SEPTEMBER 2015 Issue • 507
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2015 EUROVISION
WINNER
Måns Zelmerlöw
+ BROADWAY’S NEW FICTION GO-TO:
DRESS CIRCLE PUBLISHING
TIMM SHARP & DOLLY WELLS OF
SHOWTIME’S BLUNT TALK
O-TOWN RE-MAKING THE BAND BLEEP 1
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what’s
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DRESS CIRCLE PUBLISHING
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TIMM SHARP AND DOLLY WELLS
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RE-MAKING THE BAND: O-TOWN
DCP is the only publishing company dedicated solely to producing books with Broadway themes by members of the Broadway community. We talk to these gamechanging producer/publishers about their newest project.
“Blunt Talk” is one of TV’s sharpest and funniest new comedies and we chatted with Timm Sharp and Dolly Wells, two of the show’s funniest actors, to talk about the show and of course, Patrick Stewart.
We caught up with Erik-Michael Estrada, Trevor Penick, Jacob Underwood, and Dan Miller to talk about their new music, what the time away from the band did for them and where O-Town fits into a changed pop music scene.
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TM
BLEEP OUR. TEAM. RYAN BRINSON Editor-in-Chief
SARAH ROTKER Business & Audience Development Manager PABLO SALINAS Social Media Associate FEATURE EDITORS: Nathan Robins
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MÅNS ZELMERLÖW He won the largest singing contest in the world, Eurovision. Now, Sweden’s newest superstar is setting his sights even higher.
JOHN DUFF HEADS TO FULL HOUSE John Duff knows a thing or two about parody musicals. After starring as Slater in the “Saved By The Bell” skewering Bayside The Musical, he’s taking on another iconic mullet from the 90s: Uncle Jesse in Full House The Musical.
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CONTRIBUTORS: Caleb Bollenbacher Rachael Mariboho Hatley Moore Laura Seitter Alex Wright FEATURE CONTRIBUTORS: Florian Hubertus WEB CONTENT: Sheena Wagaman All articles and photos are the property of the writers and artists. All rights reserved.
From the Editor It’s important to remember where you came from. Two years ago, I released my first book, I Laughed Too Hard, and in the process, I was able to revisit the significant touchstones of my life in a meaningful way that my adolescent self never could have. The internet is becoming more and more crowded with over-zealous bloggers who want a piece of the publicity pie, most of which will give it a shot and eventually move on to something else. After almost five years of BLEEP, it thrills me to be able to say I still love it and what we’re doing is more relevant than ever. The news is full of so much negativity. Minorities are being openly disparaged by presidential party front runners and maniacs are killing newscasters live on the air while the NRA answers that we need more guns to fix the problem. And let’s not forget how the media was more focused on the party and new car Kylie Jenner got for her 18th birthday than they were on what Novel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai did for her 18th birthday. By the way, she opened a school in Lebanon for Syrian refugees. But please, let’s talk more about a teenage Kardashian girl and her 25 year old, fellow reality show fame seeking, B-List rapper boyfriend.
What we do is more important than ever. There’s something about an exuberant emerging-artist talking about their art that gets me so excited. I’ll admit it’s fun to interview established artists who can speak to things like working on a TV show or accepting an award, but I’m never happier than spending time with an artist who is still rising. It’s the reason I started BLEEP in the first place and I wish more artists retained that hunger for creation. We are approaching the end of our fifth year and I’ve been doing quite a bit of forced reflecting as I put together features in an attempt to encapsulate five years of creative persons. It’s amazing to look at all the faces and art that’s been on our pages. We committed from the start to be a positive light in an obsessively negative publication environment. We have been, we are, and we will continue to be.
Ryan Brinson Editor-in-Chief
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REEL LIFE
by Alex Wright
What your voice says In a complete twist of irony, I am now teaching the class I always struggled with in school: voice and speech. I had a thick Southern accent and a voice with a penchant for disappearing when stressed. My voice was a like a ticking time bomb—some days I would wake up and my voice would sound like a dirt gravel road. Then, when I was a sophomore in high school, I was diagnosed with vocal cord nodules, a callous like bump on someone’s vocal cords that are caused by vocal abuse. Years of vocal training and therapy have finally given me understanding over how my voice works, and one of the biggest lessons I have learned about my voice, and voices in general, have less to do with vocal support and breath and more to do with psychology. Before you toss your computers and shame my name to the vocal gods, I’m not saying that breath and support aren’t important. However, I have found that by approaching vocal work from an emotional angle, the breath and support are found and utilized in a way that is coming from a more grounded, personally relevant place. The last thing you want to be doing while you’re supposed to be connected with your partner is to be worrying about your breath and support. Suddenly you stop focusing on what you want and start focusing on your anatomy. If our voices are rooted in our emotional life, then they are in essence the reflection of our inner selves. Our voice contains our whole history, and often times, as actors we forget that that holds true for our characters as well. Our voices are one of our strongest tactical tools in acting, but when we fill our body with negative
habitual tension, we stunt our voices, and in return, stunt our tool for expressiveness. As children we use our voices openly and freely as a way to express our feelings—children are free to cry, whine, sob, cackle, or giggle. However, children are often told to “be seen and not heard,” or their punishments consist of sitting in time-out and being quiet. Subconsciously, we are taught that our voices are disruptive and in the way, and when we carry this habit over into adulthood, we limit our tools of expressiveness. Similarly, past traumatic experiences can limit and stunt our voices. Many times women who are lacking fuller body resonance have, sadly, been sexually abused as children. In an effort to block out the emotional trauma, they have completely abandoned the lower half of their body. No sound resonates in their body, a place that is full of pain and heartache. When we resonate in our body, we are sending vibrations and ultimately movement into that part of our body; cutting ourselves off from this experience by not using body resonance is a defense mechanism that keeps us from feeling this painful memory. As a teacher, it is not my job to be a therapist or to root out these past traumatic experiences from my students. Instead, I guide them down their own personal path of selfawareness, hoping that any revelations can help them in their voice and in their personal lives. More than anything, though, I believe that our voices are testaments to the strength and perseverance of the human spirit—they carry our fears, our doubts, our traumas, and our loves. What does your voice say about you?
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the intersection by
caleb bollenbacher
Pop-Less Culture Hollywood is bumming me out. I dragged my feet writing this column. I kept hoping some scrap of news would come along to engage me in a more joyous way; something I could really get jazzed about. But that didn’t happen, and that’s exactly the problem. There are few things I love more than going to the movies, but 2015 really hasn’t given me much to work with. I’m so tired of products and product placement. It feels like that’s all it is anymore. You look at all the big-budget Hollywood releases of this year (the last few years are guilty culprits as well, but 2015 has swelled to the point of caricature) and they fall into three categories: 1. Plot-less explosion-fests that are little more than commercials with two hour run times (see: “Transformers,” “Pixels”) 2. Endless world-building that sometimes feels like a high-stakes game of Jenga (see: every superhero movie post-“Iron Man”) 3. Re-using and recycling material from decades past (see: Disney’s calendar for the rest of the decade) That’s not to say that I don’t love plenty of
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these movies. With the exception of category 1 (my mind still can’t wrap itself around movies based on board games), these are movies I’ll pay to see just like anyone else. Their existence isn’t the problem necessarily; the problem is that their existence and success leads to tail-chasing and a steady decline in creativity. I remember seeing the first “Iron Man” movie and walking out of it totally energized. Here was a superhero I wasn’t very familiar with, but I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. I knew enough to be impressed by how the story was updated for a modern audience, but apart from that I just knew that the movie was fun. Then with that postcredits scene they had me anxious for more. A world where multiple heroes and multiple movies can interact? Sign me up! But that wasn’t what got me to see the movie, and that’s not what held me in my seat for the duration of the film. I don’t know about you, but I go to the theater to see a movie, not just to see the trailers. Fast forward a few years and we’re starting to see chinks in the armor. I absolutely loved “Age of Ultron” – I thought it was even better than
the first “Avengers”, which was universally loved – but the few flaws it had mostly pertained to setting up the next few movies on the Marvel slate. Now that’s mostly nitpicking, which is going to happen anytime you get a highly successful franchise, but a flaw is a flaw. What happened to the self-contained movies that maybe teased a connection to something next after the credits? That’s not to say that you can’t have a “between” movie – “The Empire Strikes Back” is probably the best Star Wars movie, and it’s nothing if not an “in-between” film – but when it becomes an endless parade then something is lost. On the other extreme you have movies that are all setup, and that’s just a total train wreck. Look at “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” or the most recent “Fantastic Four” movie. Those are little more than trailers for future entries, and the fact that they’re all set-up absolutely doomed them. When you’re too busy trying to build a franchise rather than simply telling the story before you, you’re doing everyone a disservice. We don’t pay the price of a movie ticket to see a trailer. On the other end of the spectrum you have the remakes and re-imaginings and reboots. It blows my mind how many adaptations of Frankenstein or The Jungle Book are in development. These stories have been told so many times that I wonder how much remains untold. It seems there are only so many “fresh takes” that can be made before everything begins to bleed together and reek of staleness. Yet based on the high caliber of talent involved in these movies (the casts of the multiple adaptations of “The Jungle Book” in development read like an Oscars red carpet guest list), studios expect people to show up to see these movies. Disney particularly seems to be investing substantial resources to little more than live action remakes of films they’ve already made. I have to wonder who was calling for a new take on “Dumbo,” but we’ll have such a thing nonetheless. And then you have the toy commercials that are such a creative void they don’t even warrant my time. But the fact that I would be unsurprised to hear that someone had financed a tic-tac-toe movie starring Adam Sandler says far too much here, and it makes me want to throw up. It’s hard to say with certainty why Hollywood
seems to have lost its teeth, but I think the biggest problem is fear. I absolutely do not buy that people don’t want original films. Rather, I think people want good films, and studios are too hesitant to wholeheartedly commit to such a thing. Original ideas get tampered with in an attempt to adhere more closely to something that has already met with success. Again and again movies have come out with studios too ashamed to promote them (“Jupiter Ascending”) or too invested in franchise building to allow for a coherent vision to prevail (“Fant4stic Four”, though the unprofessionalism of director Josh Trank doubtless has much to do with this particular case). Whatever the reason, a few big box office bombs happen – more likely because they are not quality films than because they are original films – and studios clam up and opt to throw what they know. All that being said, at BLEEP we aim to celebrate culture, not bemoan it. Granted, that can be hard when pop culture seems to have lost its “pop,” but I think there’s plenty of room for hope. I will be lining up like everyone else to see the next Marvel movies, and there’s a good chance I’ll see the new Star Wars offering more than once in its opening weekend. And even though Disney’s live action remakes don’t claim to offer up much newness other than an extra dimension, I’ll look forward to seeing “Beauty and the Beast” through a different set of eyes. By no means am I asking that these movies stop being made. What I hope for, however, is that while studios remember the content that brought them success they also move back to the spirit that led them to it. I want to see more than the familiar, I want to see boldness and daring. Here’s hoping that such a thing isn’t dead; I’m eagerly waiting to be excited by movies again.
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an inside look at
DRESS CIRCLE PUBLISHING Brisa is the Tony Award-winning producer behind Pippin and The Gershwins’ Porgy & Bess, and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. Roberta Pereira hails from Brazil and was selected for Backstage’s “Broadway Future Power List.” Together, they launched the only publishing company dedicated solely to producing books with Broadway themes by members of the Broadway community. They are game-changers and with the release of “Starstruck,” they set out to tell a Broadway story to an even wider audience.
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What was the impetus for starting Dress Circle Publishing? Roberta: Brisa and I were having cosmos and talking about how we both love theatre and books. Brisa: We thought, why isn’t there a ‘Devil Wears Prada’ but on Broadway? Both being producers ourselves, we thought we should create it. We commissioned a writer to write the novel and it was a huge success. When we released the sequel, we launched Dress Circle Publishing. “Starstruck,” the third novel by Ruby Preston was released on July 14. In keeping with their initial concept, The Devil Wears Prada meets the Great White Way, the novel features aspiring Broadway producer Scarlett Savoy trying to make her way in the theater world. Roberta: “Starstruck” is fiction so it’s a fun story, but it’s rooted in what really happens on Broadway. That’s something we’ve been trying to bring out in these stories. In the novel “Staged,” the plot centers around a producer trying to find a theatre for this awesome show she has. I heard from people who couldn’t believe it was so difficult, saying “there’s no way that could be true,” and then I’ve heard from other producers who said, “that’s exactly what we go through.” Brisa: We have our nonfiction arm where we release titles like Seth Rudetsky’s “Seth’s Broadway Diary” and Jennifer Ashley Tepper’s “Untold Stories of Broadway.” We then have our fiction arm where we have our Broadway trilogy and “Starstruck” is the third book in that series. The goal is to pull back the curtain on Broadway. We want an authentic and positive look at what it’s like. The behind-the-scenes Broadway series of books is currently being developed into a TV series by Swedish company Excelsior Entertainment, bringing the romance and drama off the pages and onto TV screens. Both Roberta and Brisa are serving as consulting producers on the project while they continue shepherding new theatre onto stages across the world. Roberta: Apart from that, we have new releases from our nonfiction arm. Brisa: We plan book releases like we plan a theatre season. It seems appropriate. Jennifer Ashley Tepper will continue to tell the stories of Broadway theatres from personal stories in the third volume of “Untold Stories of Broadway”
next year. We also have the second volume of Seth Rudetsky’s “Seth’s Broadway Diary” releasing in October. Brisa’s theatrical endeavors include over 18 Broadway shows including Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Pippin, The Gershwins’ Porgy & Bess, Peter & The Starcatcher and Mothers & Sons. Roberta’s include Mothers and Sons, Annie; the Olivier Award-winning revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along in the West End, and the Tony Award winning War Horse. With so much experience under their belts, the duo is able to have a unique perspective on how Broadway becomes Broadway. Brisa: We bring our personal experience into it and that’s part of why we commission these books. In Portland, where I’m from, we don’t have Broadway producers, there’s no way to know what that is. So, we sat down with the author and shared our stories. What ended up in the books is loosely based on our experiences. Actually, some of the more outrageous things are the truth. What’s next beyond DCP? Brisa: I have investments in shows for the upcoming season, and I’m looking forward to the next couple of seasons. I have some West Coast labs coming up for some shows. Roberta: I have a new production of “A Delicate Ship,” by Anna Ziegler that’s playing through September 12 at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater. Anna is so incredibly talented and people are really buzzing about her, finally. Her play, Photograph 51, is opening on the West End this fall and starring Nicole Kidman. Brisa: When it comes to Dress Circle Publishing, we take great pride in selecting authors and working with them to create these pieces. We are always pushing to work with talented authors and helping them tell these Broadway stories. For more on Dress Circle Publishing, on “Starstruck” by Ruby Preston or the previous two novels, “Showbiz” and “Staged,” head over to www.dresscirclepublishing.com
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Dolly Wells has two shows airing consecutively on TV this fall: the show she wrote and created with Emily Mortimer, Doll & Em, premieres on HBO on September 13th and Blunt Talk with Patrick Stewart kicked off its first season on STARZ in August. We caught up with the actress about the differences between working in the UK and the States, her two shows and next year’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. The “Blunt Talk” cast is sharp and has a great chemistry. What’s it like working with such talented people? It’s such a nice question to be asked and to be able to answer so honestly! I’ve never worked with Patrick before, he’s a fellow Brit, and I remember the first scene I acted with him, I couldn’t help but smile. I just thought “Oh my god, I can’t believe I’m here working with someone who makes every take so amazing.” Everyone in the cast is so funny. On top of all of that, Jonathan [Ames, the creator of ‘Blunt Talk’] is so wonderful and generous and peculiar. All of the other writers are so smart. I could keep going. How did this role challenge you as an actor? What I love about Jon’s writing, it’s very funny but it’s also real and touching. Everyone has their own things to deal with and the challenge was to play her truthfully and honestly. And, at times in the show, it’s not funny but it’s sweet, and that’s a challenge. ‘Blunt Talk’ is my first job in America, so it felt like a different thing than what I’ve done back home. It was nerve-wracking and challenging because you want to do your best. How do you keep your composure during scenes that are as funny as the ones written for you all? I don’t know because there were scenes when I couldn’t even look at Patrick because
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the scene is just so funny. You can’t look anywhere because everyone makes you laugh. How has this show differed from your previous work on shows in the UK? It’s sort of irrelevant what country you’re in because my show with Emily was actually shot here in the States, in LA for the first season and New York for the second. So it didn’t matter where it aired because the process was the same. For our show, it involves so much fast writing and rewriting and we have to film it very quickly. In ‘Talk,’ we have different directors for each episode which we don’t have in England. We also have more time to film, but I’ll say, the main difference is having to drive yourself to work here. That was the biggest challenge for a shaky driver like me. In England, you’re not allowed to get yourself anywhere because they fear you’re going to get lost or something. When I pulled in on the set here, I don’t know if I expected a welcoming committee or something, but it was very normal. How do you keep the stories coming for your show Doll & Em? With our show, we’ve only done two seasons and it’s only six episodes. It’s not like we are churning out lots and lots. The things we write about are either versions of things that have happened to us or things that have happened to people we know. That’s what’s fun about writing - no matter how you’re feeling, you’re constantly in a situation that lends itself to writing. Emily and I have a similar outlook on life, similar sense of humor and love recounting to each other stories about what’s happened. What can you tell us about Pride and Prejudice and Zombies? I think it’s going to be brilliant. The girls are all fantastic and Darcy in a leather jacket is going to make people swoon. I think it’s going to be wonderful. When I did ADR, the parts I saw look so beautiful and brilliant and I have great feelings about it.
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Dolly Wells
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Timm Sharp
Timm Sharp is no stranger to TV. He starred in Undeclared, alongside Seth Rogen, had a recurring role on HBO’s Six Feet Under and the Fox series ‘Til Death. Sharp then played Dougie in the acclaimed HBO series, Enlightened, with Laura Dern. Now, he’s sharing the screen with Patrick Stewart on the STARZ series Blunt Talk. “Blunt Talk” appears to be a show about Patrick Stewart’s character, but audiences will quickly realize it’s a sharp ensemble comedy. It’s feels very much like a family. I’ve done some shows where you are friends on the set and when it’s over, you move on. But I feel like life long friends have been made. Maybe it’s because there are so many British people in the cast? There’s less ego in general and everyone is grateful, likable and supportive. What is the vibe like on the set? It’s professional, we are there to get the job done, but it’s collaborative. Some shows aren’t as much, but on “Blunt Talk” they are open to adjustment if the character requires it. How do you keep your composure during scenes that are as funny as the ones written for you all? I wish I could say I didn’t, sometimes it takes a few takes when you’re working with such funny people. There’s a scene in episode five where Dolly and I couldn’t keep
it together and it got to the point where the crew was like, ‘alright guys, we want to go home.’ How did this role stretch you as an actor? My character has a couple of issues. Major issues. The challenge of the character has been incorporating all of his issues and making it believable and likable. You’ve worked with some incredibly talented people, notably Laura Dern on “Enlightened” and now Patrick Stewart on “Blunt Talk.” What have you learned from working with such established artists? She is so good and it made my job working opposite her so easy. She showed how being malleable is essential. Stay loose. She’s all about reacting off the person in the scene and use that as your guide to the way you say lines. She’s so good. With Patrick, there’s so much insane depth to the way he delivers every line. When he’s handed a new line on set, you wouldn’t expect him to deliver it with such depth and to be able to do so in so many different ways. He is who he is for a reason. What keeps you busy when you’re not on set? I tend to keep myself active with improv at Upright Citizens Brigade in LA. When I’m not doing that, I just got a puppy which is much more work than you think it is. I also paint and build things, and I weld art pieces sometimes. You have such an extensive resume already. What else would you like to accomplish that you’ve yet to tackle? I would like to write and create my own show. I want to be the creator of a show I also get to act in. That’s the next goal for me.
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RE-MAKING THE BAND
O-TOWN OUR CONVERSATION WITH
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Turn on your television today and there will be dozens of reality shows airing in any given timeslot, but in 2000, that wasn’t the case. When O-Town was formed during the first season of “Making the Band” on ABC, boyband guru Lou Pearlman led them to a top 10 album in the States and hit singles including the smash, “All or Nothing.” Now, reunited as a quartet, the band has released a new album and new video. We caught up with Erik-Michael Estrada, Trevor Penick, Jacob Underwood, and Dan Miller to talk about their new music, what the time away from the band did for them and where O-Town fits into a changed pop music scene. After ten years away from O-Town, how did the gap in time reinvigorate the band? Jacob: The time away is what made it fun coming back. We have these new skills and things we’ve learned. When we started, it was like a frat and now, it’s like business partners. It’s a lot more fun. Trevor: The best part was exactly that, just being back in the room with the guys and being creative again. I remembered very quickly how much I missed being around them. Erik-Michael: Well, for me, it’s the laughing and fun we have. Our bond is unlike any that I have with anyone else in my life. It’s rare, but it works because of all the time and hard work we put in over a decade ago. We’re all natural competitors too, so when we get together, we naturally go into “MJ mode.” We know our roles and we stick to them, because in the end we all want the same thing…we want to win. Dan: The members of O-town will always share a special bond and because of that, it’s very easy for us to have a blast hanging, singing, & performing together. So the best part is that we are having more fun than ever.
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Why come together again to make music? Jacob: Mostly, the fans asking for it. There was also the trend of bands reuniting and it’s something people want to see. It’s fun for us because we are getting to relive our college years. It’s a blast from the past but to see the fans sing the new stuff is more than nostalgic. The pop culture landscape is different than when you started? How has that affected the way you approach making music? Jacob: We love where pop music is at, so it was fun. Out biggest challenge was saying ‘that’s not an O Town song.’ It came down to just putting out the music that we love. We wanted to put out more fun music. We had people sending us songs for the album, mostly ballads since that’s what we did, but we wanted more and that’s when we got “Chasin’ After You.” There’s not a person in my generation who didn’t belt “All or Nothing” in our cars. How does it feel singing your older hits again? Erik-Michael: It just feels right. We’ve been gone way too long in my opinion. Luckily, we are preserving well, but an opportunity like this, this late in our career - it’s something I can’t take for granted. The fans are truly the reason this “re-banding” is happening. [I’m] tremendously grateful for them, much more this time around, that’s for sure. Jacob: “All of Nothing” is always the highlight of the show for everyone. Everyone remembers all the words. The fan base still comes for that song. When we do “Liquid Dreams,” we do it with a smirk on our faces. Yep, this is our song. We got away with this 15 years ago. Trevor: Being in front of the fans again has been amazing. Seeing them sing all the new songs is a great feeling because this new album really comes from us. After such a long hiatus, it’s got to feel like you’re starting over. What does that feel like? Jacob: When we were first together, there was so much stress. We were over seeing each other every day. Now, these are your closest friends, they have the same memories as you do - some of the biggest, most important moments of our lives - and they are the only ones who share it
with me. Now, we get to do this again and it’s smiles the whole way. We know how blessed we are to get to do this again. How have you grown as a band since first being put together on ‘Making the Band?’ Erik-Michael: I believe the band has evolved primarily because we’ve all evolved as men. During our extended hiatus, we each challenged ourselves, we wore different hats, and took on new experiences away from the band. That time really shaped us. So when we returned, we each had so much more input in every step of the process. Trevor: We’ve grown in all aspects of this business and life. We’re all in our mid-30’s now and have experienced life. We’re definitely not kids anymore. We are way more hands-on with everything we do. That’s the biggest difference. Well, that and our fans are old enough to drink at our concerts now. Your most recent video, “Chasin’ After You,” is a fun song but has a more mature sound. Is that a reflection of growing in life? Jacob: We were working with Mark Suhonen who did half the record with us, and Phillip LaRue, an awesome talent. We wanted to do an uptempo song. We thought, ‘Let’s do something sexy with a falsetto.’ Mark tinkered with a bass
line and Philip had the melody. The fun comes across because it wasn’t a struggle to make the song. Actually, toward the end of the process with the album, we needed another song. We asked Phillip and “Rewind” was written, cut and finished within four days. Dan: When we first started, we didn’t know nuthin’ bout nuthin’! Now though, we have 15 years of education in the music business under our belts. Whatever aspect it is of the music business; whether it’s understanding contracts, songwriting, performing live....we’re better now than we were 15 years ago. Beyond that though, we understand how to deal with each other so much better and that has helped to make this reunion super fun. What’s next for O-Town? Jacob: We are looking to do a tour this fall. Dan has a wife and two kids so we balance between touring and being at home. We have at least another single off of the album because the fans will not let us forget what they want to hear. Dan: It feels great. The fans who are coming to our shows this time around are the true die-hards. They are the fans who never gave up hope that we would someday reunite and record new music. And now that the reunion has happened, all that pent up love, passion, & support they give us at shows is pretty overwhelming.
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Måns Zelmerlö He won the largest singing contest in the world. Now, Sweden’s newest superstar is setting his sights even higher.
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urovision is the world’s largest song competition, and this year, Sweden’s Måns Zelmerlöw was crowned the winner in front of a TV audience of almost 200 million people. To put that into perspective for Americans, most of which have never even heard of Eurovision, the 2015 Superbowl had an audience of around half that amount. While most Americans aren’t familiar with Eurovision, they are familiar with some of the competition’s most famous winners. A French Canadian singer named Céline Dion won the contest for Switzerland in 1988 and Zelmerlöw isn’t the only Swedish winner because in 1974, a band called ABBA sang a song called “Waterloo” and won the top honor. Now that the 60th year of the competition is in the history books, Zelmerlöw is readying his first European tour but admits his winning moment in May is still overwhelming. “It was incredible,” he says of standing on stage with the Eurovision trophy in hand. “That night is still a bit foggy actually. There was a moment when we passed Russia in the voting and the arena started shouting “Sweden! Sweden!” That was one of the most incredible moments of my life. When I was standing on the stage at the end, I remember thinking ‘my friends are going to like this.’” His friends weren’t the only ones who liked
what he did on the stage. His point total was the third highest in the history of Eurovision and viewers were enamored with his performance where he interacted with the carefully choreographed graphics projected around him. “When we decided on ‘Heroes’ being the song, I wanted to do something really special with it, something that hadn’t been seen. I didn’t want a bunch of dancers, I’d done that before. My friend Fredrik Rydman, a top choreographer here, showed me projection mapping. It was so interesting. I wanted to tell a story through the performance, so I told him parts of my life, how I was bullied as a kid and how a new friend helped me out of that. That’s where the small
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stick man in the performance came from.” That small stick man helped Zelmerlöw capture the hearts of audiences all over the world as well as in the arena in Vienna. “The vibe in the arena is so cool. It feels like the Olympics in a way. The contest is becoming more and more modern and I think it’s making more of an impact. I hope that Australia’s inclusion this year is a step toward a global ‘Vision’ song contest.” But winning Eurovision wasn’t Zelmerlöw’s first foray into the world of competition shows on television. Actually, it wasn’t even his first win. In 2005, he placed 5th on the singing competition “Pop Idol.” “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for ‘Pop Idol,’” he explained. “I learned a lot obviously, but I still feel I did quite badly on that show. I sang like shit, I didn’t move - but it was cool to come up to Stockholm. I was surprised to end in 5th place.” Ultimately, his success on “Pop Idol” paved the way for his being able to compete and eventually win the celebrity dancing show “Let’s Dance.” “That show established me a bit more in Sweden,” he said. “I hadn’t danced before that. It was my first meeting with dance and we fell in love. Doing that show led to being able to play Danny Zuko in Grease. I never would have gotten that part without ‘Let’s Dance.’” In the years since “Let’s Dance” and Grease, Zelmerlöw spent time hosting television shows and releasing new music, but it was his triumphant performance on the Eurovision stage that catapulted him into conquering a new set of dreams. “You never know what Eurovision will generate for someone. I’m so grateful for everything and I’m still in the Eurovision bubble. I have my first European tour coming up which is a dream of mine coming true. It’s important for me to release new music and really establish myself outside of Sweden.” He’s well on his way. “Heroes” went to number one in five countries, was a
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top 20 hit in 19 more and his album, Perfectly Damaged, (most of which he wrote) went straight to number one in Sweden in June. With all the European press, he has his sights set on growing as an artist and expanding his audience. “I’m a shy person, but I have a switch on stage that turns on. When I get there, I feel safe. I’ve always loved being on stage and I’m really hoping I get to perform for the rest of the world.”
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JOHN DUFF
John Duff knows a thing or two about parody musicals. After starring as Slater in the “Saved By The Bell” skewering Bayside The Musical, he’s taking on another iconic mullet from the 90s: Jesse in Full House The Musical. 34 Uncle BLEEP
Photography by Eric Pietrangolare
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John is outfitted in BodyAware sportswear
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JOHN DUFF How did you wind up being an actor? My parents would tell you that I never decided. I grew up in a family that never talked about the arts and they said I was in preschool when I came home with a piece of paper that said I wanted to be an actor. They were confused because it was never talked about, no one cared about celebrity and it wasn’t a tabloid kind of house. When I was five, I started dancing. It was a hard place to be in Maryland, other boys weren’t dancing, so I stopped rather quickly. But I started doing musical theatre around eight-years old, I was Conrad Birdie in Bye Bye Birdie and from there, I never stopped. Going from one parody musical to another. What’s the appeal? I love working on brand new things. I like having the paper and then bringing it to life. Actually, my friends wrote Bayside and I was cast on the subway. Okay you’ve got to tell us how that happened. I was completely over acting, I was done. I was riding the subway and overhearing these two people’s conversation. They asked me if I was eavesdropping, I said “Yes I’m eavesdropping. What are you talking about?” They said they just cast a new musical and I said they should see me for it. They’d already cast it but I said I didn’t care. I read for it on the train, pulled out my headshot and resume, gave it to them and got off the train. A week later, they called me and asked me to do it. That has led to everything since. At this point, I’m doing whatever moves me. I work hard to originate things though. I love the creative process of finding the laugh, finding the character and then, in this case, finding what John Stamos did for Uncle Jesse, what the audience loved about Uncle Jesse and what I’ve placed on Uncle Jesse. That’s why I’m doing this part. How do you approach a character that people already have an engrained idea of who they are? When you play something as so iconic, John Stamos as Uncle Jesse, coming out of playing Mario Lopez as AC Slater, it’s really detail work for me - it’s speech patterns and physicality and overall point-of-view. When you’re working on something that’s as ensemble as Full House, where a lot of times we are saying things all at once or
launch into song at the same time, I focus on ‘how do I maintain Uncle Jesse’s point of view.’ What’s the biggest difference between Full House and Bayside? I wear clothes in this one. For me, musically, this is written in a better part for my voice and Jesse is written as a straight man as opposed to Bayside where Slater wasn’t played that way. It allows me to be truer to the version of Jesse on the show. It also allows me to be more relaxed on stage. So what are you doing in terms of music beyond what we hear on stage in a show? I like to write, I would like to write for people. I would love to create on my own time. Singing has always been my favorite thing. Acting has been something that came naturally to me, but music was always my favorite thing. I’m writing a lot and I’ve been recording. I did a feature on a friends’ song and that was a lot of fun and that got me really excited and feel viable in terms of the industry. I started writing and recording, found producers to work with and I’m working on a direction. How do you feel about where you’re at in your career and your life right now? I’ve spent so much time completely afraid of people would think if I started doing these things that sound audacious or insane. I genuinely don’t give a fuck. Someone will always think that my body’s not good or my singing’s not good, or whatever. I actually don’t care. I’m tripping out on how much time I’ve wasted over the past few years because I was so concerned with what people would say. I’ve been told ‘no’ so many times, over and over. I didn’t get into college the first time I auditioned. Then I decided to re-audition and I got in everywhere. I got to college, I wasn’t the favorite. I didn’t do too hot, I developed this sort of rebel personality and I didn’t get cast in shows. I left, moved into the city, found something I was good at, partying. I was drinking and I made lots of “friends” and had lots of things to do every night of the week. That got old. That show came to me and I know people say “the universe sends things to you,” but they’re right. I did everything wrong and it came back to me. That’s when I knew I just had to go for it.
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