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/
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Ian McKellen to Be Heard on Scissor Sisters' Night Work CD
By: Andy Propst · Apr 13, 2010 · New York
Stage and screen star Ian McKellen is appearing on one track of the Scissor Sisters' forthcoming album Night Work, to be released by Polydor Records on June 28, according to a report on EW.com.
McKellen provides a spoken word interlude in the song "Invisible Light," which the band has streamed for one day only (April 13) on its official site. Among the other song titles on the CD are "Whole New Way," "Fire With Fire," "Any Which Way," and "Harder You Get."
The lead vocal on "Invisible Light" is by Scissor Sisters' Jake Shears, who with bandmate John Garden, is penning the score the forthcoming musical version of Tales of the City.
For further information, visit: www.scissorsisters.com.
http://www.theatermania.com/new-york/news/04-2010/ian-mckellen-to-be-heard-on-scissor-sisters-night_26570.html
Stage and screen star Ian McKellen is appearing on one track of the Scissor Sisters' forthcoming album Night Work, to be released by Polydor Records on June 28, according to a report on EW.com.
McKellen provides a spoken word interlude in the song "Invisible Light," which the band has streamed for one day only (April 13) on its official site. Among the other song titles on the CD are "Whole New Way," "Fire With Fire," "Any Which Way," and "Harder You Get."
The lead vocal on "Invisible Light" is by Scissor Sisters' Jake Shears, who with bandmate John Garden, is penning the score the forthcoming musical version of Tales of the City.
For further information, visit: www.scissorsisters.com.
http://www.theatermania.com/new-york/news/04-2010/ian-mckellen-to-be-heard-on-scissor-sisters-night_26570.html
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Debut Set for ‘Tales of the City’ Musical
By PATRICK HEALY
March 31, 2010, 10:51 am
The world premiere of the musical “Tales of the City,” adapted from two books by Armistead Maupin, will take place next spring at American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, the theater has announced.
Drawing on the exploits of the characters Mary Ann, Mouse, Anna Madrigal, and others from “Tales of the City” and “More Tales of the City,” set in 1970s San Francisco, the musical features a score and lyrics by Jake Shears and John Garden of the rock band Scissor Sisters and a book by Jeff Whitty (a Tony Award winner for “Avenue Q”), and will be directed by Jason Moore (“Shrek the Musical,” “Avenue Q”).
The production is scheduled to run May 17-July 10, 2011. According to a statement from the theater, the creative team has been working on the musical for more than two years, with Mr. Maupin’s blessing.
“I’ve always believed that a theatrical version of Tales should be homegrown in San Francisco, just the way the story itself was back in 1976,” Mr. Maupin said in the statement. “I trust this company to be faithful to the spirit of the material and to transfer it to another medium with charm and inventiveness.”
“Tales of the City” is the first musical project of Mr. Shears, the front man of Scissor Sisters, who said in the statement that the books are a rite of passage for many teenagers and that “I so identify the ‘Tales’ with my youth.”
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/debut-set-for-tales-of-the-city-musical/
March 31, 2010, 10:51 am
The world premiere of the musical “Tales of the City,” adapted from two books by Armistead Maupin, will take place next spring at American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, the theater has announced.
Drawing on the exploits of the characters Mary Ann, Mouse, Anna Madrigal, and others from “Tales of the City” and “More Tales of the City,” set in 1970s San Francisco, the musical features a score and lyrics by Jake Shears and John Garden of the rock band Scissor Sisters and a book by Jeff Whitty (a Tony Award winner for “Avenue Q”), and will be directed by Jason Moore (“Shrek the Musical,” “Avenue Q”).
The production is scheduled to run May 17-July 10, 2011. According to a statement from the theater, the creative team has been working on the musical for more than two years, with Mr. Maupin’s blessing.
“I’ve always believed that a theatrical version of Tales should be homegrown in San Francisco, just the way the story itself was back in 1976,” Mr. Maupin said in the statement. “I trust this company to be faithful to the spirit of the material and to transfer it to another medium with charm and inventiveness.”
“Tales of the City” is the first musical project of Mr. Shears, the front man of Scissor Sisters, who said in the statement that the books are a rite of passage for many teenagers and that “I so identify the ‘Tales’ with my youth.”
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/debut-set-for-tales-of-the-city-musical/
Monday, March 29, 2010
World Premiere "Tales Of The City - A New Musical"
Based on Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City and More Tales of the City
Libretto by Jeff Whitty
Music and lyrics by Jake Shears and John Garden
Directed by Jason Moore
Amid the fog-drenched glow of disco lights, bathhouses, and the bustling soul of 1970s San Francisco, a wide-eyed Midwestern girl finds a new home—and 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, detailing the lives and (multiple) loves of Mary Ann, Mouse, Mona, Brian, and the beloved but mysterious landlady Mrs. Madrigal, his iconic San Francisco saga comes home as a momentous new musical from the Tony Award–winning creators of Avenue Q and the musical minds behind the glam-rock phenomenon Scissor Sisters. The capstone of the 2010–11 season, A.C.T.'s world premiere musical adaptation of Tales of the City is an irrepressible celebration of the spirit that still defines our City by the Bay.
Visit Armistead Maupin's official website.
Check out the official website for the Scissor Sisters.
http://www.act-sf.org/site/PageServer?pagename=boxoffice_subscribe_main
Friday, March 26, 2010
ACT to give 'Tales of the City' world premiere
Robert Hurwitt, Chronicle Theater Critic
Friday, March 26, 2010
"Tales of the City," a new musical adaptation of Armistead Maupin's famed stories - created with veterans of "Avenue Q" and members of the rock band Scissor Sisters - will receive its world premiere in the American Conservatory Theater's 2010-11 season. Bill Irwin, Harold Pinter, and a new take on Sartre's "No Exit" are also featured in the ambitious lineup to be announced today by Artistic Director Carey Perloff, along with the previously announced, three-theater staging of Tarell Alvin McCraney's "The Brother/Sister Plays" trilogy.
"It's a wonderful valentine to the community in which we live," Perloff says of "Tales," noting that Maupin began his opus as a series of columns in The Chronicle. It's the kind of San Francisco story, like her own "The Tosca Project" this season, "that's a big part of the kind of work we want to make at ACT."
Perloff acknowledges that "Tales" has Broadway aspirations, with the participation of "Avenue Q" librettist Jeff Whitty and director Jason Moore, and Scissors songwriters Jake Shears and John Garden. But the premiere "is an ACT production for ACT's audience," she says. "Clearly it's an extraordinary team, and it would be surprising if it didn't have a longer life. But that isn't the first imperative, which is to do a fantastic production for a fantastic city."
"Tales" is also such a large undertaking that it will occupy the last two slots of the season, to allow for added tech rehearsals, two weeks of previews and a possible summer extension. That means ACT is selling a six-play subscription season instead of its usual seven. But patrons will "have other opportunities to see the company" in a series of "alternative programming," Perloff says. Those shows will be announced later.
The season opens in September with Irwin directing and starring in his own (with Mark O'Donnell) adaptation of Molière's "Scapin," in a production that will reunite him with his former Pickle Family Circus clown and co-star Geoff Hoyle. November brings McCraney's "Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet," the third part of the "Brother/Sister" trilogy. The first two plays will open the Marin Theatre Company and Magic Theatre's seasons.
After ACT's annual nonsubscription outing with "A Christmas Carol" and a still undetermined play in January, Perloff will direct Pinter's "The Homecoming." She hopes to use the occasion for an overdue "main-stage memorial celebration" of the work of the playwright, who died at the end of 2008. Though she's staged many of Pinter's plays, this will be her first time with what she terms his "master play. It's outrageous and funny and dangerous and really trenchant, just an uncompromising play."
Vancouver's Electric Company Theatre arrives in April with Kim Collier's live-cinematic take on "No Exit," a piece Perloff compares to the Kneehigh Theatre's buoyantly theatrical "Brief Encounter," which opened the current season. "Tales" opens in May 2011 to close the season. Subscription and other information is available at (415) 749-2250 or www.act-sf.org.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/26/DDAF1CIO4M.DTL
Friday, March 26, 2010
"Tales of the City," a new musical adaptation of Armistead Maupin's famed stories - created with veterans of "Avenue Q" and members of the rock band Scissor Sisters - will receive its world premiere in the American Conservatory Theater's 2010-11 season. Bill Irwin, Harold Pinter, and a new take on Sartre's "No Exit" are also featured in the ambitious lineup to be announced today by Artistic Director Carey Perloff, along with the previously announced, three-theater staging of Tarell Alvin McCraney's "The Brother/Sister Plays" trilogy.
"It's a wonderful valentine to the community in which we live," Perloff says of "Tales," noting that Maupin began his opus as a series of columns in The Chronicle. It's the kind of San Francisco story, like her own "The Tosca Project" this season, "that's a big part of the kind of work we want to make at ACT."
Perloff acknowledges that "Tales" has Broadway aspirations, with the participation of "Avenue Q" librettist Jeff Whitty and director Jason Moore, and Scissors songwriters Jake Shears and John Garden. But the premiere "is an ACT production for ACT's audience," she says. "Clearly it's an extraordinary team, and it would be surprising if it didn't have a longer life. But that isn't the first imperative, which is to do a fantastic production for a fantastic city."
"Tales" is also such a large undertaking that it will occupy the last two slots of the season, to allow for added tech rehearsals, two weeks of previews and a possible summer extension. That means ACT is selling a six-play subscription season instead of its usual seven. But patrons will "have other opportunities to see the company" in a series of "alternative programming," Perloff says. Those shows will be announced later.
The season opens in September with Irwin directing and starring in his own (with Mark O'Donnell) adaptation of Molière's "Scapin," in a production that will reunite him with his former Pickle Family Circus clown and co-star Geoff Hoyle. November brings McCraney's "Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet," the third part of the "Brother/Sister" trilogy. The first two plays will open the Marin Theatre Company and Magic Theatre's seasons.
After ACT's annual nonsubscription outing with "A Christmas Carol" and a still undetermined play in January, Perloff will direct Pinter's "The Homecoming." She hopes to use the occasion for an overdue "main-stage memorial celebration" of the work of the playwright, who died at the end of 2008. Though she's staged many of Pinter's plays, this will be her first time with what she terms his "master play. It's outrageous and funny and dangerous and really trenchant, just an uncompromising play."
Vancouver's Electric Company Theatre arrives in April with Kim Collier's live-cinematic take on "No Exit," a piece Perloff compares to the Kneehigh Theatre's buoyantly theatrical "Brief Encounter," which opened the current season. "Tales" opens in May 2011 to close the season. Subscription and other information is available at (415) 749-2250 or www.act-sf.org.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/03/26/DDAF1CIO4M.DTL
Thursday, March 25, 2010
ACT’s 44th season boasts big heart, big ideas
By: Janos Gereben
Special to The Examiner
March 26, 2010
SAN FRANCISCO — American Conservatory Theater Artistic Director Carey Perloff has one answer to two questions about the company’s upcoming 44th season, which was announced today.
The questions are: What is different about the season — running Sept. 16 through July 10, 2011 — and how does the current vitriolic political climate influence her choice of plays?
Her purpose, Perloff says, is to confront “our fractured and hostile climate by producing plays with big heart, big ideas, rich language and as large casts as possible, so that we can see ourselves reflected back in lovely, complex, fully realized ways.”
She cites highly theatrical plays, filled with music, such as Moliere’s “Scapin” directed by and starring Bill Irwin (Sept. 16 to Oct. 17); a world premiere musical by the “Avenue Q” team based on Armistead Maupin’s “Tales of the City” (May 17 to July 10, 2011); and Tarell Alvin McCraney’s “Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet,” part of the “Brother/Sister Plays Trilogy” (Oct. 29 to Nov. 21).
There also are mystery plays on the order of Harold Pinter’s “The Homecoming” (March 3 to 27, 2011) and Jean-Paul Sartre’s “No Exit” (April 7 to May 1, 2011).
Calling the plays “international” and “intensely local,” Perloff says they offer opportunities for the core company and talented recent alumni to collaborate with major artists.
She’s particularly thrilled about the “Tales of the City” musical. “I love Armistead’s stories so much and have wanted to bring them to the stage for a long time,” she says.
The Pinter play is of great personal interest to her. “He is a favorite writer of mine and this, his greatest play, is the one I have been waiting to direct,” she says. Her interest in Pinter goes back to when, at 19 years old and a Stanford freshman, she took Martin Esslin’s class on theater of the absurd.
“No Exit” — the play with the famous line “hell is other people” — comes in a production by Canada’s Virtual Stage and Electric Co. Theatre combining film and theater.
IF YOU GO
American Conservatory Theater 2010-11 season
Where: 415 Geary St., San Francisco
When: Sept. 16 through July 10, 2011
Tickets: $60 to $513 for subscriptions, on sale now; single tickets for most shows on sale in August
Contact: (415) 749-2250 for subscriptions, www.act-sf.org
http://www.sfexaminer.com/entertainment/ACTs-44th-season-boasts-big-heart-big-ideas---89192907.html
Special to The Examiner
March 26, 2010
SAN FRANCISCO — American Conservatory Theater Artistic Director Carey Perloff has one answer to two questions about the company’s upcoming 44th season, which was announced today.
The questions are: What is different about the season — running Sept. 16 through July 10, 2011 — and how does the current vitriolic political climate influence her choice of plays?
Her purpose, Perloff says, is to confront “our fractured and hostile climate by producing plays with big heart, big ideas, rich language and as large casts as possible, so that we can see ourselves reflected back in lovely, complex, fully realized ways.”
She cites highly theatrical plays, filled with music, such as Moliere’s “Scapin” directed by and starring Bill Irwin (Sept. 16 to Oct. 17); a world premiere musical by the “Avenue Q” team based on Armistead Maupin’s “Tales of the City” (May 17 to July 10, 2011); and Tarell Alvin McCraney’s “Marcus; or the Secret of Sweet,” part of the “Brother/Sister Plays Trilogy” (Oct. 29 to Nov. 21).
There also are mystery plays on the order of Harold Pinter’s “The Homecoming” (March 3 to 27, 2011) and Jean-Paul Sartre’s “No Exit” (April 7 to May 1, 2011).
Calling the plays “international” and “intensely local,” Perloff says they offer opportunities for the core company and talented recent alumni to collaborate with major artists.
She’s particularly thrilled about the “Tales of the City” musical. “I love Armistead’s stories so much and have wanted to bring them to the stage for a long time,” she says.
The Pinter play is of great personal interest to her. “He is a favorite writer of mine and this, his greatest play, is the one I have been waiting to direct,” she says. Her interest in Pinter goes back to when, at 19 years old and a Stanford freshman, she took Martin Esslin’s class on theater of the absurd.
“No Exit” — the play with the famous line “hell is other people” — comes in a production by Canada’s Virtual Stage and Electric Co. Theatre combining film and theater.
IF YOU GO
American Conservatory Theater 2010-11 season
Where: 415 Geary St., San Francisco
When: Sept. 16 through July 10, 2011
Tickets: $60 to $513 for subscriptions, on sale now; single tickets for most shows on sale in August
Contact: (415) 749-2250 for subscriptions, www.act-sf.org
http://www.sfexaminer.com/entertainment/ACTs-44th-season-boasts-big-heart-big-ideas---89192907.html
Friday, February 19, 2010
ROCK HUDSON: DARK AND HANDSOME STRANGER Screened in Berlin
Andrew Davies and Andre Shafer’s Rock Hudson: Dark and Handsome Stranger has been screened at the Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama sidebar. Universal (gay) star Rock Hudson, one of the top box-office attractions in the United States in the 1950s and early 1960s, died of AIDS complications in his Beverly Hills home in 1985. As to be expected, Hudson lived a closeted life, briefly getting married to his agent’s secretary and brokering a deal with scandal sheet Confidential along the way.
Among Hudson’s best-known vehicles are Douglas Sirk’s Magnificent Obsession (1954) and All That Heaven Allows (1955), both with Jane Wyman; George Stevens‘ Giant (1956), in which he co-starred with Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean, and for which he received his only Academy Award nomination; Charles Vidor’s A Farewell to Arms (1957), with Jennifer Jones; Robert Mulligan’s Come September (1961), with Gina Lollobrigida; and his three pairings with Doris Day: Pillow Talk (1959), Lover Come Back (1961), and Send Me No Flowers (1964).
Hudson’s best notices were probably for his role as a man who gets a new identity in John Frankenheimer’s dark thriller Seconds (1966). On television, he had one big hit, the humorous crime series McMillan and Wife, opposite Susan St. James.
Rock Hudson: Dark and Handsome Stranger features several famous interviewees, including Elizabeth Taylor, Armistead Maupin, Paula Prentiss (Hudson’s co-star in Howard Hawks‘ Man’s Favorite Sport?), Linda Evans (Dynasty), and Heather Locklear (also Dynasty), in addition to Hudson’s assistant of ten years, Tom Clark.
Hudson’s last lover, Marc Christian, who won a lawsuit against the Hudson estate in the 1980s, died in June 2009. (Christian’s death was made public only later in the year.) In 1989, Christian was award $14.5 million in damages because Hudson had hidden from him the fact that he had AIDS. Christian didn’t acquire HIV from Hudson; a heavy smoker, he died of pulmonary problems.
The synopsis below is from the Berlin Film Festival website:
But who was Rock Hudson really? This documentary sheds light on a famous actor star who performed a clandestine balancing act between his private and public lives; between the heterosexual world of an extremely manly looking screen idol and a darker side of forbidden sexuality lived by a secretly gay man.
The film combines extensive archive material, trailers and excerpts from his films, but also photographs, footage from his private archive and interviews in order to commemorate Rock Hudson’s life and career. The filmmakers met up with the star’s childhood friends in his birthplace in Winnetka, Illinois, and went to New York and Los Angeles to conduct interviews about his Hollywood career. Rock Hudson’s close friends and confidantes – including best-selling author Armistead Maupin (Tales of the City), producer and director Stockton Briggle and PR manager Yanou Collart – all provide an insight into the life of a Hollywood legend.
Film historians Richard Dyer and Robert Hofler, author of the book The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson, as well as gossip columnist Rona Barrett also explain the way in which Hollywood’s star and studio systems function. In addition, actors Richard Anderson and Salome Jens as well as Leonard Stern, who produced a television series with Rock Hudson, all share their experiences of working with the star on set.
http://www.altfg.com/blog/gay/rock-hudson-dark-and-handsome-stranger-berlin-43443/
Among Hudson’s best-known vehicles are Douglas Sirk’s Magnificent Obsession (1954) and All That Heaven Allows (1955), both with Jane Wyman; George Stevens‘ Giant (1956), in which he co-starred with Elizabeth Taylor and James Dean, and for which he received his only Academy Award nomination; Charles Vidor’s A Farewell to Arms (1957), with Jennifer Jones; Robert Mulligan’s Come September (1961), with Gina Lollobrigida; and his three pairings with Doris Day: Pillow Talk (1959), Lover Come Back (1961), and Send Me No Flowers (1964).
Hudson’s best notices were probably for his role as a man who gets a new identity in John Frankenheimer’s dark thriller Seconds (1966). On television, he had one big hit, the humorous crime series McMillan and Wife, opposite Susan St. James.
Rock Hudson: Dark and Handsome Stranger features several famous interviewees, including Elizabeth Taylor, Armistead Maupin, Paula Prentiss (Hudson’s co-star in Howard Hawks‘ Man’s Favorite Sport?), Linda Evans (Dynasty), and Heather Locklear (also Dynasty), in addition to Hudson’s assistant of ten years, Tom Clark.
Hudson’s last lover, Marc Christian, who won a lawsuit against the Hudson estate in the 1980s, died in June 2009. (Christian’s death was made public only later in the year.) In 1989, Christian was award $14.5 million in damages because Hudson had hidden from him the fact that he had AIDS. Christian didn’t acquire HIV from Hudson; a heavy smoker, he died of pulmonary problems.
The synopsis below is from the Berlin Film Festival website:
Rock Hudson was a dream of a man; the epitome of masculinity: tall, slim and muscular, with a deep, mellifluous voice. His glossy black hair, sparkling eyes, high cheek bones and sensuous lips made Rock Hudson one of the sexiest film stars that Hollywood has ever produced. Twenty-five years ago, shortly before his sixtieth birthday, Rock Hudson died of Aids-related illnesses. He was the first Hollywood celebrity to succumb to the acquired immune deficiency syndrome.
But who was Rock Hudson really? This documentary sheds light on a famous actor star who performed a clandestine balancing act between his private and public lives; between the heterosexual world of an extremely manly looking screen idol and a darker side of forbidden sexuality lived by a secretly gay man.
The film combines extensive archive material, trailers and excerpts from his films, but also photographs, footage from his private archive and interviews in order to commemorate Rock Hudson’s life and career. The filmmakers met up with the star’s childhood friends in his birthplace in Winnetka, Illinois, and went to New York and Los Angeles to conduct interviews about his Hollywood career. Rock Hudson’s close friends and confidantes – including best-selling author Armistead Maupin (Tales of the City), producer and director Stockton Briggle and PR manager Yanou Collart – all provide an insight into the life of a Hollywood legend.
Film historians Richard Dyer and Robert Hofler, author of the book The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson, as well as gossip columnist Rona Barrett also explain the way in which Hollywood’s star and studio systems function. In addition, actors Richard Anderson and Salome Jens as well as Leonard Stern, who produced a television series with Rock Hudson, all share their experiences of working with the star on set.
http://www.altfg.com/blog/gay/rock-hudson-dark-and-handsome-stranger-berlin-43443/
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