Nick Adams Loving His Queer-Forward Career

By Alexander Rodriguez

Nick Adams is an entertainer on many levels. Acting, singing, dancing, film, stage, and more, he’s done it all. He’s won Audience Choice Awards from Broadway.com, received an Astaire Award nomination for Best Dancer, and has been honored by the American Theatre Hall of Fame. He is instantly recognizable by his signature smile, powerhouse vocals, and yes, that body that held Mario Lopez to task. His theatre credits have taken him from appearing in classic Broadway hits that include Guys and Dolls, Chicago, and A Chorus Line to appearing in Wicked and the critically acclaimed North American Tour of Lincoln Center Theatre’s Broadway production of Falsettos Film work has included a dash of everything from HBO’s The Other Two, Netflix’s Inventing Anna, Sex and the City 2, to Hulu’s big gay summer hit, Fire Island. This fall, he took part in the world premiere of DRAG: The Musical, written by Drag Race’s Alaska, and appeared alongside New Kids on the Block’s Joey McIntyre, drag’s Jackie Cox, and Jan Sport, sharing some scene-chewing scenes with Alaska herself.

Nick’s love affair with musical theatre started at eight years old when a touring production of A Chorus Line came to his hometown of Eerie, Pennsylvania. Fifteen years later, he would join a revival of the show on Broadway. His first trip to New York City at age 15 to see his first Broadway musical, Chicago, would also prove to be fate.

The show was still very new and fresh then, so it was dangerous and electric. It was such a massive hit, and I was so excited. I love Kander and Ebb, this was just a huge weekend for me. I also saw Cabaret that weekend. I just remember sitting there thinking, how do I ever get there? It just seemed so unattainable and so lofty. And then I made my Broadway debut in Chicago.

His Broadway debut came hot on the heels of completing his studies at the prestigious Boston Conservatory. He booked his first musical and was met with a string of shows. His success was a double-edged sword, finding his voice on stage was easy, but who was he as a person?

I didn’t even give myself another option of what to explore or do with my life, because I was just so in love with this art form since I was a kid. I was in the city for less than a week and then got Chicago. I left and was just sort of on this streak of show to show. I was so grateful to be in the right place at the right time and was prepared to meet the moment. I think that was really the key to that happening. It worked out in my favor, but I’ll tell you, after doing so many shows in New York, the hard part for me was then I felt like that was normal. And when that didn’t happen, I immediately thought who am I, what is my worth? I was so used to the routine of school, that sort of regimented structure, to then immediately joining the workforce and doing shows. That’s all I knew was just to be in a show. I didn’t know my identity as an adult in New York City without it. And so that part of my life, once I wasn’t always booking and always in a show, was hard for me to sort of navigate, but like the best life experience because I had to find who I was outside of just what I do.

Nick’s relationship with his body and the recognition of his fitness would be put into the spotlight when he appeared in A Chorus Line. The production featured a highly campaigned appearance by Mario Lopez. Soon the focus would shift from Mario’s talents and body to Nick’s. Comparisons between the two performers’ bodies would soon become headline-grabbing.

It was wild - it was overnight. I was an ensemble dancer, and then suddenly, I’m in the National Enquirer. My mom was looking at pictures of me in the National Enquirer in underwear and my body, comparing it to people. That kind of changed things a little bit and for a period there, people that were in our industry knew what I did and what I had to offer, and that’s why I was being employed. But then I kind of felt for a minute like, oh, (my body) is all that people think that I am and that I have to offer. For a minute, I started to believe that, maybe that’s why you’re working. But then I had to get back to like, “you were doing this, you were part of this industry before there was any light shed on that.” And yeah, of course, l have been cast in certain things that require a certain aesthetic or something, but I don’t think, had I not been able to bring what I bring to the table just personally, I would’ve had any of the opportunities that I had. There is certainly pressure because it’s been this sort of inflated thing that I obviously have had some hand in contributing to because I know how to capitalize on it in a way when I need to. It’s been a lifestyle commitment.

I try to just focus on what I’m doing, and I’ve always done that. I don’t pay attention to what seems extraneous or