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March 9, 2007
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eveningsout
Even musical theater has homophobia, actor finds
by Kaizaad Kotwal
Although John Hammond has Italian heritage, it did not come with any fluency or comfort with the language. So, he has something in common with much of his audience as he plays Giuseppe, the playboy brother of the male lead in The Light in the Piazza, coming to Columbus next week.
All of Giuseppe's lines are in Italian, but Hammond says that they are written to be comprehensible to all.
"We are seeing Italy through the eyes of the mother and daughter," Hammond said, “and that includes the language barrier.”
The musical, by Adam Guettel and out writer Craig Lucas, will be at the Palace Theater March 13 through 18. Based on a novella by Elizabeth Spencer, it tells the story of a mother and daughter traveling through Italy in the summer of 1953, and the daughter's romance with a handsome, high-spirited man. Piazza is about love, the obstacles to it and the blending of two cultures, disparate as they may be.
Hammond took three months to get familiar with Italian for the show.
"I was tutored by a guy named believe it or not-Fabio," he said.
Not the famous long-locked model. "This Fabio was actually quite cute," he laughed.
Hammond had promised himself not simply a fluency in the language, but the "ability to think in Italian as well."
"I was quite successful in that way," he said. Hammond has never visited Italy, beautifully captured and romanticized in Piazza. He is planning to go after the show's tour. In the past, he said, it has been money that kept him away.
Born in metro Detroit, Hammond studied vocal performance and musical theater at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Deciding that he wanted to be taken as a serious, legitimate actor, he went on to study at the Art Institute at Harvard where he received his master of fine arts.
There, he honed his love for all things classical including Molière and Shakespeare. Hammond said that if he had his way he would only make a living performing the Bard's works. He is drawn, as are many, to the language, as well as their utter humanity.
"There is nothing in terms of humanity that is not found in Shakespeare's plays,” he explained. "The other thing I like about his works is that you have to have talent to do Shakespeare well. Show biz is so often not about talent that it is nice to have a place where talent is first.”
As an actor it is hard to make a living at one's craft, let alone in a very specialized arena like Shakespeare. Hammond has been lucky to have worked consistently, playing all sorts of roles in many different genres and styles. In the Broadway arena, he tends "to play a lot of very, very straight guys."
That might make things complicated for him as a gay man. In the business he doesn't make sexuality an issue because, as he honestly ad-
Outlaws
Continued from page 2
all the "wide-eyed liberals" who marched in front allowing the meeker ones to follow. She also said that ACT UP, the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, was key to getting the issue noticed and dealt with.
An African American student spoke about how the gay equal rights movement has had a white face to this day. Rivera agrees and said, "We don't have a good track record. Many of us are ashamed of it."
"The very nature of our society sets minorities against each other," she said. "We need brave black and Hispanic leaders to come forth" and demand a place at the table, she said. "I know that this is putting the burden on the victim again, but that is necessary so that the movement is more diverse."
Rivera ended the session by saying that. LGBT folk, and lawyers in particular, needed to recognize the special vantage point they
mits: "The industry is very, very homophobic, including musical theater."
That flies in the face of all the stereotypes of gays in the arts and musical theater in particular.
Hammond said the homophobia is about "fear, money." The theater world is not that different from Hollywood where many gays still remain in the closet.
He forthrightly said that if a queer publication in New York has asked for this interview, he would have declined.
In this country, unlike in places like England, "acting is personality driven," Hammond explained. "In England, the tradition is about transformation." Hence, one's personal life doesn't matter as long as one can act well and transform into the persona one is asked to portray.
He said that like in any other business, there are rules of the game and choices one has to make. It is not the ideal, he understands, but it is the reality.
Hammond clarifies that he is "not bitter" about these rules of the game. He also said that there are some who choose to do things differently when it comes to sexuality and work life.
"You learn it as you go along," he said. "There are a million people who do it a bunch of different ways. It is about each person's own journey."
Hammond learned many things about his craft and his sexuality while at acting school. In particular many of his musical theater teachers were gay and "it was a very nurturing environment." With his family, "it has never been a very difficult issue."
At 35 today, Hammond has been partnered for 17 years with an interior designer in New York City, which he calls home. Because his relationship is so long-term, Hammond doesn't find that being on the road taxes it.
"On our tour right now there are people in new relationships, two or three years old, and the road is hard on them as they are figuring he explained.
out,"
While Hammond is having a lot of fun playing Giuseppe, past favorites include Ragtime (with a book by queer scribe Terrence McNally), Edmund in King Lear and Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet. In the future he would love to tackle Marc Anthony in Julius Caesar or the title role in Macbeth.
Hammond understands that being dark and swarthy prevents him form being cast in certain roles. "No one is ever gonna put me in a Noel Coward play no matter how much I want to do it or can do it."
He is also saddened by the fact that Broadway has also become victim to the cult of personality when it comes to who gets cast.
"Who would have thought that people would come to see third and fourth-rate TV and film actors who can't get work elsewhere?" he said.
Hammond noted that many of the "Piazza groupies" during the show's Broadway run were gay. "I think the message that love transcends all," is what appeals to gay audiences.
had with their experiences.
"Being lesbian taught me about suffering, about depression," she said, noting that these things helped her become a better person, particularly when it came to serve other people who had been on similar journeys. She said that she had learnt to "embrace the exile of being a gay person" to positive effect.
She returned to her refrain about helping the neediest.
"Do what you are here to do. Make enough money to live. But you're here to help people the poorest, the people at Guantanamo, those who otherwise cannot get representation. You have to understand you have a special mission. I implore you all to take up that mission," she concluded.
Most of all, she urged, "Be ethical, be conscious of conflicts of interest. Your purpose in life is to help everybody."
Outlaws was organized to give LGBT law students and their straight allies a chance to come together socially and politically. They can be reached at outlaws@osu.edu.