PARADE

Based on the true story of Leo Frank, Parade recalls the press frenzy and public hatred surrounding the trial, and his wife's crusade for justice. In a time of religious intolerance, political injustice and racial tension, the musical explores the endurance of love and hope against the odds.

Winner of two Tony Awards for Book and Score, and Drama Desk and New York Critics' Circle Awards for Best Musical.

No place like LONDON

Sweeney Todd Premiere.

Visions of Johanna

It’s her first ever movie. And it’s with Johnny Depp. Paul Byrne talks to Janye Wisener, the 20-year old Coleraine star of ‘Sweeney Todd’.

It was just another local production of ‘West Side Story’ for Coleraine teenager Jayne Wisener last summer at the Millennium Forum in Derry. And then she got word afterwards that a casting agent wanted to meet with her the following day.

And the reason Jeremey James Taylor wanted to meet with her was because he was casting the part of Johanna in Tim Burton’s adaptation of the Sondheim musical, ‘Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street’. And playing Sweeney himself, Johanna’s dad? Johnny Depp.

True, Jayne wasn’t the only girl Jeremy wanted to see that day, but this young actress, who dreamt of making movies ever since she was 10 years old, was determined to make an impression.

And so she dolled herself up, put on her best English accent, along with her coolest clothes, and her most expensive make-up.

Bad move. The call came through later on that the 19-year old Jayne looked too old to play a 16-year old. “When they rang and told me I was too old, I had to plead with them that I look really, really young without any make-up,” says Wisener. “Because I do – I have a child’s face. My fourteen-year old cousin, the day after my aunt’s wedding, took photographs of me without any make-up, and I emailed them over.”

Which isn’t like the shy and retiring Jayne Wisener, at all. But this was Johnny Depp. And Tim Burton. And Alan Rickman. And Helena Bonham Carter. And Timothy Spall.

‘Sweeney Todd’ has just been nominated for four Golden Globes, and rightly so. It’s Burton and Depp’s best film together since ‘Edward Scissorhands’. Has it turned your world upside down yet?
Well, it’s turned my mum’s world upside down, that’s for sure. She keeps bringing home local papers with stories about my being in ‘Sweeney Todd’, and it’s quite embarrassing really. Phoning my aunt in America, posting over copies, telling everyone and anyone who’ll listen all about it. We just got back from the New York premiere, where the two of us had a blast, and now, that’s the big news story for the area.

You seem like a classic Burton heroine – did it take you long to go from local theatre productions to feeling at home on a major film set like this?
Initially, it does feel like you’re the guest at a dinner party that doesn’t know anyone, and I was so, so nervous that first day. The night before, I tried everything to calm myself down – took a sauna, hit the hot tub – but I was still shaking when I was going to bed. It wasn’t until the next morning, when Tim Burton came to my dressing room in the morning, and said, “I know this is your first time, but you’re going to be fine”. And then, at that point, I realised, if I do something crap, he’ll just say, “Jayne, don’t do that – do it like this”, because he’s a fantastic director. There’s no need to be nervous when you’re in the hands of a director who’s so clever.

Alan Rickman plays your gruff guardian who’s got far-from-good-intentions for his charge, and apparently he was quite aloof to you on the set. Clever acting, or pompous git?
Oh, I thought it was very clever, what he did. I was terrified of him in real-life, so, I didn’t have to act too much. He’s a genius, and if it works for him, that’s fine with me, because at the end of the day, he’s made some fantastic films, and done some incredible work.

You’re great aunt Heather was the first to encourage the shy, young Jayne to try acting, right?
Yeah, she was my speech and drama teacher, and I wasn’t very good. I was very shy. And then, there was one in the festival, when I won a cup, I just thought, actually, I am quite good at this. As I won more, I think I just got bitten by the bug. My aunt didn’t think I would do it as a career, and she just thought I was living in cloud cuckoo land – as we tend do up here in northern Ireland – and she was pretty much asking me, ‘Well, what do you want to do for your real job then?’. I was always very determined, and my parents were always very encouraging. Once I got to seventeen, I wanted to go to drama school, as soon as my A-levels were finished. And my parents were brilliant. ‘Well, that’s what you want to do, so we’ll support you’.

The fact that you’re in this rather large movie, it must help you get your foot in the door now.
Yeah, and it got me an agent, which is fantastic. And he’s been wonderful. He’s a fantastic agent, and it’s easier now when I go into an audition, because when they ask you about what you’ve done, mentioning ‘Sweeney Todd’ is a real icebreaker. There’s something to actually talk about. ‘Eh, I’ve been to drama school, and then I did nothing.’

Was acting a way of dealing with your shyness? A caterpillar offstage, a butterfly onstage?
Yeah, I was definitely a very shy person, and people would have thought I was very odd, or a snob, but that was the complete opposite to how I felt. It was because I was very shy. And then, suddenly, I’d be up on stage, singing songs, and acting, and people couldn’t believe it, but I wasn’t being me there, I was being that character. It’s much easier when you’re given the lines. I’m much better now though – I’ve come out of my shell something serious now.

What about the fan side of this – already on imdb, there are threads about ‘How cute’ you are. Curious, or do you avoid such things?
I don’t think it would be a good idea for me to look at those things, I really don’t. Because they don’t know who I am really, and I don’t want to lead myself to believe that I’m cute, or whatever they call me, as you just enter into a dumb pact that will upset you deeply when someone posts something negative. Best to avoid it altogether.

I saw there’s a fansite registered in your name too. Are you involved with that?
No, I’m not. One of my sister’s friends bought the name for the website, that’s what I heard. Nothing to do with me. I think it’s silly, you know. I could understand if one of my parents set up a website, and posted lots of silly photos of me as a child, but not someone who doesn’t know me. I just think that’s odd. I certainly won’t look at it, because I’d be embarrassed.

Johnny managed to shake off that pretty boy tag early on to become a great character actor. Is that the kind of career you’d like? You did represent Antrim in the Rose of Tralee in 2005, so you’re officially attractive.
I couldn’t answer that, to be honest, because I don’t really know what sort of career I’m going to have. I could say, this is what’s going to happen, and ten years later, I’m in a totally different place. I’ll just have to work with what opportunities I’m given, until that fine day when I can pick and choose.

What was it like, meeting Mr. Depp, one of your idols?
The first day I met him was quite late on, and I built myself up for it so much, because, obviously, I’ve been in love with him my whole life. Haven’t we all? The day I saw him for the first time though, I was dressed as a boy. I didn’t even have a nice dress, or anything like that. I was literally hiding from the guy, and then Coleen Atwood, the dress designer, brought me over to Johnny, and said, ‘You haven’t met Jayne yet, she plays your daughter’. And he said, ‘Hi, I’m Johnny, it’s lovely to meet you’. And I said something that wasn’t actually English.

Who is Jay ?

Jayne Wisener (born 19 May 1987) is a Northern Irish actress and singer. She plays Johanna in the film Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

Wisener was born in Ballymoney and grew up in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, where she attended the Coleraine High School for girls. After graduating, she went on to train at the Royal Scottish College of Music and Drama. In 2005, she represented Antrim in the highly acclaimed Rose of Tralee competition. Wisener also was part of Musical Theatre 4 Youth, and appeared in a workshop production of Falling.

In earlier days of her youth, Jayne worked in a local Pizzeria called Pizza Pomodoro.

While performing in a youth production of West Side Story at the Millennium Forum in Derry, Wisener was spotted by a talent scout, who asked her to audition for a role in Sweeney Todd. Wisener was, at age 19, deemed too old to play the 15-year-old Johanna; when told this, Wisener "e-mailed them some pictures of [herself] without make-up. Usually looking young does [an actor] no favours at all but [she was] quite pleased this time."^[3] Wisener made her stage debut in the UK premiere of the musical Parade at the Donmar Warehouse theatre in 2007.

Sweeney Todd, NY Premiere

THIS
IS
SHE

Green finch and linnet bird
Nightingale, blackbird
How is it you sing?
How can you jubilate sitting in cages
Never taking wing?
Outside the sky waits beckoning, beckoning
Just beyond the bars
How can you remain,
Staring at the rain
Maddened by the stars?
How is it you sing, anything?
How is it you sing?

My cage has many rooms,
Damask and dark
Nothing there sings,
Not even my lark
Larks never will, you know
When their captive
Teach me to be more adaptive
Ahhhhhhhh

Green finch and linnet bird
Nightingale, blackbird
Teach me how to sing
If I cannot fly
Let me sing


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JAYNE AND JAMIE