Armistead Maupin's Blog, page 34
May 16, 2011
What Armistead Maupin Gave San Francisco in Tales of the City
By Oscar Raymundo, Fri., May 13 2011 @ 12:00PM
Armistead Maupin got teary-eyed Thursday night.
It was right before stepping into the Swedish American Hall, where he'd be the extra special guest at his own literary tribute, Thoroughly Modern Maupin, happening less than a week before the premiere of the musical adaptation of his groundbreaking saga Tales of the City.
"I get such terrible allergies around this time of year," said Maupin, who turns 67 today.
San Francisco's cool uncle is endearing but never sappy.
The event was sponsored by the American Conservatory Theater and Litquake to rally excitement (and sell some last-minute tickets) for the original musical based on Maupin's novels premiering May 18. The event brought together some of the city's most eccentric authors and performers - emerging icons in their own right - in honor of the man who has without doubt influenced them all.
Emcee Marga Gomez recalled reading the original Tales columns in the San Francisco Chronicle and then years later rediscovering them in book form, "because I was so high the first time around." Author K.M. Soehnlein read an original story about a friendship between two gay men who are separated by the so-called "fly-over" states. "Acid Christmas" depicts getting high not only as an urban trip inside a spaceship as it's swallowed by a snake, but also as a bonding experience: the crossing point of two trajectories whose travelers once thought they'd be forever parallel.
Jeff Whitty came to San Francisco in 2006 on a two-pronged mission: to convince Maupin that his novels would splash extraordinarily on the stage and that Whitty and the Scissor Sisters were the team to do it. At first, Whitty seemed like a natural fit. His book for Avenue Q, the irreverent puppet show often noted for doing to Broadway what Tales did to the Dickens serial, won a Tony in 2004. But this wasn't the first time Maupin's books had been eyed for the stage, so gaining the author's trust was a must. "Do you get high?" Whitty, in denim overalls, snuck out of last-minute rehearsals Thursday to share the question that bonded him to Maupin when they first met. Seeing them interact five years later, giddy-anxious like two fathers outside a delivery room, it's safe to assume Whitty's answer.
But all those drug references were highly metaphorical in comparison to one bloodshot-eyed Andrew Sean Greer, whose performance involved a ukulele rendition of "You're the One That I Want" from Grease. The author stripped off his plaid shirt to reveal a black pleather vest with a tacked-on broken heart as he sweetly talked about the time he found a love note written by an ex-boyfriend in the pages of his Tales.
Maupin's saga is about more than getting high - it's also about getting fucked. Poet Kevin Simmons mixed pleasure with poignancy as he read from his forthcoming collection Mad for Meat, highly erotic and raw at the core. Simmons mocked discontent Thursday night at having to cut his Honolulu vacation short for this 10-minute tribute, but just like Maupin and everyone else in that room, it's hard to imagine being anywhere but in San Francisco.
Noting Potrero Hill prophets and sexually inclusive mayoral candidates, Bay Citizen columnist Scott James engaged the audience with a quick game of fact or fiction, Fog City-edition. Somewhat of a fact/fiction hybrid herself, Michelle Tea appeared in a summer hat. "I feel like I should be holding a basket with jars of jam," the author said. Instead, Tea held a MacBook (she reported printer issues) as she read from an upcoming novel about lesbians in the 1990s, "but the world is about to end, like we all thought it would in the '90s," she clarified to distinguish the work as
fiction. Tea's own literary love letter to San Francisco, Valencia, is undergoing the film adaptation process with 21 directors, each taking a stab at one chapter.
Keeping Maupin's appearance a surprise was a bit of lost cause. The man whose face graced the pages of the Chronicle on a weekly basis only to jump right to the back cover of 10 books gets recognized walking his dog at Duboce Park, and cab drivers all seem to know exactly the block he lives on. The man who passionately pleaded to gay people around the world that the most significant political and social act of their lives would be to come out, that man is just so goddamn inadaptable to the times.
"It's great to be part of a night where the city's literary greats are forced into vaudeville showtunes," was Maupin's way of saying thanks.
Follow us on Twitter at @ExhibitionistSF and like us on Facebook.
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/exhibitionist/2011/05/authors_show_armistaed_maupin.php
Armistead Maupin got teary-eyed Thursday night.
It was right before stepping into the Swedish American Hall, where he'd be the extra special guest at his own literary tribute, Thoroughly Modern Maupin, happening less than a week before the premiere of the musical adaptation of his groundbreaking saga Tales of the City.
"I get such terrible allergies around this time of year," said Maupin, who turns 67 today.
San Francisco's cool uncle is endearing but never sappy.
The event was sponsored by the American Conservatory Theater and Litquake to rally excitement (and sell some last-minute tickets) for the original musical based on Maupin's novels premiering May 18. The event brought together some of the city's most eccentric authors and performers - emerging icons in their own right - in honor of the man who has without doubt influenced them all.
Emcee Marga Gomez recalled reading the original Tales columns in the San Francisco Chronicle and then years later rediscovering them in book form, "because I was so high the first time around." Author K.M. Soehnlein read an original story about a friendship between two gay men who are separated by the so-called "fly-over" states. "Acid Christmas" depicts getting high not only as an urban trip inside a spaceship as it's swallowed by a snake, but also as a bonding experience: the crossing point of two trajectories whose travelers once thought they'd be forever parallel.
Jeff Whitty came to San Francisco in 2006 on a two-pronged mission: to convince Maupin that his novels would splash extraordinarily on the stage and that Whitty and the Scissor Sisters were the team to do it. At first, Whitty seemed like a natural fit. His book for Avenue Q, the irreverent puppet show often noted for doing to Broadway what Tales did to the Dickens serial, won a Tony in 2004. But this wasn't the first time Maupin's books had been eyed for the stage, so gaining the author's trust was a must. "Do you get high?" Whitty, in denim overalls, snuck out of last-minute rehearsals Thursday to share the question that bonded him to Maupin when they first met. Seeing them interact five years later, giddy-anxious like two fathers outside a delivery room, it's safe to assume Whitty's answer.
But all those drug references were highly metaphorical in comparison to one bloodshot-eyed Andrew Sean Greer, whose performance involved a ukulele rendition of "You're the One That I Want" from Grease. The author stripped off his plaid shirt to reveal a black pleather vest with a tacked-on broken heart as he sweetly talked about the time he found a love note written by an ex-boyfriend in the pages of his Tales.
Maupin's saga is about more than getting high - it's also about getting fucked. Poet Kevin Simmons mixed pleasure with poignancy as he read from his forthcoming collection Mad for Meat, highly erotic and raw at the core. Simmons mocked discontent Thursday night at having to cut his Honolulu vacation short for this 10-minute tribute, but just like Maupin and everyone else in that room, it's hard to imagine being anywhere but in San Francisco.
Noting Potrero Hill prophets and sexually inclusive mayoral candidates, Bay Citizen columnist Scott James engaged the audience with a quick game of fact or fiction, Fog City-edition. Somewhat of a fact/fiction hybrid herself, Michelle Tea appeared in a summer hat. "I feel like I should be holding a basket with jars of jam," the author said. Instead, Tea held a MacBook (she reported printer issues) as she read from an upcoming novel about lesbians in the 1990s, "but the world is about to end, like we all thought it would in the '90s," she clarified to distinguish the work as
fiction. Tea's own literary love letter to San Francisco, Valencia, is undergoing the film adaptation process with 21 directors, each taking a stab at one chapter.
Keeping Maupin's appearance a surprise was a bit of lost cause. The man whose face graced the pages of the Chronicle on a weekly basis only to jump right to the back cover of 10 books gets recognized walking his dog at Duboce Park, and cab drivers all seem to know exactly the block he lives on. The man who passionately pleaded to gay people around the world that the most significant political and social act of their lives would be to come out, that man is just so goddamn inadaptable to the times.
"It's great to be part of a night where the city's literary greats are forced into vaudeville showtunes," was Maupin's way of saying thanks.
Follow us on Twitter at @ExhibitionistSF and like us on Facebook.
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/exhibitionist/2011/05/authors_show_armistaed_maupin.php
May 10, 2011
Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City: A unique one-night event hosted by Olympia Dukakis
Friday, June 24, 2011 at 8:00 PM (PT)
San Francisco, CA
For one night only, Academy Award® winner Olympia Dukakis, who played the iconic Mrs. Madrigal in the groundbreaking television mini-series adaptation of Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City, will host a special performance of the world premiere musical production on Friday, June 24, at the American Conservatory Theater.
Don't miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to share in the excitement as Ms. Dukakis sees the production for the first time! She will join Tony Award winner Judy Kaye, and the rest of the dynamic cast, onstage for their final ovation and a toast to the City by the Bay!
The party goes on after the curtain comes down! A limited number of tickets are available to join Ms. Dukakis and the cast of Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City at an exclusive afterparty at Clift Hotel immediately following the production.
For the ultimate Tales experience, you can join Ms. Dukakis and special guests at an intimate preshow dinner at one of San Francisco's premiere restaurants - Fleur de Lys! Tickets include Premiere Orchestra seating and the VIP party immediately following the show. To inquire about taking part in the preshow dinner with Ms. Dukakis, please contact Pierrick at pierrick.j.fischer@ampf.com.
The evening, a benefit for American Conservatory Theater's arts education programs and the Richmond/Ermet AIDS Foundation, is presented by Jordan, Miller & Associates.
"We're excited about bringing this unique opportunity to fruition. The June 24 event is a terrific way to celebrate Pride, support our local charities, and see this world premiere staging of San Francisco's most beloved story. Thank you, Olympia and Armistead, for making this night one we won't soon forget!" -Brandon Miller & Joanne Jordan-Managing Partners, Jordan, Miller & Associates
The Cast & Creative Team
Tony Award winner Judy Kaye, Betsy Wolfe, Mary Birdsong, Matthew Saldivar, and Wesley Taylor have been cast as the denizens of 28 Barbary Lane. Based on Maupin's beloved literary series, set in 1970s-era San Francisco, Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City features a score by Scissor Sisters band members Jake Shears and John Garden, a libretto by Tony Award winner Jeff Whitty (Avenue Q), choreography by Larry Keigwin, and direction by Tony Award nominee Jason Moore (Avenue Q, Shrek: The Musical).
The Storyline:
On the bustling streets of 1970s San Francisco, neon lights pierce through the fog-drenched skies, disco music explodes from crowded nightclubs, and a wide-eyed Midwestern girl finds a new home—and creates a new kind of family—with the characters at 28 Barbary Lane. Three decades after Armistead Maupin mesmerized millions with his daily column in the city's newspapers, his iconic San Francisco saga comes home as a momentous new musical. Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City unleashes an exuberant celebration of the irrepressible spirit that continues to define our City by the Bay.
San Francisco, CA
For one night only, Academy Award® winner Olympia Dukakis, who played the iconic Mrs. Madrigal in the groundbreaking television mini-series adaptation of Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City, will host a special performance of the world premiere musical production on Friday, June 24, at the American Conservatory Theater.
Don't miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to share in the excitement as Ms. Dukakis sees the production for the first time! She will join Tony Award winner Judy Kaye, and the rest of the dynamic cast, onstage for their final ovation and a toast to the City by the Bay!
The party goes on after the curtain comes down! A limited number of tickets are available to join Ms. Dukakis and the cast of Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City at an exclusive afterparty at Clift Hotel immediately following the production.
For the ultimate Tales experience, you can join Ms. Dukakis and special guests at an intimate preshow dinner at one of San Francisco's premiere restaurants - Fleur de Lys! Tickets include Premiere Orchestra seating and the VIP party immediately following the show. To inquire about taking part in the preshow dinner with Ms. Dukakis, please contact Pierrick at pierrick.j.fischer@ampf.com.
The evening, a benefit for American Conservatory Theater's arts education programs and the Richmond/Ermet AIDS Foundation, is presented by Jordan, Miller & Associates.
"We're excited about bringing this unique opportunity to fruition. The June 24 event is a terrific way to celebrate Pride, support our local charities, and see this world premiere staging of San Francisco's most beloved story. Thank you, Olympia and Armistead, for making this night one we won't soon forget!" -Brandon Miller & Joanne Jordan-Managing Partners, Jordan, Miller & Associates
The Cast & Creative Team
Tony Award winner Judy Kaye, Betsy Wolfe, Mary Birdsong, Matthew Saldivar, and Wesley Taylor have been cast as the denizens of 28 Barbary Lane. Based on Maupin's beloved literary series, set in 1970s-era San Francisco, Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City features a score by Scissor Sisters band members Jake Shears and John Garden, a libretto by Tony Award winner Jeff Whitty (Avenue Q), choreography by Larry Keigwin, and direction by Tony Award nominee Jason Moore (Avenue Q, Shrek: The Musical).
The Storyline:
On the bustling streets of 1970s San Francisco, neon lights pierce through the fog-drenched skies, disco music explodes from crowded nightclubs, and a wide-eyed Midwestern girl finds a new home—and creates a new kind of family—with the characters at 28 Barbary Lane. Three decades after Armistead Maupin mesmerized millions with his daily column in the city's newspapers, his iconic San Francisco saga comes home as a momentous new musical. Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City unleashes an exuberant celebration of the irrepressible spirit that continues to define our City by the Bay.
Armistead Maupin's 'Tales' have changed lives
Julian Guthrie, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, May 8, 2011
The story began 35 years ago when wide-eyed Mary Ann Singleton arrived in San Francisco on vacation and called her parents in Cleveland to say she wouldn't be coming home.
"I just want to start making my own life," the 25-year-old Mary Ann explained, as her mother fretted that her daughter would end up living with "a bunch of hippies and mass murderers!"
The first chapter of "Tales of the City," titled "Taking the Plunge," began a newspaper series that captivated readers in 1976 with its gay, straight, transgender, old, young, sex starved and ultimately lovable cast of characters who had found their way to San Francisco to establish their own true identities.
The series took off from there, and became the backbone for eight books translated into 15 languages, a television miniseries and now a world premiere musical - set to open in previews at the American Conservatory Theater on May 18.
"Tales," which came to define an era and ethos in San Francisco, titillating and repelling readers with its unabashed portrayal of queer lives, made its author, Armistead Maupin, a literary star and gay spokesman.
"I've been living with these characters for 35 years," Maupin chuckled, sitting in the living room of the home he shares with his husband, Christopher Turner, a cat named Maxine and a Labradoodle named Philo T. Farnsworth. "They don't wander into the room. I don't have altars to them. When I created them, they were completely and utterly radical. All of these characters are pieces of my own personality."
Reluctant celebrity
Maupin, who turns 67 this week, is both a reluctant celebrity and an impassioned voice for gays. He can be a charming Southern gentleman one moment and impatient the next. He grows weary of rehashing his story and the story of "Tales" - the two are inextricable - answering some questions with a sigh and, "It's all on my website."
He has written other novels, including "The Night Listener," which was adapted for a Robin Williams film, but none outshines "Tales." It is "Tales of the City" that paid for his stunning home in Parnassus Heights, that took the boy from the conservative family in Raleigh, N.C., and made him a San Francisco icon, and that compels strangers to approach him on the street and say his writing changed their lives.
"What I'm proudest of is that all sorts of people read 'Tales' and feel like the book gives them permission to be who they are," Maupin said. "If I hear that I in some way affected the course of someone's life, that is the biggest compliment I can be paid."
Carey Perloff, artistic director at ACT, arrived in the Bay Area in 1976, just as Maupin's series was launched in The Chronicle.
"I was a student at Stanford when I started reading it," Perloff said. "Being in California was my rebellion from the East Coast. I wasn't Mary Ann from Cleveland, but I was Carey from Philadelphia.
"What I love about Armistead is how he writes about these totally unpretentious, three-dimensional characters," she continued. "He lets you know what it's like to be young in San Francisco and trying to search for what you truly want in life. I think everybody has their 'Tales of the City' story."
Michelle Tea, who has won awards for her lesbian fiction, says Maupin's success sends a message to other writers that "writing about the real, queer world is possible."
K.M. Soehnlein, whose most recent novel is "Robin and Ruby," has taken inspiration from Maupin as a craftsman.
"There is a hard-earned simplicity of his prose, and of course he's hilarious," said Soehnlein, who teaches writing at the University of San Francisco. "He's kind of a pop entertainer, in that he uses popular culture, and he's a literary artist. The work never feels dated because readers can relate to these archetypal characters: the new visitor to San Francisco, the person looking for love, the rebel who finds herself up against high society. This is the timelessness of human experience."
Maupin, who graduated from the University of North Carolina and served as a naval officer in Vietnam, arrived in San Francisco in 1971. He had worked at a radio station in Raleigh, managed by the future U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, and - then a conservative himself - thought highly of Helms. He also had worked as a reporter with a newspaper in Charleston before being offered a position in San Francisco with the Associated Press.
"I only stayed at the AP for six months," Maupin said. "I was aching for something more creative."
Variety of jobs
In the years that followed, Maupin, like the characters who would populate "Tales," held a variety of short-term jobs, from selling Thai imports on Union Street and working as a "Kelly Girl" to writing letters for an Episcopal minister. Of his time as a Kelly Girl, he quipped: "They used to send me notices advising me to wear a conservative skirt when I reported for work. I was tempted to obey them."
In 1976, Maupin pitched a fictional daily column about life in the city to the editors at The Chronicle, and, to his "horror," the editors said yes ("I had to look a lot more confident than I was," he said). The premiere of "Tales of the City" was on May 24, and came with a front-page headline, "She's 25, Single and Mad for S.F."
"The Chronicle editors gave me a list (of titles) to choose from," Maupin said, "including 'The San Francisco Story,' 'San Francisco Stories,' 'Tales of San Francisco' and 'Tales of the City.' I thought 'Tales of the City' had a nice Dickensian ring."
Because of the racy subject matter, writer and editors engaged in endless battles. "The editors had a conservative attitude about what Chron readers were like," he said. "It was funny what I could and couldn't say. I had these lesbian characters raising kids in the city and they were in the car on the way to the Russian River and a kid in the back says, 'What is blue and creamy?' 'Smurf's sperm!' I had to change it to 'What is blue and makes babies?"
Maupin, who was closeted until he came to San Francisco, grounded the serial - published off and on in The Chronicle until 1983 and serialized in The Examiner in 1986 - in current events. When singer Anita Bryant launched her anti-gay crusade in Florida, Maupin had his character, Michael "Mouse" Tolliver, whose family was from Florida, send his coming-out, "letter to mama," referencing the "cruel and ignorant piety of people like Anita Bryant."
'"I know this may be hard for you to believe," Mouse wrote in the letter, "but San Francisco is full of men and women, both straight and gay, who don't consider sexuality in measuring the worth of another human being."
Confronting AIDS
In "Babycakes," the last of the "Tales" series to be serialized in The Chronicle, Maupin writes about the AIDS crisis, prompting complaints from readers who said he had spoiled their "light morning entertainment." And, later, Mouse tests positive for HIV.
"These characters were invented as they were needed," Maupin explained. "But I was very aware that as a gay person, I was participating in a social revolution. I had finally arrived at a point where my politics and my personal life were in sync with each other and that was an exhilarating experience. That was the thing I had to share with the public."
Coming out had other benefits, too, he said.
"I didn't start to be a good writer until then," Maupin said. "When you are in the closet, you are making a valiant effort to keep certain parts of your personality locked down. Then when you come out, everything in your heart and mind is fair game."
As the characters found themselves, so did Maupin. "If I look back on it, I was trying to give myself permission," he said.
Today, Maupin's life is more about fine-tuning than finding. He married Turner, a 39-year-old Web developer, twice - first in Vancouver and then in the Marin County garden of writer Amy Tan.
"Christopher Isherwood said to me, 'Life is so much simpler when you have narrowed down to one the person you're going to be with,' " said Maupin, who had his fill of bachelorhood after his 12-year relationship with gay activist Terry Anderson ended. "Our job as human beings is to love. It means practicing it on a daily basis."
Street meeting
Maupin and Turner met on 18th Street near Castro. Maupin had seen Turner's picture on a website connecting younger and older men, and had even printed out Turner's picture, joking to friends that the young hunk was his new love. When Maupin spotted him on the street one afternoon, he struck up a conversation.
"I'd always been attracted to him," Turner said of Maupin. "I'd seen him out and about. I was drawn to his presence."
Turner is now Maupin's first reader of new material. "I will come home, and he will have finished a chapter and will read it to me," Turner said. "It always amazes me how many people will come up and say 'Tales of the City' really changed things for them."
Maupin, who is taking some time off from writing, says he has ideas for the next novel in the series. His recent works in the series include "Michael Tolliver Lives," about Mouse at 55, and "Mary Ann in Autumn," with Mary Ann at 57.
"I wait until the spirit moves me," he said. "Writing is not a lot of fun - I like having written."
He says he has been involved off and on with the making of the ACT musical.
"I'm kind of the eminence grise of the production," he said.
While he and Turner own land in the Sierra, "between Yosemite and Tahoe," the author doesn't envision a final chapter outside of San Francisco.
"Book tours take me everywhere," Maupin said. "I'm always considering the possibility of being somewhere else. But nothing quite adds up to San Francisco. You can still find the life you want here."
Musical
"Tales of the City," world premiere. Previews start May 18. Opens May 31. Continues through July 10. American Conservatory Theater, 415 Geary St. (415) 749-2228. www.act-sf.org.
Public event
"Thoroughly Modern Maupin: The Legacy of Armistead," an evening of readings and music celebrating Maupin's work. Hosted by Litquake and ACT. 8 p.m. Thursday. Swedish American Hall, 2174 Market St. www.litquake.org.
E-mail Julian Guthrie at jguthrie@sfchronicle.com.
This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/05/08/MNDB1JB9J7.DTL
Sunday, May 8, 2011
The story began 35 years ago when wide-eyed Mary Ann Singleton arrived in San Francisco on vacation and called her parents in Cleveland to say she wouldn't be coming home.
"I just want to start making my own life," the 25-year-old Mary Ann explained, as her mother fretted that her daughter would end up living with "a bunch of hippies and mass murderers!"
The first chapter of "Tales of the City," titled "Taking the Plunge," began a newspaper series that captivated readers in 1976 with its gay, straight, transgender, old, young, sex starved and ultimately lovable cast of characters who had found their way to San Francisco to establish their own true identities.
The series took off from there, and became the backbone for eight books translated into 15 languages, a television miniseries and now a world premiere musical - set to open in previews at the American Conservatory Theater on May 18.
"Tales," which came to define an era and ethos in San Francisco, titillating and repelling readers with its unabashed portrayal of queer lives, made its author, Armistead Maupin, a literary star and gay spokesman.
"I've been living with these characters for 35 years," Maupin chuckled, sitting in the living room of the home he shares with his husband, Christopher Turner, a cat named Maxine and a Labradoodle named Philo T. Farnsworth. "They don't wander into the room. I don't have altars to them. When I created them, they were completely and utterly radical. All of these characters are pieces of my own personality."
Reluctant celebrity
Maupin, who turns 67 this week, is both a reluctant celebrity and an impassioned voice for gays. He can be a charming Southern gentleman one moment and impatient the next. He grows weary of rehashing his story and the story of "Tales" - the two are inextricable - answering some questions with a sigh and, "It's all on my website."
He has written other novels, including "The Night Listener," which was adapted for a Robin Williams film, but none outshines "Tales." It is "Tales of the City" that paid for his stunning home in Parnassus Heights, that took the boy from the conservative family in Raleigh, N.C., and made him a San Francisco icon, and that compels strangers to approach him on the street and say his writing changed their lives.
"What I'm proudest of is that all sorts of people read 'Tales' and feel like the book gives them permission to be who they are," Maupin said. "If I hear that I in some way affected the course of someone's life, that is the biggest compliment I can be paid."
Carey Perloff, artistic director at ACT, arrived in the Bay Area in 1976, just as Maupin's series was launched in The Chronicle.
"I was a student at Stanford when I started reading it," Perloff said. "Being in California was my rebellion from the East Coast. I wasn't Mary Ann from Cleveland, but I was Carey from Philadelphia.
"What I love about Armistead is how he writes about these totally unpretentious, three-dimensional characters," she continued. "He lets you know what it's like to be young in San Francisco and trying to search for what you truly want in life. I think everybody has their 'Tales of the City' story."
Michelle Tea, who has won awards for her lesbian fiction, says Maupin's success sends a message to other writers that "writing about the real, queer world is possible."
K.M. Soehnlein, whose most recent novel is "Robin and Ruby," has taken inspiration from Maupin as a craftsman.
"There is a hard-earned simplicity of his prose, and of course he's hilarious," said Soehnlein, who teaches writing at the University of San Francisco. "He's kind of a pop entertainer, in that he uses popular culture, and he's a literary artist. The work never feels dated because readers can relate to these archetypal characters: the new visitor to San Francisco, the person looking for love, the rebel who finds herself up against high society. This is the timelessness of human experience."
Maupin, who graduated from the University of North Carolina and served as a naval officer in Vietnam, arrived in San Francisco in 1971. He had worked at a radio station in Raleigh, managed by the future U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, and - then a conservative himself - thought highly of Helms. He also had worked as a reporter with a newspaper in Charleston before being offered a position in San Francisco with the Associated Press.
"I only stayed at the AP for six months," Maupin said. "I was aching for something more creative."
Variety of jobs
In the years that followed, Maupin, like the characters who would populate "Tales," held a variety of short-term jobs, from selling Thai imports on Union Street and working as a "Kelly Girl" to writing letters for an Episcopal minister. Of his time as a Kelly Girl, he quipped: "They used to send me notices advising me to wear a conservative skirt when I reported for work. I was tempted to obey them."
In 1976, Maupin pitched a fictional daily column about life in the city to the editors at The Chronicle, and, to his "horror," the editors said yes ("I had to look a lot more confident than I was," he said). The premiere of "Tales of the City" was on May 24, and came with a front-page headline, "She's 25, Single and Mad for S.F."
"The Chronicle editors gave me a list (of titles) to choose from," Maupin said, "including 'The San Francisco Story,' 'San Francisco Stories,' 'Tales of San Francisco' and 'Tales of the City.' I thought 'Tales of the City' had a nice Dickensian ring."
Because of the racy subject matter, writer and editors engaged in endless battles. "The editors had a conservative attitude about what Chron readers were like," he said. "It was funny what I could and couldn't say. I had these lesbian characters raising kids in the city and they were in the car on the way to the Russian River and a kid in the back says, 'What is blue and creamy?' 'Smurf's sperm!' I had to change it to 'What is blue and makes babies?"
Maupin, who was closeted until he came to San Francisco, grounded the serial - published off and on in The Chronicle until 1983 and serialized in The Examiner in 1986 - in current events. When singer Anita Bryant launched her anti-gay crusade in Florida, Maupin had his character, Michael "Mouse" Tolliver, whose family was from Florida, send his coming-out, "letter to mama," referencing the "cruel and ignorant piety of people like Anita Bryant."
'"I know this may be hard for you to believe," Mouse wrote in the letter, "but San Francisco is full of men and women, both straight and gay, who don't consider sexuality in measuring the worth of another human being."
Confronting AIDS
In "Babycakes," the last of the "Tales" series to be serialized in The Chronicle, Maupin writes about the AIDS crisis, prompting complaints from readers who said he had spoiled their "light morning entertainment." And, later, Mouse tests positive for HIV.
"These characters were invented as they were needed," Maupin explained. "But I was very aware that as a gay person, I was participating in a social revolution. I had finally arrived at a point where my politics and my personal life were in sync with each other and that was an exhilarating experience. That was the thing I had to share with the public."
Coming out had other benefits, too, he said.
"I didn't start to be a good writer until then," Maupin said. "When you are in the closet, you are making a valiant effort to keep certain parts of your personality locked down. Then when you come out, everything in your heart and mind is fair game."
As the characters found themselves, so did Maupin. "If I look back on it, I was trying to give myself permission," he said.
Today, Maupin's life is more about fine-tuning than finding. He married Turner, a 39-year-old Web developer, twice - first in Vancouver and then in the Marin County garden of writer Amy Tan.
"Christopher Isherwood said to me, 'Life is so much simpler when you have narrowed down to one the person you're going to be with,' " said Maupin, who had his fill of bachelorhood after his 12-year relationship with gay activist Terry Anderson ended. "Our job as human beings is to love. It means practicing it on a daily basis."
Street meeting
Maupin and Turner met on 18th Street near Castro. Maupin had seen Turner's picture on a website connecting younger and older men, and had even printed out Turner's picture, joking to friends that the young hunk was his new love. When Maupin spotted him on the street one afternoon, he struck up a conversation.
"I'd always been attracted to him," Turner said of Maupin. "I'd seen him out and about. I was drawn to his presence."
Turner is now Maupin's first reader of new material. "I will come home, and he will have finished a chapter and will read it to me," Turner said. "It always amazes me how many people will come up and say 'Tales of the City' really changed things for them."
Maupin, who is taking some time off from writing, says he has ideas for the next novel in the series. His recent works in the series include "Michael Tolliver Lives," about Mouse at 55, and "Mary Ann in Autumn," with Mary Ann at 57.
"I wait until the spirit moves me," he said. "Writing is not a lot of fun - I like having written."
He says he has been involved off and on with the making of the ACT musical.
"I'm kind of the eminence grise of the production," he said.
While he and Turner own land in the Sierra, "between Yosemite and Tahoe," the author doesn't envision a final chapter outside of San Francisco.
"Book tours take me everywhere," Maupin said. "I'm always considering the possibility of being somewhere else. But nothing quite adds up to San Francisco. You can still find the life you want here."
Musical
"Tales of the City," world premiere. Previews start May 18. Opens May 31. Continues through July 10. American Conservatory Theater, 415 Geary St. (415) 749-2228. www.act-sf.org.
Public event
"Thoroughly Modern Maupin: The Legacy of Armistead," an evening of readings and music celebrating Maupin's work. Hosted by Litquake and ACT. 8 p.m. Thursday. Swedish American Hall, 2174 Market St. www.litquake.org.
E-mail Julian Guthrie at jguthrie@sfchronicle.com.
This article appeared on page A - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/05/08/MNDB1JB9J7.DTL
May 5, 2011
"Tales of the City" On Stage
KQED Radio
Thu, May 5, 2011 -- 10:00 AM
Fans of Armistead Maupin may recall that his novel "Tales of the City" began life as a daily serial in The San Francisco Chronicle in 1976. Since then, Mary Ann and her Barbary Lane crew have journeyed from the page to the small screen (a PBS series) and back again. Beginning May 18th, ACT brings "Tales of the City" to the stage with a new musical. We get a preview of the production. Were you in San Francisco in the 1970s? If so, how has the city changed?
http://www.kqed.org/a/forum/R201105051000
Thu, May 5, 2011 -- 10:00 AM
Fans of Armistead Maupin may recall that his novel "Tales of the City" began life as a daily serial in The San Francisco Chronicle in 1976. Since then, Mary Ann and her Barbary Lane crew have journeyed from the page to the small screen (a PBS series) and back again. Beginning May 18th, ACT brings "Tales of the City" to the stage with a new musical. We get a preview of the production. Were you in San Francisco in the 1970s? If so, how has the city changed?
http://www.kqed.org/a/forum/R201105051000
Tales of Maupin, This Time With Music
By JESSE McKINLEY
Published: May 5, 2011
JAKE SHEARS, the blue-eyed frontman of the disco-loving band Scissor Sisters, says he still vividly remembers first encountering "Tales of the City," Armistead Maupin's freewheeling novel about a group of searchers, swingers and eccentrics at play in 1976 San Francisco.
He was 13. "I hadn't necessarily figured out I was gay yet, and these two guys in my hometown who were lovers befriended me," said Mr. Shears, now 32. "And I remember one of them one day passed me the book and said, 'I think you'll really like this.'"
Sure enough, he did. And so it was that when Jeff Whitty, the Tony-winning writer of the book for "Avenue Q," approached Mr. Shears in 2006 about a possible musical version of that first novel and one of its many sequels, Mr. Shears signed up immediately, pulling in John Garden, a Scissor Sisters' collaborator and touring keyboardist, as well. They wrote their first song — "Plus One," an ode to an unexpected pregnancy — that day in a Chicago arena where the band was playing. (It's still in the show.)
All of which quickly convinced Mr. Whitty that Mr. Shears's talents extended beyond boogie-inspiring beats.
"With pop composers there can be questions: Can they write for character? Can they write for situation?" said Mr. Whitty, who knew Mr. Shears from the "downtown social scene" in New York. "But he just immediately leapt on the project."
The result of that five-year collaboration will make its debut in — where else? — San Francisco this month as a $2.5 million production that includes a company of 21 actors, nearly four dozen characters, at least two pairs of knee-high patent-leather go-go boots and more than 200 other costumes. (And God knows how much polyester.)
It's the most expensive show ever produced by the American Conservatory Theater, whose schedule usually mixes classical revivals with more experimental pieces. Single-handedly producing new musicals isn't typically part of its programming, but Carey Perloff, the theater's artistic director, said that "Tales of the City" fit both the company's mission of doing work about the Bay Area as well as providing a low-pressure environment for creators.
"It's a nontraditional kind of piece — lots of characters, lots of story lines, lots of sex and drugs — and I think we fit what they were looking for," said Ms. Perloff. "This isn't a particularly 'Broadway' audience. This audience is very game for unusual musicals."
For the uninitiated "Tales of the City" tells of a collection of San Franciscans trying to make their way in the city during the heady, often happy days after Nixon and before Harvey Milk's assassination (and, even more tragically, the AIDS epidemic).
And while the "Tales" collection — including "Mary Ann in Autumn" published last year — is undoubtedly part of the gay literary canon, many of the major characters are straight, including Mary Ann Singleton, the wide-eyed 25-year-old from Cleveland whose decision to stay in San Francisco after a summer vacation kicks off the action.
"A young girl arrives in a big city and puts her suitcase down: I mean how many musicals start like that?" said the director, Jason Moore, another "Avenue Q" veteran. "And that's how our musical starts."
Between that opening scene and the end of the latest book, however, are thousands of pages of dialogue, characters, actions, reactions, name-checks, name-drops and, yes, sex and drugs. (In one of the story's more memorable moments the first joint — delivered by the bohemian landlady Anna Madrigal — is taped to the door of Mary Ann's apartment at 28 Barbary Lane, whose back stairwell is a central motif in the musical's set.)
Complicating the task of adaptation was the decision by Mr. Whitty to use two complete novels — "Tales of the City" and "More Tales of the City" — as source material. First published as a newspaper serial, the story has an episodic, almost improvisational feel that can be easy to read but difficult to stage. "Originally I thought it would just be the first book, but there's really important story lines that only tie up in the second book," Mr. Whitty said. "And I wanted to make the show feel round and not just keep going around in disparate directions."
There were other challenge, too, including a pair of untested — if notably cool — composers. Mr. Shears, who grew up outside Seattle and is known as Jason (his given name) to friends, said his only previous experience writing for the stage was a one-act musical in high school called "Wailing Betsy" about, he said, "Betsy Ross coming to modern day, time traveling, and going to an abortion rally."
It was — needless to say — never produced professionally.
Mr. Garden, meanwhile, or "J J" to band mates, had never read "Tales of the City," though he had seen the 1993 mini-series. (Laura Linney played Mary Ann.) And while the songs for the show came fast and furious, both men said there were dozens that never made it onstage.
"There's an entire parallel show we cut," Mr. Shears said. "It's like the 'Subterranean Tales of the City.'"
In particular the team found that there's generally a lot more freedom in writing pop songs. In his life as a Scissor Sister "I can write some nonsense that sounds good and get by," Mr. Shears said. "With this show you don't have the luxury."
Mr. Garden, who grew up in England, concurred. "When you're writing stuff for yourself you're the one who has to go up onstage and sing it, so it's your comfort level of what you can get away with," he said. "This feels more like doing a crossword, in that there's a space and there's a right answer."
The first draft, in 2008, was "gargantuan," Mr. Moore said, but useful in "auditioning story lines." A workshop at the Eugene O'Neill National Music Theater Conference followed, as did more rewrites.
The trick, members of the creative team said, was to find a balance between the story's charms — the singles scene, the camp, the '70s — while keeping it interesting for a modern audience.
"To me the period was not as important as who the characters are and what they're doing," Mr. Shears said. "And that's why the sound of the show is not a '70s pastiche. Of course there's some disco in the show and moments that point towards certain stylings of the era. But I just wanted the songs to be timeless and natural."
At a recent rehearsal (previews start May 18 with opening night on May 31 ) the cast worked through the show's second act curtain raiser, "Defending My Life," in a room plastered with photographs of familiar San Francisco spots (City Lights bookstore, the Golden Gate Bridge) and familiar San Francisco characters.
The song itself is a soaring call to arms sung by a drag queen named Manita Bryant (played by Josh Walden and inspired by the antigay singer-activist Anita Bryant), who complains that "my pumps have been ground down, till they're nothing but flats." But Manita promises to carry on. "It's nobody's city," Mr. Walden sang, "but my own."
It's just such a sentiment that characters repeatedly express in the "Tales" novels. And while the critics may determine whether the musical version ever makes it beyond the 415 area code, Mr. Maupin in a telephone interview said he was delighted with the progress of the show, which he said captured not only the moment of 1976 but also the city's continued reputation as a safe haven for outcasts and oddballs from elsewhere.
"I have a 25-year-old girl trainer who tells me stories about what's going on down at the multiorgasmic workshop," said Mr. Maupin, 66, and still living in San Francisco with his husband, Christopher Turner. "The city doesn't feel any different at all."
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/08/theater/tales-of-the-city-become-a-musical.html?_r=1
Published: May 5, 2011
JAKE SHEARS, the blue-eyed frontman of the disco-loving band Scissor Sisters, says he still vividly remembers first encountering "Tales of the City," Armistead Maupin's freewheeling novel about a group of searchers, swingers and eccentrics at play in 1976 San Francisco.
He was 13. "I hadn't necessarily figured out I was gay yet, and these two guys in my hometown who were lovers befriended me," said Mr. Shears, now 32. "And I remember one of them one day passed me the book and said, 'I think you'll really like this.'"
Sure enough, he did. And so it was that when Jeff Whitty, the Tony-winning writer of the book for "Avenue Q," approached Mr. Shears in 2006 about a possible musical version of that first novel and one of its many sequels, Mr. Shears signed up immediately, pulling in John Garden, a Scissor Sisters' collaborator and touring keyboardist, as well. They wrote their first song — "Plus One," an ode to an unexpected pregnancy — that day in a Chicago arena where the band was playing. (It's still in the show.)
All of which quickly convinced Mr. Whitty that Mr. Shears's talents extended beyond boogie-inspiring beats.
"With pop composers there can be questions: Can they write for character? Can they write for situation?" said Mr. Whitty, who knew Mr. Shears from the "downtown social scene" in New York. "But he just immediately leapt on the project."
The result of that five-year collaboration will make its debut in — where else? — San Francisco this month as a $2.5 million production that includes a company of 21 actors, nearly four dozen characters, at least two pairs of knee-high patent-leather go-go boots and more than 200 other costumes. (And God knows how much polyester.)
It's the most expensive show ever produced by the American Conservatory Theater, whose schedule usually mixes classical revivals with more experimental pieces. Single-handedly producing new musicals isn't typically part of its programming, but Carey Perloff, the theater's artistic director, said that "Tales of the City" fit both the company's mission of doing work about the Bay Area as well as providing a low-pressure environment for creators.
"It's a nontraditional kind of piece — lots of characters, lots of story lines, lots of sex and drugs — and I think we fit what they were looking for," said Ms. Perloff. "This isn't a particularly 'Broadway' audience. This audience is very game for unusual musicals."
For the uninitiated "Tales of the City" tells of a collection of San Franciscans trying to make their way in the city during the heady, often happy days after Nixon and before Harvey Milk's assassination (and, even more tragically, the AIDS epidemic).
And while the "Tales" collection — including "Mary Ann in Autumn" published last year — is undoubtedly part of the gay literary canon, many of the major characters are straight, including Mary Ann Singleton, the wide-eyed 25-year-old from Cleveland whose decision to stay in San Francisco after a summer vacation kicks off the action.
"A young girl arrives in a big city and puts her suitcase down: I mean how many musicals start like that?" said the director, Jason Moore, another "Avenue Q" veteran. "And that's how our musical starts."
Between that opening scene and the end of the latest book, however, are thousands of pages of dialogue, characters, actions, reactions, name-checks, name-drops and, yes, sex and drugs. (In one of the story's more memorable moments the first joint — delivered by the bohemian landlady Anna Madrigal — is taped to the door of Mary Ann's apartment at 28 Barbary Lane, whose back stairwell is a central motif in the musical's set.)
Complicating the task of adaptation was the decision by Mr. Whitty to use two complete novels — "Tales of the City" and "More Tales of the City" — as source material. First published as a newspaper serial, the story has an episodic, almost improvisational feel that can be easy to read but difficult to stage. "Originally I thought it would just be the first book, but there's really important story lines that only tie up in the second book," Mr. Whitty said. "And I wanted to make the show feel round and not just keep going around in disparate directions."
There were other challenge, too, including a pair of untested — if notably cool — composers. Mr. Shears, who grew up outside Seattle and is known as Jason (his given name) to friends, said his only previous experience writing for the stage was a one-act musical in high school called "Wailing Betsy" about, he said, "Betsy Ross coming to modern day, time traveling, and going to an abortion rally."
It was — needless to say — never produced professionally.
Mr. Garden, meanwhile, or "J J" to band mates, had never read "Tales of the City," though he had seen the 1993 mini-series. (Laura Linney played Mary Ann.) And while the songs for the show came fast and furious, both men said there were dozens that never made it onstage.
"There's an entire parallel show we cut," Mr. Shears said. "It's like the 'Subterranean Tales of the City.'"
In particular the team found that there's generally a lot more freedom in writing pop songs. In his life as a Scissor Sister "I can write some nonsense that sounds good and get by," Mr. Shears said. "With this show you don't have the luxury."
Mr. Garden, who grew up in England, concurred. "When you're writing stuff for yourself you're the one who has to go up onstage and sing it, so it's your comfort level of what you can get away with," he said. "This feels more like doing a crossword, in that there's a space and there's a right answer."
The first draft, in 2008, was "gargantuan," Mr. Moore said, but useful in "auditioning story lines." A workshop at the Eugene O'Neill National Music Theater Conference followed, as did more rewrites.
The trick, members of the creative team said, was to find a balance between the story's charms — the singles scene, the camp, the '70s — while keeping it interesting for a modern audience.
"To me the period was not as important as who the characters are and what they're doing," Mr. Shears said. "And that's why the sound of the show is not a '70s pastiche. Of course there's some disco in the show and moments that point towards certain stylings of the era. But I just wanted the songs to be timeless and natural."
At a recent rehearsal (previews start May 18 with opening night on May 31 ) the cast worked through the show's second act curtain raiser, "Defending My Life," in a room plastered with photographs of familiar San Francisco spots (City Lights bookstore, the Golden Gate Bridge) and familiar San Francisco characters.
The song itself is a soaring call to arms sung by a drag queen named Manita Bryant (played by Josh Walden and inspired by the antigay singer-activist Anita Bryant), who complains that "my pumps have been ground down, till they're nothing but flats." But Manita promises to carry on. "It's nobody's city," Mr. Walden sang, "but my own."
It's just such a sentiment that characters repeatedly express in the "Tales" novels. And while the critics may determine whether the musical version ever makes it beyond the 415 area code, Mr. Maupin in a telephone interview said he was delighted with the progress of the show, which he said captured not only the moment of 1976 but also the city's continued reputation as a safe haven for outcasts and oddballs from elsewhere.
"I have a 25-year-old girl trainer who tells me stories about what's going on down at the multiorgasmic workshop," said Mr. Maupin, 66, and still living in San Francisco with his husband, Christopher Turner. "The city doesn't feel any different at all."
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/08/theater/tales-of-the-city-become-a-musical.html?_r=1
April 29, 2011
Filthy Friend
Written by Jeff Katz
Wednesday, 27 April 2011
Jake Shears has been touring the world with the Scissor Sisters since last fall, promoting their fantastic latest album, Night Work, and supporting Gaga on the recent leg of her Monster Ball. One would think he'd take a breather now that the tour is over, but Jake is anything but predictable. That's because he's now calling San Francisco his temporary home as Tales Of The City prepares for its world stage premiere! In Instinct's May Soapbox, Jake talks about the massive task of writing a musical version of the beloved books. But now we caught up with Mr. Shears (after frustratingly being unable to access Internet porn from his Utah hotel room, go figure) and we're finding out if this experience has sparked a new career, who introduced him to Gaga in the first place and what our favorite glam band is cooking up for the remainder of 2011.
Now that you're in the home stretch of the musical process, has this experience sparked a new passion for you? And if so, will you try your hands at theater again?
I love musicals. I love the stage. So I'd say definitely. But honestly, my next show is going to literally be about a frog, a girl and a ball. Something simple! [Laughs] Because this has been a complex show! It's been like a Jenga puzzle; we've been seeing how many bricks we can pull out and re-stack before it all falls down.
Who do you foresee being the typical theater goer for this show?
Hopefully it will introduce a new generation to the story, but it's just a question of who goes to theater now? Theater is an interesting animal just because it's hard to get younger people to go to the theater because it cost money. Theater is expensive. So who knows who will show up?! [Laughs] That's the thing about theater though, it is exclusive in a way. Especially if you look at theater in New York, it is expensive to go see shows so it holds a lot of people back. But unfortunately there's no way around that because it costs a lot of money to make.
Have you remained involved all the way through, be it rehearsals and staging, or is it like you've made the baby and now you wait?
Oh, no! That's why we jumped off the Gaga tour a couple of week's before Monster Ball was over so I could get in there and get my hands dirty with the show.
Speaking of the Lady, how was touring with Gaga?
Amazing! It was really, really fun. We were playing for the biggest crowds we've ever played for in America, and they've been so receptive.
It seems like such the perfect pairing, how did the idea come about?
We did it on our own, actually. It came out of a conversation between the two of us. She's always been a fan of the band and has always given us a lot of credit, which is great. From her first interview in Rolling Stone, she's always given us shout outs. We talked on the phone quite a bit, but then we met last summer when Elton [John] introduced the two of us. And she said it be really cool for us to tour together in America and I said, "Honey, we are there!"
Do you find commonality between the Sisterhood and the Little Monsters?
Yeah, it's great because a lot of the crowd may not have known who we are but we were going out to a crowd that was already filtered and primed to be into a band like us and the music that we make. It's always a challenge going out and playing to people that didn't pay money to see you, but the satisfying thing was that by the end of our sets we were playing for 10,000 people who were going ape shit and giving us tons of love. Her die-hards have been so welcoming and into us and have taken the time to discover us and get into the music. I mean, you could go out there and play to a bunch of dead fish who really don't give a fuck, but it was such the opposite. I've had a great time!
You guys have always had dance elements in your music, and now we're seeing everyone go there—Britney, Katy, all of Top 40 at the moment, really. Do you think this is a bubble that's bound to burst?
I think we're in an extremely creative moment right now with dance music. There are technological advances that have happened in just the last few years that are pretty mind blowing. So I think what's happening is that we're having a real psychedelic moment in pop music right now. Yeah, there are cookie-cutter things and go-to sounds happening, but some of the production is bonkers. Tides will always turn and there will always be dance music, but things swing back and forth. I'm a through-and-through techno head, that's all I want to listen to. [Laughs] So I think this dance moment is a good thing, although a little variety is always nice, too.
Well, that's why we need the Scissor Sisters!
[Laughs] Right! But I don't think there's a single band in the Top 40 right now in the U.K. There are no bands! Which is kinda scary; it's a little bit unnerving. But I think we serve up a ton of different stuff. And it's funny, playing the [Gaga] shows, these people had in their head's that we were a rock band. I don't know how you categorize us, I think we've got a little bit of everything and can be interpreted a lot of different ways.
So, after opening night of the musical are you taking a well-deserved break or is it back to the band?
[Laughs] This fucking train ain't stopping. Scissor Sisters are actually making more music now, we're gonna fucking break on through to the other side. Our goal, really, is to have more music out by the end of this year.
Check out Jake's Soapbox in Instinct's new May issue—or because we're super cool, you can always read it here! For more on Tales Of The City, visit act-sf.org.
http://instinctmagazine.com/web-exclusives/filthy-friend
Wednesday, 27 April 2011
Jake Shears has been touring the world with the Scissor Sisters since last fall, promoting their fantastic latest album, Night Work, and supporting Gaga on the recent leg of her Monster Ball. One would think he'd take a breather now that the tour is over, but Jake is anything but predictable. That's because he's now calling San Francisco his temporary home as Tales Of The City prepares for its world stage premiere! In Instinct's May Soapbox, Jake talks about the massive task of writing a musical version of the beloved books. But now we caught up with Mr. Shears (after frustratingly being unable to access Internet porn from his Utah hotel room, go figure) and we're finding out if this experience has sparked a new career, who introduced him to Gaga in the first place and what our favorite glam band is cooking up for the remainder of 2011.
Now that you're in the home stretch of the musical process, has this experience sparked a new passion for you? And if so, will you try your hands at theater again?
I love musicals. I love the stage. So I'd say definitely. But honestly, my next show is going to literally be about a frog, a girl and a ball. Something simple! [Laughs] Because this has been a complex show! It's been like a Jenga puzzle; we've been seeing how many bricks we can pull out and re-stack before it all falls down.
Who do you foresee being the typical theater goer for this show?
Hopefully it will introduce a new generation to the story, but it's just a question of who goes to theater now? Theater is an interesting animal just because it's hard to get younger people to go to the theater because it cost money. Theater is expensive. So who knows who will show up?! [Laughs] That's the thing about theater though, it is exclusive in a way. Especially if you look at theater in New York, it is expensive to go see shows so it holds a lot of people back. But unfortunately there's no way around that because it costs a lot of money to make.
Have you remained involved all the way through, be it rehearsals and staging, or is it like you've made the baby and now you wait?
Oh, no! That's why we jumped off the Gaga tour a couple of week's before Monster Ball was over so I could get in there and get my hands dirty with the show.
Speaking of the Lady, how was touring with Gaga?
Amazing! It was really, really fun. We were playing for the biggest crowds we've ever played for in America, and they've been so receptive.
It seems like such the perfect pairing, how did the idea come about?
We did it on our own, actually. It came out of a conversation between the two of us. She's always been a fan of the band and has always given us a lot of credit, which is great. From her first interview in Rolling Stone, she's always given us shout outs. We talked on the phone quite a bit, but then we met last summer when Elton [John] introduced the two of us. And she said it be really cool for us to tour together in America and I said, "Honey, we are there!"
Do you find commonality between the Sisterhood and the Little Monsters?
Yeah, it's great because a lot of the crowd may not have known who we are but we were going out to a crowd that was already filtered and primed to be into a band like us and the music that we make. It's always a challenge going out and playing to people that didn't pay money to see you, but the satisfying thing was that by the end of our sets we were playing for 10,000 people who were going ape shit and giving us tons of love. Her die-hards have been so welcoming and into us and have taken the time to discover us and get into the music. I mean, you could go out there and play to a bunch of dead fish who really don't give a fuck, but it was such the opposite. I've had a great time!
You guys have always had dance elements in your music, and now we're seeing everyone go there—Britney, Katy, all of Top 40 at the moment, really. Do you think this is a bubble that's bound to burst?
I think we're in an extremely creative moment right now with dance music. There are technological advances that have happened in just the last few years that are pretty mind blowing. So I think what's happening is that we're having a real psychedelic moment in pop music right now. Yeah, there are cookie-cutter things and go-to sounds happening, but some of the production is bonkers. Tides will always turn and there will always be dance music, but things swing back and forth. I'm a through-and-through techno head, that's all I want to listen to. [Laughs] So I think this dance moment is a good thing, although a little variety is always nice, too.
Well, that's why we need the Scissor Sisters!
[Laughs] Right! But I don't think there's a single band in the Top 40 right now in the U.K. There are no bands! Which is kinda scary; it's a little bit unnerving. But I think we serve up a ton of different stuff. And it's funny, playing the [Gaga] shows, these people had in their head's that we were a rock band. I don't know how you categorize us, I think we've got a little bit of everything and can be interpreted a lot of different ways.
So, after opening night of the musical are you taking a well-deserved break or is it back to the band?
[Laughs] This fucking train ain't stopping. Scissor Sisters are actually making more music now, we're gonna fucking break on through to the other side. Our goal, really, is to have more music out by the end of this year.
Check out Jake's Soapbox in Instinct's new May issue—or because we're super cool, you can always read it here! For more on Tales Of The City, visit act-sf.org.
http://instinctmagazine.com/web-exclusives/filthy-friend
April 28, 2011
Scissor Sisters' Jake Shears Honored to Write 'Tales of the City' Musical
Singer teams with 'Avenue Q' creators to adapt Armistead Maupin's series of gay-themed novels
By Matthew Perpetua
April 27, 2011 5:05 PM ET
It didn't take much to persuade Scissor Sisters frontman Jake Shears to get involved with a musical adaptation of Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City novels. "I got an email from [librettist Jeff Whitty] wondering if I'd be interested in a musical that took place in the Seventies and had kinda fun themes that involved gays, copious drug use and trannies," he says. "I said, 'Of course – what is it?'"
When Shears discovered that Whitty had secured rights to produce a musical based on Maupin's series of books about gays, bohemians and other outsiders set in 1970s San Francisco, he jumped at the chance. "Jake grabbed me in the dressing room and said, 'Grab a keyboard, we're writing a musical,'" says John Garden, Shears' Scissor Sisters and Tales of the City writing partner. "That's when I was on board, it was that moment. We wrote a song that day that is still in the show."
Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City, a production featuring all-new music written by Shears and Garden, is set to run at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco between May 18th and July 10th. The show, which is penned by Jeff Whitty and directed by Jason Moore, both of the Tony Award–winning Broadway musical Avenue Q, condenses plots from several of Maupin's novels into a single story. "It's a really ambitious show," says Shears. "There are 50 characters and 60 themes; it's a massive undertaking. The show is just like the books – there are very short scenes that go really fast. It's a very different kind of musical."
Though Garden was familiar only with the televised miniseries version of Tales of the City from the early Nineties, Shears had been a fan of the books since he was a teen. "When I was 13, there were these two gay guys in my hometown and I think they probably picked up on the fact that I am gay," Shears recalls. "They were really lovely, they gave me a lot of music to listen to and turned me on to new stuff. One day, Sean, one of them, gave me a copy of Tales of the City and said, 'I think you'll really like this, you should read it.' I fell in love with the characters and read the entire series. The books were, for me, a rite of passage." Shears acknowledges that the Tales series had a particular resonance for him as a young gay man, but he believes that Maupin's stories have a universal quality. "Anybody can pick them up and really get into them," he says. "There's lots of lascivious behavior, but somehow they remain really kind of beautiful and nonjudgmental and strangely wholesome."
Though Shears and Garden's music evokes the sound of the era the story is set, they made a point of avoiding outright Seventies nostalgia. "I didn't want to do a kind of Seventies pastiche, and I didn't want it to resemble, even with original songs, a jukebox musical," Shears says. "I didn't want to just go in and do Seventies-sounding music. My writing style leans in that direction anyway, so I figured if we just naturally wrote the songs, they were going to have some of that in them."
Unlike Billie Joe Armstrong, who starred in several performances of Green Day's American Idiot musical on Broadway, Shears has no plans to join the production of Tales of the City as a performer. "I couldn't act my way out of a wet paper bag," he says. "I'm a terrible, terrible, terrible actor, and you can watch the two episodes where the Scissor Sisters were on [the soap opera] Passions for proof. I can sing my face off, but acting is not my forte, and this show requires great actors. The characters have a lot of depth and the performances are super-important. I just don't have the skills."
As of yet, there are no plans to stage Tales of the City outside of San Francisco, though Shears and Garden are hopeful that it will open elsewhere in the future. "If this is the only time I'll ever see this show performed, I'm super-happy just that it's happening in San Francisco," Shears says. "For the moment, we've just got our blinders on and we just want it to be the best show it can be for the city that it takes place in."
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/scissor-sisters-jake-shears-honored-to-write-tales-of-the-city-musical-20110427
By Matthew Perpetua
April 27, 2011 5:05 PM ET
It didn't take much to persuade Scissor Sisters frontman Jake Shears to get involved with a musical adaptation of Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City novels. "I got an email from [librettist Jeff Whitty] wondering if I'd be interested in a musical that took place in the Seventies and had kinda fun themes that involved gays, copious drug use and trannies," he says. "I said, 'Of course – what is it?'"
When Shears discovered that Whitty had secured rights to produce a musical based on Maupin's series of books about gays, bohemians and other outsiders set in 1970s San Francisco, he jumped at the chance. "Jake grabbed me in the dressing room and said, 'Grab a keyboard, we're writing a musical,'" says John Garden, Shears' Scissor Sisters and Tales of the City writing partner. "That's when I was on board, it was that moment. We wrote a song that day that is still in the show."
Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City, a production featuring all-new music written by Shears and Garden, is set to run at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco between May 18th and July 10th. The show, which is penned by Jeff Whitty and directed by Jason Moore, both of the Tony Award–winning Broadway musical Avenue Q, condenses plots from several of Maupin's novels into a single story. "It's a really ambitious show," says Shears. "There are 50 characters and 60 themes; it's a massive undertaking. The show is just like the books – there are very short scenes that go really fast. It's a very different kind of musical."
Though Garden was familiar only with the televised miniseries version of Tales of the City from the early Nineties, Shears had been a fan of the books since he was a teen. "When I was 13, there were these two gay guys in my hometown and I think they probably picked up on the fact that I am gay," Shears recalls. "They were really lovely, they gave me a lot of music to listen to and turned me on to new stuff. One day, Sean, one of them, gave me a copy of Tales of the City and said, 'I think you'll really like this, you should read it.' I fell in love with the characters and read the entire series. The books were, for me, a rite of passage." Shears acknowledges that the Tales series had a particular resonance for him as a young gay man, but he believes that Maupin's stories have a universal quality. "Anybody can pick them up and really get into them," he says. "There's lots of lascivious behavior, but somehow they remain really kind of beautiful and nonjudgmental and strangely wholesome."
Though Shears and Garden's music evokes the sound of the era the story is set, they made a point of avoiding outright Seventies nostalgia. "I didn't want to do a kind of Seventies pastiche, and I didn't want it to resemble, even with original songs, a jukebox musical," Shears says. "I didn't want to just go in and do Seventies-sounding music. My writing style leans in that direction anyway, so I figured if we just naturally wrote the songs, they were going to have some of that in them."
Unlike Billie Joe Armstrong, who starred in several performances of Green Day's American Idiot musical on Broadway, Shears has no plans to join the production of Tales of the City as a performer. "I couldn't act my way out of a wet paper bag," he says. "I'm a terrible, terrible, terrible actor, and you can watch the two episodes where the Scissor Sisters were on [the soap opera] Passions for proof. I can sing my face off, but acting is not my forte, and this show requires great actors. The characters have a lot of depth and the performances are super-important. I just don't have the skills."
As of yet, there are no plans to stage Tales of the City outside of San Francisco, though Shears and Garden are hopeful that it will open elsewhere in the future. "If this is the only time I'll ever see this show performed, I'm super-happy just that it's happening in San Francisco," Shears says. "For the moment, we've just got our blinders on and we just want it to be the best show it can be for the city that it takes place in."
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/scissor-sisters-jake-shears-honored-to-write-tales-of-the-city-musical-20110427
April 26, 2011
April 19, 2011
Scissor Sisters singer Jake Shears expands resume to upcoming "Tales of the City" musical
altantamagazine.com
Posted 4/14/2011 10:42:00 AM
Thanks to interview enabler and Outwrite Books owner Philip Rafshoon, Scissor Sisters frontman Jake Shears graciously agreed to chat with us while he was in town last week.
This was between his and photographer Tim Hailand's sold-out book signing for "One Day in the Life of Jake Shears" and a Scissor Sisters show at the Tabernacle.
Shears is currently sweating the songwriting details as part of the creative team responsible for the upcoming "Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City A New Musical" currently in rehearsal with a world premiere set for May 18 at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. Shears co-wrote the music with band mate John Garden while "Avenue Q" Tony winner Jeff Whitty has written the musical's book. "Avenue Q" and "Shrek" Tony nominee Jason Moore is directing the project. The musical is based on the material in "Tales" and Maupin's first sequel, "More Tales of the City."
Was it daunting coming up with musical material for iconic literary characters beloved by generations of "Tales" fans? "It's still a daunting process!" Shears told us laughing. "Production rehearsals start in three days! I'm very involved. It's a massive undertaking but what makes me breathe a little easier is that the team is so amazing. Everyone is so good at what they do and we all get along so well."
Maupin is also involved in the latest "Tales" offspring that has already produced eight novels and three television mini series in the franchise's 35-year history. But Shears says Maupin's personality immediately put him at ease.
"There is nothing intimidating about Armistead Maupin," the singer says. "He's the friendliest guy you'll ever meet and just a lovely soul."
Scissor Sisters has always embraced the glam rock theatrics and disco dance music of the 1970s so Shears and Garden were logical go-to guys for the musical. But don't expect a strict period score, Shears says. "I recorded most of the demos for the show and it's very different to see what happens when the actors take on the songs. I of course put my own stamp on things but a Broadway veteran is going to deliver it differently. I often like that different spin a song can take when someone else sings it. But I didn't go for period directly with the songs. There's some disco in there for the club scenes but I didn't want to go out of my way with that. Stylistically, I automatically kind of write in that vein anyway. I wanted to write music that was kind of timeless instead of super pointed in the 70s."
Perhaps the most anticipated number in the musical is "Letter to Mama," where Shears took the contents of the book's central gay character Michael Tolliver's coming out letter to his parents. It's a missive that generations of gays and lesbians have cut and pasted to their own parents. The number will be performed by actor Wesley Taylor in the musical.
"I didn't really have an emotional reaction when I was writing it," Shears concedes. "But in the hands of an actor? It's the most devastating thing I've ever seen. It's an incredible number. It's a real tribute to Armistead's words. I just edited them down and turned it into a melody. It's an incredibly moving number. I've never seen it without crying. Thank God it's followed up by the funniest number in the show!"
And that is? "It's called 'Ride 'Em Hard,'" Shears previews laughing. "You're not sad for too long [after 'Letter to Mama'] let's just say!"
While the show might be a no-brainer for Broadway, Shears maintains modesty on the show's future and realizes work remains.
"Seriously, I can't even envision that right now," he says. "Sure, it would be amazing. When I saw it [in read throughs] on stage with music stands at the Eugene O'Neill [Theatre], I remember thinking, 'If I never see this performed again, I'll still be happy I was able to do this. It was such a joy to watch. Just that was worth it to me. There's still major work to do and we've got to make this show [expletive] amazing. I want to make this a great show for San Francisco. I can't allow myself to think past that right now."
Posted By: Richard Eldredge
http://www.atlantamagazine.com/atlintel/culture/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10226828
Posted 4/14/2011 10:42:00 AM
Thanks to interview enabler and Outwrite Books owner Philip Rafshoon, Scissor Sisters frontman Jake Shears graciously agreed to chat with us while he was in town last week.
This was between his and photographer Tim Hailand's sold-out book signing for "One Day in the Life of Jake Shears" and a Scissor Sisters show at the Tabernacle.
Shears is currently sweating the songwriting details as part of the creative team responsible for the upcoming "Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City A New Musical" currently in rehearsal with a world premiere set for May 18 at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. Shears co-wrote the music with band mate John Garden while "Avenue Q" Tony winner Jeff Whitty has written the musical's book. "Avenue Q" and "Shrek" Tony nominee Jason Moore is directing the project. The musical is based on the material in "Tales" and Maupin's first sequel, "More Tales of the City."
Was it daunting coming up with musical material for iconic literary characters beloved by generations of "Tales" fans? "It's still a daunting process!" Shears told us laughing. "Production rehearsals start in three days! I'm very involved. It's a massive undertaking but what makes me breathe a little easier is that the team is so amazing. Everyone is so good at what they do and we all get along so well."
Maupin is also involved in the latest "Tales" offspring that has already produced eight novels and three television mini series in the franchise's 35-year history. But Shears says Maupin's personality immediately put him at ease.
"There is nothing intimidating about Armistead Maupin," the singer says. "He's the friendliest guy you'll ever meet and just a lovely soul."
Scissor Sisters has always embraced the glam rock theatrics and disco dance music of the 1970s so Shears and Garden were logical go-to guys for the musical. But don't expect a strict period score, Shears says. "I recorded most of the demos for the show and it's very different to see what happens when the actors take on the songs. I of course put my own stamp on things but a Broadway veteran is going to deliver it differently. I often like that different spin a song can take when someone else sings it. But I didn't go for period directly with the songs. There's some disco in there for the club scenes but I didn't want to go out of my way with that. Stylistically, I automatically kind of write in that vein anyway. I wanted to write music that was kind of timeless instead of super pointed in the 70s."
Perhaps the most anticipated number in the musical is "Letter to Mama," where Shears took the contents of the book's central gay character Michael Tolliver's coming out letter to his parents. It's a missive that generations of gays and lesbians have cut and pasted to their own parents. The number will be performed by actor Wesley Taylor in the musical.
"I didn't really have an emotional reaction when I was writing it," Shears concedes. "But in the hands of an actor? It's the most devastating thing I've ever seen. It's an incredible number. It's a real tribute to Armistead's words. I just edited them down and turned it into a melody. It's an incredibly moving number. I've never seen it without crying. Thank God it's followed up by the funniest number in the show!"
And that is? "It's called 'Ride 'Em Hard,'" Shears previews laughing. "You're not sad for too long [after 'Letter to Mama'] let's just say!"
While the show might be a no-brainer for Broadway, Shears maintains modesty on the show's future and realizes work remains.
"Seriously, I can't even envision that right now," he says. "Sure, it would be amazing. When I saw it [in read throughs] on stage with music stands at the Eugene O'Neill [Theatre], I remember thinking, 'If I never see this performed again, I'll still be happy I was able to do this. It was such a joy to watch. Just that was worth it to me. There's still major work to do and we've got to make this show [expletive] amazing. I want to make this a great show for San Francisco. I can't allow myself to think past that right now."
Posted By: Richard Eldredge
http://www.atlantamagazine.com/atlintel/culture/blogentry.aspx?BlogEntryID=10226828
Armistead Maupin's Blog
- Armistead Maupin's profile
- 1953 followers
Armistead Maupin isn't a Goodreads Author
(yet),
but they
do have a blog,
so here are some recent posts imported from
their feed.
