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singing through life

Wait, he can sing, too? A brief history of Jonathan Bailey’s best musical moments that led to ‘Wicked’

By Cameron Scheetz August 12, 2024 at 4:00pm
Image Credit: Getty Images

Jonathan Bailey has quickly become one of the biggest out gay stars in the world.

Whether he’s bulking up to go face-to-face with dinosaurs or guzzling down gallons of milk, the 36-year-old actor is always a joy to watch and, really, it feels like he’s just getting started.

Of course, most American audiences only learned about Bailey in the past few years thanks to his roles as the dashing Lord Anthony Bridgerton on Netflix‘s Regency Era romance Bridgerton and as the heartbreaking Tim Laughlin in Showtime’s gay historical drama Fellow Travelers. So, when he was cast in the upcoming movie adaptation(s) of the musical Wicked, a lot of us were wondering: Wait, can this guy sing, too?

Oh, can he ever. The looks, the charm, the talent, the pipes—Jonathan Bailey really is the full package!

This week, Universal Pictures shared a new teaser for Wicked, which gives the spotlight to Bailey’s Fiyero, “Oz’s most eligible bachelor.” And while he certainly looks the part (anyone else get weak in the knees when spins around to look at Ariana Grande’s Glinda?), the clip frustratingly still doesn’t let us hear him—we don’t even get a note of his “Dancing Through Life” number.

Fortunately, Bailey’s been preparing most of his his life for a proper big-screen musical, and there’s plenty of proof out there that he can carry a tune.

So, without further ado, let’s take a look back at some of Jonathan Bailey’s bets musical moments thus far…

Jonathan Bailey’s Musical Beginnings

Bailey began dreaming of the stage at five years old after his grandmother took him to see a production of Oliver! in London. In fact, he used a number from that musical—”Where Is Love?”—in the audition that landed him his first theatrical role, in the Royal Theatre Company’s A Christmas Carol in 1995.

The following year, at just 8 years old, he made his West End debut playing Gavroche in Les Misérables. Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be any video proof of this—can you imagine how adorable a tiny, singing Jonathan Bailey would be?—but BBC’s The One Show did manage to dig up an old photo of him from around the time and it’s pretty stinkin’ cute.

Groove High

Over the next two decades, Bailey would continue to act on stage and in a number of British television series, including—quite amusingly—a campy Disney Channel U.K. series called Groove High. Running from 2012 – 2013, the show centered on Bailey’s Tom and Samantha Barks’ Zoe (more on her in a minute), two pop-rock stars touring the world and reminiscing on their early days together in a performing arts school.

While Groove High‘ present-day timeline was live-action, the flashbacks were animated, but Bailey voiced Tom throughout, singing plenty of original numbers, including the Groove High theme, “When You Got Friends.”

American Psycho

In 2013, Bailey made a return to his stage musical roots, originating the role of businessman Tim Price in American Psycho, the darkly comic musical from Duncan Sheik based on Bret Easton Ellis’ acclaimed novel of the same name.

The cast is even more impressive in retrospect, with Bailey joined by Doctor Who‘s Matt Smith as the murderous Patrick Bateman—as well as Spoiler Alert‘s Ben Aldridge and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again‘s Hugh Skinner—and they all get a chance to shine. There’s not a ton of great production footage, but Bailey and Smith sound fantastic in the Original Cast Recording of the song “Killing Time.”

The Last Five Years

Bailey was reunited with his Groove High co-star Samantha Banks (who also played Éponine in the 2012 Les Misérables movie) in an Off-West End production of The Last Five Years. The musical tells the story of one couple’s five-year relationship, their dueling versions of the story playing out simultaneously but in opposite chronological order.

The show received positive reviews and really proved that Bailey could command the stage as the leading man of a musical. A clip of his powerful audition with the number “If I Didn’t Believe In You” went viral in the wake of his casting as Fiyero.

Company

Then, in 2018, Bailey joined an ambitious revival of the Stephen Sondheim classic Company on the West End, which gender-swapped many of the key roles. He played Jamie—originally “Amy”—whose wedding to Paul (Alex Gaumond) is a big part of Act I, and includes the iconic number “Getting Married Today,” which features incredibly fast rat-a-tat lyrics that Bailey’s been praised for pulling off seamlessly.

The show was a huge success—it transferred to Broadway in 2021 with the same gender-swapped conceit—as was Bailey’s performance. At the 2019 Laurence Olivier Awards (essentially England’s version of the Tonys), he won for Best Actor In A Supporting Role In A Musical, marking his first major award win.

Dancing Singing Through Life

But even when the role doesn’t call for it, Bailey manages to find time to flex those vocal chords. Case in point, this incredibly sweet video he posted to social media from the set of Bridgerton, harmonizing with his TV siblings Luke Newton and Luka Thompson while singing this Elvis Presley staple “Can’t Help Falling In Love.”

Hey, if for some reason this whole acting thing doesn’t work out for these guys (we’re sure it will), they could always tour the world as a musical trio: The Bridgerton Boys!

In any event, we’re more than ready to hear Jonathan Bailey sing sweet nothings into our ears when Wicked hits theaters on November 22. In the meantime, we’ll cross our fingers and hope his upcoming cameo in Heartstopper Season 3 (coming October 3) is a musical one! And, hey, maybe they’ll even let him sing to dinosaurs in his Jurassic World movie? Put this guy’s golden voice to good use, Hollywood!

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