20 questions with Jonas Shandel (and Johnny Cash)

On December 4, 1956 Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash came together at the Sun Record Studios in Memphis, Tennessee for an impromptu jam session.

Inspired by this true event, the famed recording session is recreated in the Arts Club Theatre Company’s production of Million Dollar Quartet currently playing at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage.

In the conclusion of our special 20 questions series we meet the actors playing these four rock and roll legends who also answer our 20 questions as their musical counterparts.

20 questions with Jonas Shandel (and Johnny Cash)

Your first job.

Jonas: Busboy.
Johnny: Picking cotton.

The job you always wanted as a child.

Jonas: Baseball player.
Johnny: Railroad conductor.

Your pet peeve.

Jonas: Big business and Segway scooters.
Johnny: That people are underprivileged in this world. And I hate weak coffee.

Your hero.

Jonas: Paul Watson.
Johnny: My mama.

Your biggest indulgence.

Jonas: Sliced bread.
Johnny: Quaaludes.

One thing no one knows about you.

Jonas: I’m a lonely man.
Johnny: That I burned down part of a forest and had to pay $100 grand.

Three things you would want with you on a deserted island.

Jonas: A guitar, plenty of red wine, and a blow-up doll.
Johnny: Some good strong coffee, a couple gospel records, and a miniature copy of the bible.

The one word your best friend would use to describe you.

Jonas: Eclectic.
Johnny: Suey .

If you were not a magician, what would you be doing?

Jonas: I‘d be in a Morris dancing band, as a dancer.
Johnny: Sitting in jail.

Hero or villain?

Jonas: Both
Johnny: Hero.

Your life’s motto/mantra.

Jonas: Just fucking do it!
Johnny: If it feels good, do it; if it doesn’t feel good, just do it on weekends.

Your favourite song.

Jonas: “Mercy Street” by Peter Gabriel.
Johnny: “Sunday Morning Coming Down”

Your favourite movie.

Jonas: Alberta by Doc Watson.
Johnny: The Great Dictator.

If you were a cartoon character which cartoon character would you be?

Jonas: Animal from The Muppets.
Johnny: Cartoons aren’t real life, man.

What will it say on your grave marker?

Jonas: He was an okay guy!
Johnny: Hello, I’m Johnny Cash.

Who would you most like to have dinner with?

Jonas: Johnny Cash.
Johnny: Spade Cooley, the late great western swing hero.

Your idea of happiness.

Jonas: Making magic with friends.
Johnny: A world where the beaten down are no longer that way, and everyone has food to eat and love and their hearts.

If you could go back in time, what would you tell your 20-year old self?

Jonas: Don’t try too hard.
Johnny: A lot’s gonna happen in these next three years. Go easy.

The one thing in your life that makes you most proud.

Jonas: My audio recording which are for sale after the show. Wink, wink.
Johnny: My songs.

To be or not to be?

Jonas: To be a rapscallion.
Johnny: I don’t know what that means, man.