Interview: John Lloyd Young of SOLID GOLD in Las Vegas and Online

July fourth may have been John Lloyd Young's birthday but the gift being given this year isn't one to him, it's one from him. The Tony Award winning actor and concert sensation will return to the stage for a live Las Vegas audience and a virtual audience around the world on July 9th when Mr. Young presents his brand new show SOLID GOLD. The musical event is one he says is inspired by the need to celebrate - celebrate the re-opening of the world, celebrate surviving the pandemic, celebrate still being here together. For the program, JLY has done a deep dive into his youth to explore the groove and the mood of songs from the Disco era and songs from the Seventies that aren't quite disco but that still capture the mood.

Last week, days before the date of his birth and the birth of this nation, John Lloyd was kind enough to give me a call so that we could talk about The Hustle, the bustle of show business, and what kind of cake he prefers to celebrate being born.

This interview was edited for space and content.

John Lloyd Young, welcome to Broadway World, how are you doing?

I'm fine.

The last time you and I got to talk, we had to do an email interview because of pandemic-related issues. It's nice to get to talk to you, voice to voice.

I think so ... and congrats to you and all of your colleagues, back there in New York, where things are coming back safely.

We're watching everything come back to life, like a garden, bit by bit, pieces of the city blossoming. I hope that you will be stateside, performing here in New York again sometime soon.

Well, it's soon enough. I'll be there the last week of January at 54 Below for six shows.

Well, we'll be there.

Great.

Right now you're getting ready to do a birthday concert - happy birthday a few days early.

Thank you. But, that's like sort of the B side of what is being promised - the birthday thing. It's mostly, for those of us that are a certain age, the disco era came after a really tough period in our history of Watergate and Vietnam and recessions and things that weren't so pretty. From what I remember from my youth, the disco era was sort of like, all of those troubles, we just would've danced them away, you know? That's why I chose to do that era for this particular show in Vegas is because this really difficult period is starting to open up, and I feel like it's a perfect time to have a disco party.

I was a kid during the disco era - when did you first become aware of that kind of music?

Well, it was already playing by the time, when my parents would be going on a road trip or whatever it was, that stuff was on the radio all the time and sort of in the popular consciousness. And Saturday Night Fever was already an established movie when I was a kid and they were already onto the sequel, Staying Alive, so that era was already part of the fabric of things. And when I was a kid, my mother's family was all in Queens and I remember they used to have those, do you remember those commercials for those compilation albums that had like Claymation figures singing, "And I'll be your friend and I'll be your lover..." and I just remember that it was already a big part of my consciousness at that point, even though it was starting to be like the Michael Jackson era.

Did you do school dances when you were young?

We were beyond disco music by the (time of) school dances - we were onto other things, but I guess the disco era is in my mind because Soul Train was still on TV, and Showtime at the Apollo would come on late at night, so some of these groups were in my consciousness ... and I was born right in the middle of the seventies, so disco was the soundtrack to my toddlerhood. (Laughing)

When you started putting together your show, Solid Gold, how did you begin to pick which songs you would put into your setlist?

I listened to a whole bunch of stuff with my mind set on that idea of songs that would just be enjoyable to all of us in either a nostalgic way or just because they're fantastic songs that just make you feel good. So I really listened to things with an ear for the groove of them, with an ear for the sentiments of the song. Also, I'm reuniting my Vegas band that I have not played with for more than a year and a half, bringing them all back, and even adding a horn player, which you kind of need for that era of music, so that'll be the first time I have a horn player. I also was listening with an ear toward featuring the band coming back together after a year, and things that would be really amazing and fun for them to play - so they've got a couple of features in this that I don't want to give away, but some of those really fantastic twangy guitar things that like the Shaft Theme or something like that, where they can really get into it - sort of funky sounds and exciting falsetto because at that period falsetto singing hadn't gone away. Clearly, I'm known for early falsetto singing, but I can also sing this stuff, so I'm looking forward to getting into some Stylistics and some Earth Wind and Fire - later music than I usually am called upon to sing.

Are you aware of the parallel of what you just said about adding a horn player to your show right now?

Yeeeeeesssss (Cheeky and playful, bursting into laughs).

That's such a big moment in the Jersey Boys show. I just remember how thrilled I was when the horn players came out during the play. I hope that's going to be a fun moment for you too.

Yes! And what better time to experience that lovely parallel than as we emerge from this really dark period; you know, Frankie Valli, in the story of the show, is emerging from a really dark period when the horns show up. So maybe horns showing up are sort of a universal symbol for surviving the storm.

It's a really happy sound.

It's bright. And you cannot deny it. So I think it's going to be a nice addition... to understate.

On the subject of Frankie Valli and Jersey Boys: we've missed you on Broadway a lot. Is there a chance that we could get you to come back to Broadway sometime? Or are you enjoying the concert circuit just too much?

I love Broadway, it was my first love, and most people would never have guessed it because Jersey Boys, still to this day, Broadway purists don't really respect it because it was a jukebox show; but I was the kid who came up loving Yul, Brynner and Gertrude Lawrence, and Robert Preston and Barbara Cook. I knew all the history. When I was a teaching assistant at Brown University, for the big survey on American Musical Theater, I taught the segment on Kander and Ebb - I knew everything. It's just that when you are in entertainment, to succeed, you kind of have to ride the horse in the direction it's going. And if they put you on a sixties-retro-story-of-Frankie Valli horse, that's going to take you in a certain direction. And if you sing that material really well, why shouldn't you continue to? So one of the things that's very lucky about that is that sometimes singing songs from Broadway shows doesn't translate as well as just a song that you can sing in a club or at an event - pop songs kind of stand by themselves. And I get called upon a lot, in a lot of different ways, to sing songs from the period of Jersey boys, and I really enjoy doing that. But I was always a Broadway fan - it's just that I got taken off to the sixties retro races. If there's a part that is as interesting or weighty as Frankie Valli, I absolutely want to do it.

I hope that part comes along. I've never really considered the musical Jersey Boys to be a jukebox musical as much as I consider it to be a biography musical. And you can't tell Frankie Valli's story, the story of the Four Seasons without using their own music.

It is. And I'm quoting this from someone in your profession who said that Jersey Boys is the gold standard of those kinds of shows - mostly because it doesn't slap some weird, dramatic purpose on songs. The songs exist in the show as songs, not dialogue - so it doesn't make a fool out of the audience and pervert the original meaning of what the songs were. You're right, it is more a biographical show, but I understand the resentment for the jukebox musicals only because I came up as a Broadway lover. And when you love book musicals, you want original music and shows composed for the stage. And so there is a feeling that if there's catalog shows like Jersey Boys or others it's almost like they're just retreading pop for Broadway, and that means you're going to see less original things, like less Stephen Sondheim, that there's something that you love may be dying or might be threatened. I think that was the main thrust of resentment or suspicion toward Jersey Boys - that we're taking away from some book musicals (like) Music Man or West Side Story that that stuff would die. Clearly, it hasn't - look at Hamilton, that's one of the most recent big Broadway juggernauts. So, you can't take the music from Hamilton out and do a 60-minute concert without breaking those special licensing laws that theater music has. If I wanted to, I could go out and I could sing 60 minutes of just Four Seasons and not get into any trouble with rights because they were pop songs for 40 years first. Many people don't know these rules, but you can't go out and do 60 minutes of Wicked because you're subject to the licensing.

You can only do maybe two Wicked songs, and you have to mix it in with a bunch of other stuff. I don't have that problem - I sing whatever I want from Jersey Boys or any of these things. I think that's the little bit of a difference in how my career has been able to pan out is that I can go out and sing pop music and still fall into the Tony winner box and into the pop music box at the same exact time.

It must give you great comfort to have absolute control and complete agency over your artistry in that manner.

Weeellll, I mean, in that manner yes: when I go out and I do a concert, very rarely do I not have control over what I'm going to be singing. I think the only control that I have is - the audience has to be interested in it. The audience is my boss, but I don't have a problem with that. I like the audience being my boss. In fact, sometimes I wish that there were no people in between me and the audience at all. You know, all of the bureaucracy that is in the way getting you in front of the audience, you know? My best relationship is with the audience

You have a really devoted fan base. How did your fans nurture you during the 15 months that you were stuck in quarantine during the pandemic? Did they reach out to you?

We nurtured each other and, and I say that I was giving the live streams, speaking to the cameras, and I knew many of the people who were at home watching were familiar faces. If they had been in front of me, I would have recognized them - I just continued the dialogue that already had been going on before the pandemic, to the cameras, on faith that I knew who I was talking to and I knew what they would want to hear. I already knew from experiencing what kind of affection and support that they give back, so I just kept the dialogue going. It was just sort of one way for a while.

The live stream that you just mentioned has been very good to you, and you're live streaming Solid Gold as well. Will you continue to live stream your concerts as the world reopens and we move forward?

I just did my first live concert with a full live audience that didn't have any cameras in the room, for Michael Feinstein's new club in Indiana; in a case like that, or 54 Below, I'll be back in front of live audiences... but I think for this place in Las Vegas, The Space, I think we're going to continue a hybrid going forward, and I think that we might see more of that in general because of everything that's happened. With my shows from The Space, and when I played Michael's club in LA - Feinstein's at Vitello's, I've also been doing live streams from there - they plan to continue to have a hybrid of in-person and live stream as well, from what I understand. So the Vegas shows you can either be there in person, which has you in Vegas, which is fun, or you could continue to watch from home, and I'm happy that both are happening.

If there's anything good that came out of the whole pandemic situation, the discovery of virtual performances has been a good thing because it lends itself to artists like yourself being able to reach fans that are in other countries that couldn't experience your work in real-time.

The pandemic and the life changes forced me to think about what I'm about to say - I remember from my own childhood, I had family in New York City, I was a Broadway aspirant, I really wanted to be in the heart of everything and to see Broadway shows all the time, but I couldn't. My father was air force and we lived all over the country and it was pre-internet. So it was, you know, the Tony's once a year, or maybe a trip to New York... and I always kind of yearned for New York City. I remember that when I was a kid growing up in different parts of the country, I'd be able to turn on a TV late at night and watch things like Live From the Apollo or Caroline's comedy hour that Rosie O'Donnell was the emcee for and could watch on TV from wherever I was, if I was in Omaha, Nebraska, or Montgomery, Alabama, or as far away from New York City as I was, it made me feel like I was in New York. And then when I would end up in New York, I'd want to go to Caroline's Comedy Club because I used to watch it on TV. Or you want to sit in a live audience of Saturday Night Live cause it's at Rockefeller Center, it's in New York City. I think what you're saying is true, but it also is potentially good for the venues that are live streaming because when the person who's watching from London or wherever does make it to New York, they're going to want to go and visit that venue that they watched virtually and see you live or see someone else live. It had that effect on me as a kid, dreaming myself into New York: I can't see how this modern iteration of this wouldn't have that effect on audiences too.

You're very well known, in your concerts, for the emotional connection that you have to the lyrics, for the storytelling that you create, and disco music is not particularly well-known for its emotional lyrics. How are you getting your fix as a storyteller? Is it just going to be you up there dancing and celebrating the music and all of us being back at life?

Well, hopefully, it's going to be you guys dancing. Cause if you're singing the sustained falsetto stuff like Earth Wind and Fire it's a little hard to not just be at the microphone because it's so intricate to just make those sounds. For some of them, I'm going to let the disco ball do the dance and I'm going to just really focus on the sounds and on the lyrics. Disco is the era, but that wasn't everything that was happening musically - you got something like The Stylistics, who did have a story to their songs, it wasn't just about the groove. And I'm also doing soul from that same era, so there'll be some Luther Vandross.

Some of the songs are going to be more about the vibe and more about the vocal and that's okay because when it's more about the vocal, I just become a part of the band, you know? It's like watching the band and hearing the sounds and feeling the feelings and remembering the stuff; you know, there were some things in Jersey Boys that were... I mean, Sherry Baby isn't a deep song (laughing) but it was everyone's favorite song. I know from long experience that as long as it's an exciting song, even if you're not getting under the lyric, you are still able to do some good stuff if you can make the notes sound good. And I have experience with that by now, too.

Speaking purely technologically, how do you protect your instrument while creating those amazing falsetto sounds

Falsetto, as many people who are sort of expert singers in that area will tell you, is actually a cleaner, healthier, easier place to put your voice than the high chest voice stuff like the really heavy rock singers have done - that's actually harder to sing than that glorious falsetto, cause it sort of lives up above the effort. The tricky thing for me sometimes, as I do both of those styles, is to remember to float the falsetto and to lay back a little bit, in terms of effort cause it's easier to blow out. It's a more delicate operation. Sometimes it's almost like swallowing the air instead of pushing the air out. It's easier on your voice to sing in a falsetto area. I don't want to undermine my mystique but if you are a falsetto singer, it's easier on your voice, let's say physiologically, to sing up there.

I can't have you on the phone and not ask you, how's the assemblage going? (Editor's note: I pronounced the word assemblage wrong and John Lloyd was gracious enough to not correct me, gentleman, that he is.)

It's great. I built up enough pieces during 2020 that I'm going to be busy for a while just completing those series. I've always got something in process because if you announce a series of a hundred and then you start, you're making them for a long time. With the ones I'm doing it's not like I can just, lay them all on a table and do some brush strokes and they're done - each one is very intricate. I think I did about maybe six new pieces during 2020 in varying series. I made about 150 pieces already and probably have twice that to go, so I always have work during my downtime (Laughing). It's a good thing I like it cause I also practice Chinese calligraphy, intricate stuff like that kind of scratches this OCD tendency that I have, and it's just good for me. It's like a meditation. So it's a good thing I like it because if I didn't I'd be overwhelmed by all the work.

They're very beautiful. I've seen some photos and I'm really drawn to them.

Hopefully, you'll see one in person, because they're really hard to translate in photos cause rhinestones are little mirrors, and think about how hard it is to photograph a mirror.

You know, the first time that I saw a picture of one of your pieces, you know, online looking at it, I thought it was a painting - during our digital interview, you explained that I had it wrong.

That's right. That was the interview, I remember. Yeah, they're actually physical sculptural pieces.

Ok - the concert is on Friday, July 9th, but your actual birth date is the 4th of July.

Yeah. Wwii, the concert itself is, first of all, a celebration for all of us and things opening up, but then a belated birthday celebration too. So there will be cake.

What's the best birthday cake?

For me, the chocolate chocolate, the double chocolate.

So, for your birthday, are you going to get to gather with family and friends, or are you going to spend it meditating and getting ready for the show.

(Laughing) Luckily it's the week before, so I'm going to do a little staycation here in LA, go to one of the high-end hotels that have a spa that's finally open again, and I'm going to get a massage and have a good dinner at the hotel restaurant with close friends.

Well, my dude, I just want to say I'm glad that you're back in the swing of things, I can't wait till we've got you back in NYC so that I can catch your next act at 54 Below, and I hope you have a great birthday. Mine is actually four days after yours - you're the fourth my father is the sixth and I'm the eighth.

Oh my god. Well, I send my condolences to you and your dad on the moodiness that comes with being a Cancerian. (Laughing)

Moodiness does tend to follow us around.

Well, it's good to know that we can be kindred spirits. I look forward to seeing you back in New York, and that spring has sprung and things are opening. And hopefully, we'll never have to see something like this again.

Brother, you said it.

Below, see all the information on JOHN LLOYD YOUNG SOLID GOLD, and go right to the website for The Space HERE for tickets.

Visit the John Lloyd Young website HERE.

To celebrate his July 4th birthday, Tony and Grammy Award-winner John Lloyd Young will return to The Space in Las Vegas on Friday, July 9 with his newest show, Solid Gold, Live From Las Vegas. This fun, wild and unforgettable evening will reunite Young and musical director, Tommy Faragher, with their Las Vegas band as they perform a brand-new set of songs, from disco, classic 70s and 80s, and funk and soul. Gold lame and terry cloth headbands are optional but encouraged.

The Space, an intimate venue just off the Strip, will roar back to life with a full capacity live audience for Young's birthday concert that will also be live-streamed across the world for anyone who wishes to join the party (and boogie) from the comfort of their own home. The 75-minute live performance and live-streamed pay-per-view concert for one-night-only will begin at 10:00 PM ET/7:00 PT.

And if you're not ready for the fun to end, there will be an exciting after party following the concert where Young, joined by his band for the first time in a year, will revisit some of his biggest hits and offer giveaways and special surprises. There will also be a few personal one-on-one conversations with fans from around the world, and in-person patrons at The Space can enter their name for a chance to be invited up on stage.

"It's important to me to celebrate as things start to come back," said Young. "I wanted to reach back to a time when we just danced our troubles away and also give my Las Vegas band, who I haven't seen in more than a year, a really fun set to play. There will be some luscious sounds and shimmering disco lights and it's gonna be a party-my birthday party."

JOHN LLOYD YOUNG is the Tony and Grammy Award-winning star from the Original Broadway Cast of Jersey Boys as well as Clint Eastwood's Warner Bros. movie adaptation. Young is the only American actor to date to have received all four major Lead Actor honors in a Broadway musical: the Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Theatre World Award. Young has performed concerts at The White House, Carnegie Hall, New Year's Eve in Times Square, The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, the U.S. Embassy in Finland, Clint Eastwood's Tehama Golf Club, The Hollywood Bowl, the Cafe Carlyle as well as Feinstein's/54 Below in New York, Feinstein's at the Nikko in San Francisco and Feinstein's at Vitello's in Los Angeles. He served as a member of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities, appointed by Barack Obama.

TOMMY FARAGHER (Music Direction). From producing the #1 Billboard hit "Teenage Dream" for the acclaimed TV show "Glee," to producing and writing for such artists as Al Green, The O'Jays, and Celine Dion, Grammy-nominated Faragher has over four decades of experience in the music industry as one of the most prominent producers, composers, songwriters and arrangers within international entertainment. Faragher has been working with John Lloyd Young as his musical director, producer/co-writer since 2012, producing John's album of Soul Classics "My Turn" and playing piano and directing live shows at The Cafe Carlyle, The Kennedy Center, and venues all across the country.

ABOUT THE SPACE:
The Space is Las Vegas' Community Driven, Charity Based Arts Complex consisting of a 3000 square foot raw performance/event space, Black Box Theatre, Rehearsal Studio, Podcast Studio, and a Piano Bar. Since opening, it has hosted Tony Winners, Grammy Winners, fashion shows to birthday parties. They currently bring entertainment directly to guests, pay-per-view style, to bring Broadway and live music lovers the very best talent without leaving the safety of their homes, while also providing artists with the opportunity to earn income while reaching out to their fans during these challenging times.

John Lloyd Young: Solid Gold, Live From Las Vegas will be performed live and also live-streamed from The Space in Las Vegas on Friday, July 9 at 10:00 PM ET/7:00 PM PT for one-night-only. Tickets to attend the live birthday concert are $70 or $100 including the VIP after-party. For those who want to watch from the comfort of their own home, the concert can be live-streamed for $40 with the virtual VIP after-party an additional $20. For tickets and additional information, please visit www.thespacelv.com.

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