Jakes Shears on Tales of the City musical

In Advocate magazine’s annual “Forty under 40″ feature, profiling gay men and women under 40 and making waves, he talks about his collaboration with Tony award-winning Avenue Q co-writer Jeff Whitty and Scissor Sisters tour keyboardist John “JJ”Garden, in writing a musical stage adaptation of Armistead Maupin’s cult book Tales of the City that will premiere at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco in 2011.

Advocate magazine – Forty Under 40

Jake Shears
31 / New York City
Lead singer, Scissor Sisters

“If I had to hide being gay, I wouldn’t have a creative process,” Jake Shears says. “I wouldn’t have a career.” The unapologetically gay lead singer of Scissor Sisters is in full creative bloom, and fans have two of his projects to look forward to. Scissor Sisters will release a new, as yet-untitled album (their first since 2006’s acclaimed Ta-Dah) in July. “It’s the first record that genuinely sounds like us,” Shears says, describing the new material as being “about an imaginary New York that exists only in my head.” Shears also has teamed with Avenue Q playwright Jeff Whitty for another exciting project: the stage musical version of Tales of the City, Armistead Maupin’s beloved novel about a group of friends in 1970s San Francisco. “The characters are so established, strong, and familiar to me that it’s been a pleasure to write for them,” says Shears, who has contributed the music for the production, which is currently in the workshop process.

http://www.pdruk.com/192/blog/jakes-shears-on-tales-of-the-city-musical/