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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 2004)
October 1 .2QQ4 hen a gay guy from a small town wins a Tony Award, you’d naturally expect him to move on to higger and better places and never lixik hack. Not Jeff Whitty. In fact, the Q x » Bay native is delighted ft) he hearing from old friends ever since he took home the Best Btxik of a Musical trophy for Avenue Q which, on the surface, W i p | \ - . u s I t ) h e .1 n o \ ' elty Muppet show for adults hut deep i down is a sincere story about regaining idealism and finding one’s purpose in life. The G-year-old spiike with Just ( )iit ah' "it his past life as a University of Ore gon flat hoy, ho upcoming benefit t. ir the V >on (.< m- stitutional Amend- nit 1 it s(i t. amp iien and the “ a i ranged mair iag e w id esp re ad that led to It I I . H i l l # Tony Award winner returns to Oregon for No on 36 benefit by J im R a ix ) sta t W p f ||| realize I had major philo sophical differences with these people. Then 1 came out. JR : Did your family take that OK? JW: Yeah, they tixrk it really well. My little broth er is gay, tex), and came out shortly after me, so they & r t S P 'i , / ?• £ sort of had a double wham my. It tixik them maybe a Jeff Whitty w ill discuss Avenue Q Oct. 3 at day to adjust, and they’ve Theater Theatre been really supportive ever since There was a PFLAG contingent in this year’s G x)s Bay Fun Festival parade, and they were in it. ^ Jj 4 JR : How did you come up with the con cept of Avenue Q? eatingout eatingout eatingout eatingout JW : I was just winding down my 20s, and .it that M.igc m life yon expect everything to be resolving itself, and instead you’re still faced with more ques- funis than you’ve ever had It was just a lot of hanging im heac against tin u ill. kind going cra:\ heiau-el wasn't getting.! break. The [Avenue Q] songwriters had written a T V pilot, and the producers of the show saw it and wanted to make ir into a stage musical, so then I came on hoard to work on the hook— the libretto aspect of the show'. I didn’t know them beforehand, so it was a very interesting experience creatively. JR : Did you guys work closely together from there on out? JW : It was this funny arranged marriage. We laugh about it now, hut we really did not get along terribly well. We all had different things we needed out of the show, and it kind of became a hybrid of what everyone wanted— in a gixxJ way. But I wasn’t used to collaborat ing as a playwright, and they’d never written a full-length stage musical before. People see the show and say, “Gosh, it must’ve been so much fun to write,” and it wasn’t, really. [Laughs] It’s really hard to make something seem simple. eatingout eatingout JR : How does it feel to be returning to Oregon amid this contentious time politically? JW : Well, I’ m sea glad to he able to come hack and help fight this ballot measure. I was knocking on dex>rs in Springfield about (1992’sJ Measure 9. You feel helpless in New York, where there’s a sense that those battles have been fought already, and I don’t think there’s quite an awareness that it’s very much alive in other parts of the country and that there’s...th is amazing group of people that cir cle their wagons and fight it every year. JR : What’s been the highlight of all the acclaim you’ve received? JW : When I moved here 11 years ago, 1 used to always walk through the Broadway theater district and Ux>k at the marquees and see who was in what show, and it’s still sort of mind-blowing that I have a marquee of some thing I wrote that’s up there. And then with the whole Tony thing, the coolest parr was all the people that I’d lost touch with that I thought I’d probably never talk to again— so many people reappeared in my life, and they’re just so warm and support ive. Even people from the fraternity. It was really great because I got to reconnect with the past a hit. J H AVENUE Q & A , featuring a conversation uith Jeff Whitty and performances from his Tony- winning musical, starts 5 p.m. Oct. 3 at Theater Theatre, 3430 S.E. Belrrumt St. Tickets are $50 when you mentitm Just Out from 9 7 l-2 4 4 'l3 9 9 . A limited number of discounted tickets for students and starving actors are available for $25 and a pledge of 25 volunteer lurnrs with the No on 36 campaign. eatingout eatingout Snuggle up to a cup. Great Coffee, Pastries, Soup & Gifts On the corner o f 41st & Woodstock 15 0 3 ) 7 7 4 0 5 7 7 loin us us Portlands own Drammi award winning \mbvr Martin pertorms solo to bont'tit the S o on th campaign. Join Us... For The Best Qreek Food In Portland O nly A t Tuesday, O c to b e r 12. fot \our on n g o o d ( ome hungry. In le ts testai ations 7 1 ■ adì urn < xvpdx.com Greek Restaurant Open for dinner 7 nights a week starting at 5 ryct/s 1650 W. Burnside (503) 222-1507 w /
