EDGE Interview: Tituss Burgess Goes Back to Music with New Touring Show
In a recent interview with People Magazine, Tituss Burgess explained what was his breakthrough moment as a queer performer. It was when he was rehearsing a line that spoken by his ongoing charater, hairstylist D'Fwan, on "30 Rock" and heard an off-camera belly laugh. At first he thought he flubbed the line. "I'm so nervous that I genuinely thought the laugh was at me for doing it incorrectly," he remembered. "Then I see this brunette walk from behind the camera, and it's Tina Fey. She goes, 'I am so sorry. Darn, you'll have to do it again... [But] that was funny.'" And he realized was his queer character need not be the butt of the joke, but could simply be funny by embracing their authenticity.
"I have the audacity to be an out gay actor in what's still very White hetero Hollywood," he also told the magazine, and it is a statement that pretty much sums up the multi-talented Burgess, who is best-known for his role of aspiring, gay actor Tituss Andromedonon on "The Unbreakable Jimmy Schmidt" that netted him six Emmy nominations. He also appeared on the late, lamented "Schmigadoon!" on its second season (on AppleTV+) which he narrated and sang in the style of the Leading Player from "Pippin." In 2021, he made a spectacular turn at the annual Broadway Backwards event in a gender-switching take on "Dreamgirls" with the final scene from the first act. Burgess plays Effie in a memorable homage to Jennifer Holliday with his superb "I'm Telling You I'm Not Going."
But it is his theater and music career that has taken center stage of late. Last year he starred as Harold Zidler, the owner of the Moulin Rouge, on Broadway in "Moulin Rouge!." It was on Broadway where he had his start where he made his debut in the ill-fated "Good Vibrations" in 2005. Later that year he brought his ringing high tenor to "Jersey Boys," followed by "The Little Mermaid" and "Guys and Dolls," Regional theater roles include The Lion in "The Wiz" and the The Witch in "Into the Woods." He also recently completed a 15-year old dream of bringing the Whitney Houston vehicle "The Preacher's Wife" to the musical stage with a production at Atlanta's Alliance Theatre this past summer. For the show, he wrote the music and lyrics.
Next month he is headed to London for a concert residency at London's The Phoenix Arts Club, where he performs his new show, "The Indecisive Warrior," from September 30—October 13. In the show, Tituss invites audiences to experience familiar classics through the lens of his seasoned artistry. London audiences will not be the only one to see Burgess perform this show as he is bringing "The Indecisive Warrior" to a number of City Winery venues in the States beginning on September 10 in Philadelphia, with Boston (Sept. 18), New York City (Sept. 21), Chicago (Sept. 24), and Atlanta (Oct. 21) to follow. For ticket information, follow this link. And he's on television as well, hosting a new new competition series "Last Bite Hotel" on the Food Network beginning on September 24.
EDGE: Hello there, tell us a little bit about yourself!
Tituss Burgess: I am many things, but I think I am a lover of music first. My career has thankfully turned into something I never anticipated or dreamed it would be. A few months ago, I wanted to get back to music. I needed to reset and find the thing that centers me: music.
EDGE: Can you tell me a bit about your upcoming show?
Tituss Burgess: It's called "The Indecisive Warrior." It loosely follows my little Pisces heart, my watery nature, and how I feel at any moment. I can only speak for my sign; many of us change our minds daily, but I think a Pisces has to tell you why and then walk you through every possible emotion. I always need context and proper framing to understand what can appear like a knee-jerk response. I assure you everything is thought through to our detriment. The show is like walking you through my musical stream of consciousness.
EDGE: What's involved in selecting a setlist for a show like this?
Tituss Burgess: It's no different than when I record an album. I will record 30 to 40 songs and decide the story or the moment. I approach it as if I were in the audience watching me and wondering what I would want from me. More importantly, what kind of surprises would I want? I don't mean surprises in the way that they would think; I can't believe he liked that particular genre or that this would be something that he would listen to. Most people know me from theater and are coming to hear me perform because they think they're about to listen to a theatrical set, but it's all pop music with a few jazz standards. I promise it is going to be an exciting show. I have a seven-piece band because I don't know how to do anything small. I believe the audience will be very satiated. At least I know it will be for me.
EDGE: Do you have a personal connection to any of the songs you'll be singing?
Tituss Burgess: Yes, and I purposely chose a few songs that I liked sonically, but I am still working on finding my way into them. Most of the choices were, "Oh, this feels good." Frivolity is fine. Meryl Streep said something brilliant, I thought. She said, "When you read a script," in this case, I'll use music, "You have to find something. You shouldn't find something in it from the neck up, meaning you shouldn't be cerebral about it. It needs to be from the neck down. It needs some part of you that is inside the thing, and your job is to spend the rest of your time convincing others that you are who you are." It was such a wonderful explanation of acting, and I believe it is true of singing. Please don't quote me on the exact quote.
EDGE: What do you like about performing in these more intimate venues?
Tituss Burgess: I've never been on tour. I'm performing at five city wineries, then I go to London for a two-week residency, and then I return home and do two more city wineries. Last year, when I performed in "Moulin Rouge" on Broadway after a 14-year absence from the stage, I was a nervous wreck. I had forgotten the immediacy and the urgency that live theater mandates and the audience becoming the other character in the show. After that run ended, I thought I had to do it again. The audience is the listener and the therapist. You sit there and let me verbally go on and on about how I feel and think. In your silence or your applause, you guide me toward the truth. While you cannot lie in intimate settings, you might be able to fake your way through it up close and personally, but there's not much protecting you. I finally feel ready to walk out as a live nerve and expose many things about my life. Now, in my forties, I'm prepared to talk about it all. I don't know how to walk in anything other than my truth, and I'm ready to sing.
EDGE: Is there a style of music or a performer that you listen to that might surprise your fans?
Tituss Burgess: I'll say this: I am genuinely a multi-genre listener. The set list spans; it goes in every direction at once, but it goes seamlessly. It'll make sense. I don't let up. I don't allow you to catch a breath in how I present it. Should I tell you this? No, I'm going to anyway. I open with a song you actually might not even be able to figure out until the chorus. There are many genres that you wouldn't think sit inside me. One would think I would be attracted to robust and flashy songs, but I'm just not that guy. Also, I'm not the queen that many people think I am, and there's nothing wrong with that; I play a bunch of them on TV. This show is an invitation to Tituss, and I hope people walk away pleasantly surprised.
EDGE: Will we see your musical adaptation of "The Preacher's Wife" heading to Broadway anytime soon?
Tituss Burgess: It has not been formally announced, but we are planning a commercial run. I get flutters just thinking about it. I have never experienced God in the way that I was able to experience watching and writing "The Preacher's Wife." The show is not inherently about church. It just centers around the wife of a pastor who is in the middle of an identity crisis. While I was writing it, I was having an extraordinary identity crisis. It's funny; when I was in the audience during previews, I would have to get up and leave because I was experiencing the hardship and traumas all over again that I was walking and writing myself through. I still feel way too close to it, but when I heard the cheers and saw the audience's tears, I knew what I had set out to do was working. This show is probably the greatest expression of Tituss that I have been able to do to date. I want people to see it desperately because we can all see ourselves in Julia Biggs, the Preacher's wife.
EDGE: Can you tell us anything about your role in Netflix's upcoming film, "Spellbound?"
Tituss Burgess: I play Sunny the Oracle of the Sun opposite Nathan Lane. I'm the yang to his yin, and it's lovely. Alan Menken has written a glorious score along with Glenn Slater, whom I worked with during my run in "The Little Mermaid." It was nice to be reunited with them; they are musical geniuses. It's a lovely story about family, what resolved trauma can do to children, and what legacy you will leave. As Stephen Sondheim once said, children will listen. In the case of this film, a child will lead them. As the Christian Bible states, "A little child shall lead them." While this story has nothing to do with the Bible, it is very much a child leading adults, and it's lovely.
EDGE: What lessons have you learned from your career that apply to our readers?
Tituss Burgess: We have nothing to prove, only to share. Our offering doesn't need to be perfect or even refined. It just has to be sincere, and that is the only way we will explain or demonstrate to non-allies who we are, what we can be, and how we are not entirely dissimilar to them.
EDGE: Is there anything that you would like to promote?
Tituss Burgess: I will host a new show on Food Network called "Last Bite Hotel." It premieres on Tuesday, September 24th. I believe it is the wackiest thing the Food Network has done to date. It is a fearsome competition. I play this mad hotel manager who is a little off-kilter, and you aren't sure what his motives are or what is going on. It's very creepy and entertaining.
Tituss Burgess will perform at City Winery Boston on Wednesday, September 18th. Tickets can be purchased at https://citywinery.com/boston.