Jake Shears Talks

Interview:

By Jeff Walsh

Tales of the City, the musical based on the beloved books by Armistead Maupin, opens in San Francisco tonight. The story is set in the 70s and brings together a magic group of characters for a timeless story of self-discovery, family, and community.

The show fuses Maupin's books with some of the creative team behind Avenue Q, and music written by singer Jake Shears and musician John Garden of the dance pop band, The Scissor Sisters (My review of the show will run later this week).

I recently spoke with Shears during the show's preview run, and here's what we had to say:

I just saw the Scissor Sisters at The Warfield. You were just opening shows for Lady Gaga. You performed at Coachella. And now you’re in San Francisco doing a musical? Is that a weird adjustment to make?

Well, I’ve been working on the show for about five years. But, yeah, it’s kind of like crazy whiplash opening for Gaga, doing our own shows, and going right from the last night of the tour straight into production rehearsal the next day. It’s been quite a lot of work. And then, after that, playing The Warfield, playing Coachella… and then back into production rehearsals. It’s been a big job.

The first couple of weeks were hard, just because that is some of the hardest work you’ve got to do. But it’s just nice to be in the same bed every night and live in San Francisco for a little while and just do your work. I feel so relaxed now. I’ve been having a great time.

I obviously can’t wait for opening night, to the point where I have a preview ticket before press opening night, because I couldn’t wait…

Oh, perfect!

What is your reaction to being able to work on not only a musical in general, but Tales of the City? Did that book impact you?

I read it for the first time when I was 13 years old. It was given to me by this gay couple in my hometown, who I was friends with. I think they figured out I was gay before I did. And Tales of the City definitely helped me come closer to figuring that out.

So, the books were very important to me from a very young age. It was the first time I ever read anything that had a very positive gay point of view. And it really affected me.

A few years later, I passed the book on to my mom, who loved them. They are books that bring people together. Whenever you meet someone else who’s read them, or whenever you pass them on, they’re always so much fun to talk about.

And I think that communal aspect is one of the reasons why I think people love Tales of the City so much. Once it’s in your heart, Tales of the City lives with you for the rest of your life. You don’t forget these characters.

So, I was always chomping at the bit to write a musical, and then when Jeff Whitty came to me and said it was Tales of the City, I immediately had that sensation of ‘Oh my God, I… am just… I have no
idea what I’m doing… and this is going to be a crazy ride, but let’s do it.’

Was there any fear in the sense that you’re not only taking on your first musical, but also such an important piece of literature?

I’ve never been scared of living up to the books. That’s never really crossed my mind. And maybe that’s just because I became friends with Armistead and he’s such a warm, comforting, wonderful person who’s very open and supportive of this project. So maybe that’s part of the reason why I’ve had a lot of confidence with it. When you’ve got the writer on your side, cheering you on, it means a lot.

As far as fear coming into play, I mean, sure, I’ve had panic attacks over the years (laughs). You know, when you’re standing in line at the grocery store, and suddenly your stomach drops out and you wonder, ‘Oh my God, is this going to be a giant piece of shit?!’

But, it’s always reassuring coming in on these rehearsals and suddenly, you see this incredible cast and hear them sing your songs and watch them make you laugh and cry. It’s truly thrilling. Maybe I’ve got too much confidence? I don’t know.

I get so excited when I watch this show. It makes me really, really happy. And that’s all you can do, really, is make something and do your best. I love it, and hopefully other people will, as well.

And for Scissor Sisters fans going to the show, does it sound like Scissor Sisters, or are there a lot of different styles?

There’s a lot of different styles. People are going to be very surprised. I watch and listen to what we’ve done and especially now with the orchestrations and it’s just crazy. I never thought I could do anything this complex. It’s a very complex piece, with a lot of characters and a lot of very… you know, there’s no wasted space.

The difference between writing Scissors stuff and for this show is that it’s not a jukebox musical. People don’t just suddenly break out into a broad pop song. Every song moves the story and reveals things about the characters that are singing them.

So, to do that, every word is very valuable real estate, so over the last five years, it’s just been constantly clarifying clarifying clarifying what these people are saying, and who they are. So, in that way it’s incredibly detailed.

And in a pop song, in a Scissors song, if I get stuck, I can write some nonsense line or put in a 'woo-woo' and get away with it, because it’s pop music. And there are definitely pop elements to the show, but I think people will be surprised at how rich the material is, and the stylings are different. You’ll hear echoes of Scissor Sisters stuff, absolutely. But it’s much more intricate.

So the songs, in some cases, have to advance the narrative?

In all cases. There’s one song in each act that I would say is just there to make you laugh and have a good time. And all the songs bring up emotions. I’m not saying those qualities are exclusive to those
songs, but everything has to move the storyline, because Tales of the City is a big, big fucking story.

Oh, it’s huge.

And you can’t waste time singing a song that doesn’t really move it along. You’ve got to be in a different place when you finish a song than where you started from or else there’s no reason for that song to be there, so in that way, every song counts in a big way in this show, and does actually tell the story. And there’s a lot of music. I think, with reprises, there’s 28 pieces in the show.

And how many pieces total over the five years have you written for the show?

Oh, at least 50. There’s a whole parallel musical that we joke about. And there’s been plenty of shitty songs that we’ve written just as placeholders or whatever. But yeah, there’s the parallel musical that
we call ‘Stories from the Town.’ (laughs)

Are there any that you wish you’d found a way to get them in? Or is everything where it belongs?

There’s been a couple songs that we had to cut just for pacing reasons… there’s some top-drawer stuff that we had to leave behind. And there’s plenty of, you know, shitty stuff that we left behind, but I went into this knowing you can’t be married to any of it and just for pacing, we’ve taken a song out of each act that were fucking beautiful. But when you know it’s going to make the show better overall, then it’s worth it.

What would you say to younger people who are thinking “Eh, Tales of the City… that’s all about the 70s. I’m living now. I don’t need to know about what happened back then…”

To me, the time period is the least interesting thing about it. The story is so fun and juicy and, you know what? It’s full of drugs, sex and lascivious behavior!

Those are timeless! (laughs)

And naked people… I don’t know what teenager doesn’t love drugs and sex and lasvicious behavior! (laughs) It definitely is for kids, this show. It’s a lot of fun. So, that would be my answer to a teenager who was like, ‘Oh, whatever, a musical…’ Yeah, it’s a musical with a lot of fucking crazy shit in it. (laughs)

And do you entertain the notion that San Francisco is just the first stop on this show’s run?

I refuse to entertain that notion. It’s so important to me to focus on the here and now, and we’re making the show as though this is the last time we will ever see it. So, I have no expectations.

I’m willing to be pleasantly be surprised as to whatever life this show can go on to, but San Francisco deserves a top-drawer musical of Tales of the City because it’s The Lord of the Rings of San Francisco. Not that this will be Lord of the Rings: The Musical, because that was a real turd.

But, no, this city deserves it’s own big, Broadway-quality show, and who knows where it will go after that. But for now, I want to make this the best show that San Francisco’s ever seen…

One thing unrelated to this show that I was curious about was… did you once get really bad advice from Dan Savage?

I’ve never gotten bad advice from Dan Savage.

I was reading a piece where he said he gave you…

Oh, right, he said it was the worst advice he ever gave.. he’s full of it. Dan is like my family. Dan rescued me when I was a teenager. He became my brother that I didn’t have. I was 15 and I called his radio show, and I called in every week for a few weeks, and we were talking about coming out to my parents, and I eventually did come out to my parents. We were in Vegas on a family vacation, and by chance, I met Dan in person the night I got back from that trip. And you know…

(At this point, I thought Jake was thinking what to say, and I started wrapping things up once he seemed to not know what to say next... But, it turns out, our call was disconnected, oops, so I called him back…)

Oh my God, I just carried on for like 5 minutes (laughs). Where did I leave off?

You met Dan after your vacation.

Right, and he became one of my dearest friends. He and Terry took me under their wings. Dan got to know my mom and my dad really well. It was hard for them at first, like it is for a lot of parents, and they’re a very close family.

I thank my stars that I had someone like Dan in my life to look out for me. The values he and Terry instilled in me are with me to this very day. I’ll often find myself in situations still where I ask myself ‘What would Dan say about this?’ What would his perspective be if I gave him the rundown of this, this, and this?

They’ve been amazing guides for me. And they’ll be family to me until the day we all die. But I was a very lucky teenager to have him. He took me to my first AIDS funeral, you know? I’ve got so many memories over the years, and I’m so proud of him now. But it’s just amazing how he’s carried on. I think he’s just done great things in this world and is one of the smartest guys alive. So that’s my Dan spiel.

It Gets Better just took off and became something so amazing…

I couldn’t be prouder of them.

Well, we’ll let you get going. But as soon as I heard Scissor Sisters and Tales of the City, it sounded like a perfect marriage, so I can’t wait to see it, and I wish you the best of luck with everything…

Awesome! Thank you so much…

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