will get to go on as June during the tour. The accent needs to be perfected, but more than that, I’m looking forward to working with absolutely brilliant actors, and learning from them. In addition, the show is “actor/muso” so I’m getting to learn to play a new instrument, the autoharp!
Since graduating from University, Celyn has enjoyed a varied and successful professional career, including touring Europe with Lord of the Dance, touring the UK with Come What May, and performing on Welsh stages with Theatr Bara Caws and Welsh of the West End. In addition, she has appeared in several pantos, done television work, and been involved in music recording projects.
Looking back on her time as a student on the BA Perfformio course, Celyn emphasises the value of the skills she learnt there.
“I remember Angharad Lee teaching us how to break a script down into important beats, and that’s exactly what I did on the first day of these rehearsals! You learn so much on the course, and use those skills, invaluable tips, in every audition and job.”
Celyn’s decision to come to study at UWTSD was a last-minute choice, but she says:
“That was the best choice for me after all, and I enjoyed the course, and learned so much. The fact that the course was through the medium of Welsh was very appealing, and that it was a performance course, and not just focused on one genre.”
Her favourite aspect of the course was the wide variety of experiences, including television work, and scriptwriting. She added:
“We were introduced to people who were in the industry e.g. directors, writers, composers, accompanists. Connections I treasure to this day.”
Angharad Lee, Programme Manager for UWTSD’s BA Perfformio and BA Musical Theatre, said:
“To hear that Celyn continues to use the techniques she learnt with us here at UWTSD is fantastic. A lot of the work we specialise in here are ‘psycho physical’ techniques and how to pick up the work that needs to be done with a text to be physical work. We encourage performers to understand that the body sometimes finds things before thoughts do, and we encourage performers to fail.
“Huge congratulations to Celyn. We’re keeping an eye on her career, and are absolutely proud of her.”
For more information about the BA Perfformio course, please contact Angharad Lee: Angharad.rees@uwtsd.ac.uk or visit our website.
Further Information
Lowri Thomas
Principal Communications and PR Officer
Corporate Communications and PR
Email: lowri.thomas@uwtsd.ac.uk
Phone: 07449 998476