GREAT WHITE GAY | Jesse Vargas, The Man Behind the Musicals

STATS: Height: 5'8" | Weight: 150lbs | Hair: Medium brown | Eyes: Dark brown | Hometown: Perth Amboy, NJ

Helloooo Homo-Neurotic! Here we are, back for another Theatrical Tuesday with Great White Gay. So put on your opera glasses and let’s get started.

But first, a note – YES today they announced the Tony award nominations. Any self-respecting theater gay already knows them by heart and (like me on Facebook) has sworn to launch themselves in a rocketship off to outer space if Rock of Ages takes a SINGLE statuette this year. If you HAVEN’T seen the Tony noms, they’re right here.

But I’m not gonna talk Tonys today. This week I’ve got something better than a catty queen’s bellyaching about Billy Elliot.

Last week I showed you the audience-facing sexiness of the Broadway Beauty Pageant and its contestants -– dancers and actors you see every time you hit up a show. But, the studs on stage are just a fraction of what Broadway has to offer in the way of talent and looks.

This week I interview Jesse Vargas, a hot-to-trot musical director currently bringing the roller skating rapture of Xanadu to the fine people of Tokyo. Jesse is a hottie you may have seen, but only from behind (no bottom jokes, please), as he conducts the orchestra at tons of shows both here, across the country, and around the globe. I hope you enjoy! xoJR

So you’re in Japan right now… what in God’s name are you doing all the way out there?
I am the music director of the first national tour of Xanadu . We began the tour out in San Diego last fall, then played Chicago for 3 months earlier this year. After a month off, we will travel to Tokyo and perform the show there (in English) for a month.

Xanadu? How did you land this gig?
I had worked with one of the producers and mentioned in passing that I was interested in the tour when I found out another musical I was working on was not opening on Broadway last fall. I also established a relationship with John Miller, who is one of Broadway’s biggest orchestra contractors, and he called me in June and asked if I’d be interested in touring.

That’s awesome! Your travel schedule exhausts me… Where else have you been?
In addition to the traveling I just did with Xanadu, I also worked on Peep Show, a new burlesque show running in Las Vegas, directed by Jerry Mitchell. I was out there for two weeks in March.

My projects have taken me many places, as far as Athens, in the past few years. I also music direct for Headliners on gay cruises from time to time, and I’ve been lucky enough to travel (for free) on about 7 cruises, all gay- or gay family- oriented. While music directing for Clay Aiken, we traveled to a large number of cities in the US over the four years I worked with him.

I hate to admit it, but I don’t really know what a musical director actually does…
Typically I get acquainted with the score, and participate in the casting of a show. The next step is to spend time with the authors and director to discover the direction of the show, so that I can set the tone and feel in the rehearsal room. I tend to create some of the song arrangements in this process, whether it be restructuring songs for dramaturgical purpose, writing underscoring, vocal arrangements, etc.

Once rehearsals begin, I teach the singers the music, and shape the sound of the show throughout the entire rehearsal process. Things change overnight, or even throughout the course of one day, and I have to extend those changes to the score.

Once the show moves into the theater, I rehearse the orchestra, and then begin to conduct both the orchestra and singers for performances. Sometimes the MD acts as more of a supervisor, and while a separate conductor handles the actual performances, the MD sits in the house with the rest of the artistic team and handles any changes or adjustments needed. Beyond that, the MD may supervise any subsequent productions of the show (tours, etc.) that are produced by the same producing team as the original production. (Yikes…is that detailed enough?)

Plenty! So let’s lighten this up a bit: If you could direct any musical, which one would it be?
Dreamgirls. I had the opportunity to MD the tour that is opening this fall, but sadly it did not work out. However it is a show I’ve wanted to conduct on Broadway since I was 12. Not only have I MD’d the show before, but I know it in and out, and I truly feel like the more passion you can bring to a show, the more magical the experience can be for the audience. I fell in love with Dreamgirls as a child and would be content banging that cowbell every night-it’s a no-brainer!

And speaking of movies and musicals… What movie should be made into a musical?
Tootsie! (I used to say First Wives Club but that’s already being done). I think Tootsie could be a very entertaining musical if the right leading male is cast and the BEST writing team is hired. Often movies are made into musicals, but a LAME writing team is hired and the show winds up not being as amazing as it should be. Sorry..I have to be honest.

Wow that would be fantastic… But, with all the movies becoming musicals… which movie should producers stay away from?
Yikes…SO many movies. Actually most movies. Just because a movie is good doesn’t mean it ’sings’. I heard at one point in time that “Soap Dish” was being adapted. I think we’ve already learned that movie farces that rely upon the original movie cast don’t transfer well to the stage…

One thing I don’t like about Broadway is the jukebox musical. I’ve often railed against them. Your opinion?
I don’t really have one. A good song book is a good song book. However, the most respected jukebox musicals are the ones done artistically… something different …not a standard book musical. It’s just VERY forced when a book is written to string a bunch of pop songs together. There are more interesting ways to do that.

But I am damn excited for this Michael Jackson show. And since I pretty much know every song that MJ has ever sung, at least prior to the last album, it would be a crime not to hire me as the MD.

Now to get a bit serious… How is the recession affecting musicals off of the Great White Way?
Does that mean Off-Broadway? Well I have a show currently running Off-Broadway, and let me tell you – it’s a HARD sell. A small 2-person rock musical; a love story. No pretense; no gimmick; just a simple love story that happens to be told through a folk/rock score. It’s tough.

The idea of Off-Broadway has pretty much disappeared. It’s very sad. The only shows that seem to run are the shows that have some kind of commercial gimmick-like Altar Boyz, and Naked Boys Singing. Off-Broadway was plummeting before this recession… and now it’s just getting worse. Maybe one day it can be revived – I can only hope.

Heavy stuff. You have any idea what Broadway needs to do to survive?
You’re asking the wrong person. Broadway is SO commercial now. I think the best time was in the 70’s, when a show like “Pippin” could run for 3 years. Broadway cannot control the culture of American entertainment, however the culture does control Broadway, and often dictates what can survive and what cannot.

So… right now… we have to cater to commercialism. There’s no way around it. However, smaller shows, if they can be spun on the marketing end, have a better chance of winning because they are less expensive. It’s all very frustrating I think.

All right, I’ve been told I have to wrap this up (okay, no one told me that… but we probably should.) If you could sleep with any leading man on Broadway – alive or dead – who would it be?
I don’t sleep with actors! :-)

Yowch – a note to actors… use your talents to pretend you’re NOT an actor if you want a shot at Jesse. If you want to find out more about Jesse Vargas, click over to his web site shouthollermusic.com.

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