Charlie Girl

In 1969 Kenn Brodziack was a theatre entrepreneur, and he and Malcolm Cooke (GM of Aztec Services, Kenn's company) met with Darryl Sambell and tossed around the idea of putting Johnny in a theatre musical. They were considering doing 'Charlie Girl'

John went to London to audition for the part of Joe, a young romantic lead. At 22 he had his first starring role in a major musical when it opened at Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne, on 25th Sept. 1971.

There were six shows a week and two matinees, but Darryl still had John making appearances at record stores and shopping centres.
Often they would board an early flight from Melbourne arriving at their destination for a performance and then board a flight back to Melbourne in time for the show.