Interview: Michael Kushner of MICHAEL KUSHNER SINGS HIS HITS FOR PRIDE at Feinstein's/54 Below

The phrase "Jack of All Trades" has had a modern-day makeover and it is now an increasingly acknowledged occupation known as The Multi-hyphenate. It describes someone with many talents, a sharp focus, and a lot of drive, and Michael Kushner is New York City's leader of the multi-hyphenate pack. The multi-faceted multi-hyphenate is many things away from his profession, too, particularly a doting boyfriend, a devoted friend, and a dedicated doggie-daddy. Mr. Kushner is also a proud gay man who has always embraced his homosexuality, though it certainly doesn't define him...

Except on June 30th, when Mr.Kushner will present his nightclub act MICHAEL KUSHNER SINGS HIS HITS FOR PRIDE, in honor of Gay Pride Month. The actor, singer, writer, podcaster, producer, photographer (are you exhausted, yet?) returns to his first love of performing, and he's bringing along a special friend to share the spotlight, sing a little, and laugh a lot. Before he hits the 54 Below Stage with Alice Ripley, Michael got on the phone with me to talk about being a multi-talented, multi-tasking, multi-hyphenate, about working alongside your squeeze, and to either settle or start a rumor about the sexual orientation of a beloved Instagrammer named Sandwich.

This interview has been edited for space and content.

Michael Kushner, welcome to Broadway World and Happy Pride!

Oh my gosh. Thank you so much. Happy Pride to you!

We are talking on the very first day of Pride month - what do you and Remy have planned this month?

Oh... ordering in and watching reruns of the Great British Baking Show (laughing) - super gay! Remy and I are very set in our ways. We met at a Book of Mormon audition, and we both came into this relationship very much knowing who we are and what we do. He's a comedian and actor and, when we first met, I had not really identified much as a photographer or producer or writer - I pretty much was only a performer. I'm very old school theater, Golden Age musical theater - I'm looking at my books right now and I see Diary of a Mad Playwright, and Madeline Kahn - Being the Music, and Second Act Trouble... and Remy loves Joni Mitchell, and he's about to go on a three to four-week-long road trip. So we are very much separate, but the same. And we also have a French bulldog which is, I think, the gayest thing in our relationship,

The bulldog part or the French part?

I think the fact that he's both. Frenchies are very, very, very gay.

I hadn't heard that. So when I go dog shopping I'll know what to buy.

Yes. Chances are if there's a Frenchie, it's owned by a gay, I don't mean to contribute to a stereotype, but gays do love Frenchies. They're adorable. They're perfect for a New York City apartment. They're extremely lovable, extremely friendly, extremely stubborn, and perfectly Instagramable. So I think that's why gays love them.

So: it's being gay and owning a bulldog that is gay, but the French bulldog himself is not gay.

Right. I think I can confirm that. Yeah. Well...

I mean, we don't want to start a rumor about Sandwich.

No, we certainly don't, but however he identifies, we will support him with bells on - even if he's straight, okay.

(Laughing) As long as he's not litigious.

Exactly!

Now... you described your relationship with Remy as one where you complement each other's differences - you've spent time working together, haven't you? How was that?

We have, and we wait for the right moment to do that. We don't want to just collaborate on something, and one person isn't into it and the other person is - I feel like when that sort of dynamic happens, there's always tension because one person puts in more work than the other does, and we wanted to avoid that at all costs. So we didn't really start collaborating until fairly recently in our relationship, because we both found this one thing that we were able to pull our weight in. Unfortunately, it didn't last very long, mainly because times changed. I have two shows on Broadway Podcast Network - one is still ongoing and the other is on hiatus, figuring out what to do as the industry picks up. So it was a show that I had done since the beginning of the pandemic called My Broadway Memory, and originally I had hosted it with Brian Sedita, - it was wonderful and served the purpose of bringing forward the Broadway memory as the industry was shut down. But then Brian's life started to go in a different direction and he didn't really have much time for the show anymore. That opened up this window of opportunity for Remy and me to pick up the show together and create sort of a variety show at moments, 'cause we lived under the same roof, so we were able to film things together and edit them together and create these really cool things. Unfortunately, it didn't last long, our collaboration there, but it was really fun and proved that, as two individual people and artists, we are able to come together and be collaborative partners, as well as romantic partners

You just have to pick the right projects.

Yeah. 100%.

It doesn't always work and it won't always work, but if you find the right thing to work on together, it can be very satisfying.

It felt that way, it felt harmonious. No one was begging someone else, "Please do this, we have to get this". There was none of that. We kept each other organized, we kept each other on top of it - there are things he gets me to do and has to remind me a few times, and there are things that I have to do the same to him. So we really do keep each other in check and it really balanced well when we were doing My Broadway Memory.

How does one suddenly decide "I'm going to do a podcast?" How do you even begin to do something like that?

That's a great question. I think that there are a bunch of different angles when it comes to that. There's "I want to do a podcast, I have an itch to communicate with an audience and I have no idea what to tell" or "I have this very specific thing, but I have no idea how to do it." I think, ultimately, number one is having a point of view. You have to have a point of view if you're going to have a podcast, you can't just start a story and go, "Let's figure it out as we go." If you want your podcast to be an open dialogue, then you have to commit to that sort of feel, which in turn you have a point of view. You have to have a point of view. My point of view for Dear Multi-Hyphenate, which is my podcast that just hit 10,000 downloads in 2021 since January (which is really exciting) the point of view is that there are artists in this industry that do multiple things and it has not yet been normalized: that if you're not an actor, you're a failure. If you're doing anything else while you're also an actor, you are a failure. Or when are you going to get a real job? Or how do you pay the bills? But there are plenty of artists like Mel Brooks, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Rachel Brosnahan that do these multiple proficiencies on a macro level, get paid to do it, and are known to do it. Why is it okay for them, when younger artists just breaking out into the industry, if they do it, we're seen as failures? There are no stories for that. No one's talking about this multi-hyphenation of: I am an actor, I am a producer, I am a podcaster, I am a writer, I am a photographer. No one is talking about the multiple proficiencies we have and how we navigate that. And that was my point of view for Dear Multi-Hyphenate. I think ultimately starting a podcast is having a point of view and the rest will follow.

I think that one of the big problems is that a lot of people don't have the vision to understand that young people are successful in ways that they invent themselves. I think there's a lot of reverse ageism in the industry, that people think that because you're young, you should not be able to navigate multiple careers. Therein lies the problem you describe.

Yeah. That is a real thing. I'm actually in the industry 21 years, I started as a child actor. And I think the issue is that this industry is built in the tradition of paying your dues. When a younger artist shows up and gets praise or an income or longevity in their career, it's almost like it's a fluke, it's not deserved. I think ultimately there are no rules to this industry: there are many unspoken rules, but there are not many rules. There are no rules to this industry (about) what you have to do - A, B, and C - in order to find success. I think many stories are starting to happen, especially with the embracing of social media and the embracing of so many different tactics and ways that we can communicate in the theater industry. There are more success stories happening and I want to share them and that is sort of how Dear Multi-Hyphenate came to be... not just share them (either) but to help the younger artists. I share information that's very real. I just had a big "No" in my professional life and I'm going to talk about that on my next episode because we have to be able to communicate with ourselves, and be real, and understand why we get rejected just as much as we get accepted. The rejection that comes out of being a multi-hyphenate is because of our own choices, not because we're allowing anyone else to dictate it for us, but because we are the ones that are controlling the situation. If we get a "No" it's because of things that are more controllable than a bunch of men behind a desk that won't even look up while you're singing 16 bars.

Is there any tracking of when people began using the term multi-hyphenate?

The word first started showing up in the seventies, but they don't know who, just yet. I'm trying to do some research, but the word showed up in the seventies. The way that I'm looking at it is who was the big multi-hyphenate of the 1970s? Mel Brooks, right? We got Young Frankenstein, The Twelve Chairs, Blazing Saddles, all of these movies that he was actor, director, writer, producer of, and that's what a multi-hyphenate is. So I'm wondering if someone called him that or if he called himself that - I have to dig deep and find this out.

So you are one of the modern-day multi-hyphenates.

Yes.

Which of your talents and focuses is the one upon which your career has been built?

Interestingly enough, photography. I started as a child actor in the early two thousands - I went to school for musical theater and I went to French Woods Performing Arts Summer Camp. I studied theater all my life and I graduated college... but then I was starting in the same boat as everyone else, going to the EPAs and trying to get seen. I wound up getting my Equity card, but when I got to the city, I was trying to get seen for the Muni, just as much as anyone else, or for Kansas City Starlight or whatever regional theater. And I was like, "This is not bringing me happiness. How can I express myself as an artist?" I didn't really have anything to write yet. Then I remembered: I had a professor at Ithaca that was really (I had bad senioritis) and she was like, "Your preparation needs to be better. You need to be better prepared." So. I was dabbling with photography and my friend, Travis Kent, was in Disaster! and I asked him, "Might I follow you backstage and photograph you as you prepare because I want to see how an actor on Broadway prepares today and could I document that?" And he was like, sure, and got the appropriate permission. I posted them and people really were obsessed with it. The next thing I know, I created this thing called The Dressing Room Project, where I photograph actors prepping for their roles on Broadway. I started to make connections with celebrity performers that I had grown up dying over on cast albums... now they're friends that I'm texting, and they're coming to my studio, and I'm getting more clients and building this foundation, people are knowing my name in the industry. I'm paying my rent and saving and going on vacation and taking Ubers. I noticed this growth, this ability to express myself because of this foundation. Then I find stories to write and be an actor. Because of that photography, I really was able to start to make my own decisions and have agency as an artist, which doesn't happen often.

As a multi-hyphenate, do you ever find yourself feeling overwhelmed because you're being pulled in too many directions, and wishing that you could just go back to your original track of acting?

You're hysterical! That's so funny! Every day I am so honored that people trust me with my artistry. When people hire me to do something, it's because they trust me and that is the best. That's amazing. I also, because I have been in my life where no work has come, to overcompensate for that, I want to say yes to every single thing. And I can't. I learned that the hard way, where all of a sudden I'll have a nervous breakdown and shut my computer and have to go take a walk and shut off for the rest of the night. That's not healthy. When I get really overwhelmed or stressed, I think that there is a fantasy I have that is like, "Well, Michael, you could always just pack up and go." It makes me laugh because that's just a fantasy. That's never anything I would ever entertain because New York is home. This industry is home. I still have so much to say, so much to do. I think that is guiding me more towards buying a country home or a weekend getaway... but I've never, ever, really seriously thought about ending everything and just being an actor again. I have too much fun doing what I do

On the subject of acting, you have a new show coming up at 54 Below. How long has it been since you stood at the microphone for a full hour?

(Laughing) You're asking all the questions that I've been asking myself, which is hysterical. I had a one-man show - I photographed Idina Menzel, who is my idol - I've loved her forever, and the opportunity to photograph her came to me in a very funny, bizarre three-act play sort of way. I wrote a play about it and I did it just to get my toes in the water, just to figure out what it was like to get on stage and not just in one song, or not just make an appearance here and there - to really take the stage for an hour. So I wrote a play called Moo With Me, and it was about photographing Idina, but really it's about willing things into existence - that's what I did with photographing Idina was will it into existence. It all happened so very fast. I had a huge trip to Israel the week before the play. I had a massive rewrite and I found myself memorizing my play on the back of a camel in the middle of the desert. I did the one-man play at The Green Room 42 to a sold-out crowd and it was incredible. But that was at the top of 2018! It has been three years since I have stood at a microphone for an hour and communicated with an audience in such a way,

How are your nerves right now?

Oh boy! I feel like I'm prepping for a colonoscopy!

No, that's much easier than what you're about to do.

(Laughing) I can't say I'm the most nervous, since this is in my control. I have chosen songs that I feel very comfortable with. I think an issue (sometimes) when I perform is that I agree to do things that I'm not comfortable with. I am not a skyrocketing, belting tenor that can riff. I am Ethel Merman, reincarnate. You could drive a truck through my vibrato. When I do things that aren't true to me, that's when I get really nervous. I'm opening with Springtime For Hitler, I'm closing with Rose's Turn - I'm doing these numbers (because) I want to transport the audience. I want the audience to see and hear something that they're not used to a 29-year-old gay man doing at 54 Below. I want this to be different. I want this to be a hysterical, gay romp, just as much as it is a visualization of who I am: this very old Jewish Yiddish-speaking soul in a contemporary world.

Okay. Play with me for a moment.

Sure.

You have already expressed that you're an old-school musical theater boy.

Yes.

What was your first cast album?

The Les Mis White Album.

What was the first play you ever saw in your life?

I saw the national tour of Titanic in 1998.

Did that do it for you?

100%. I knew when I had seen my Grandma Penny (who) was a community theater actress at the JCC in Douglaston, Queens. Toward the end of her community theater career, she played Mae Peterson in Bye, Bye, Birdie; she told me she had started to go onto a medication that made her very frail, but at the end of her number, in her big mink coat, she had to get down on the ground. She does her number and she can't get up from the ground in the coat because it's too heavy. And she told me that the audience was laughing so hard, and it was one of the best moments she ever had on stage. I remember being four or five years old and going, "THAT'S what I want." I didn't know that that was something I could even get because I'm four or five and you don't really comprehend that stuff, putting A, B, and C together, but, you know... it had always been an option to me to get up there and perform.

What's the best classic Broadway musical?

OH! BOY! Oh, you want one? Or can I give you, like, three?

Okay, three.

Okay... and classic meaning, like, Golden Age? When does that stop for you?

They say The Golden Age stops at '59 but I have young friends that, unofficially, stretch that shit out to 1980, so let's break some rules, have some fun and do that.

Oh, iiiiiiiiiinteresting. Okay... so I'm going to say Gypsy is number one. I'm going to say 1776 is number two. And I'm going to say Flora The Red Menace is number three.

See? Two of those wouldn't have made your list if we had stopped at '59. All right. Greatest Broadway diva.

If we're talking through 1979, I think Patti's got it. I think Patti LuPone is my number one.

You are given a chance to sing with the greatest boy singer from Broadway. Who do you pick?

I love Michael Feinstein. I grew up listening to his albums and his cassettes. I would very much love to sing with Michael Feinstein. I don't know if that's the right demographic.

Well, he played Broadway four times, so YEAH.

I am also singing "Old Friend" from I'm Getting My Act Together... which he did a cover of.

What is your be-all-end-all musical theater role and have you played it?

Actually, I've done one of the two of them. I've done Roger De Bris, but I haven't done Thenardier, yet.

Roger De Bris is a good get. Thenardier, you've got time for, you're young, yet.

It was my senior year of high school and I won an award for it, so I didn't do him professionally. I still have a few years to grow into Roger as well, but Thenardier and Roger De Bris to do that on a macro professional level, in an incredible regional theater where they do revivals would be absolutely incredible. I would also love to be the first male-identifying Mama Rose, but that's, you know, whatever... (bursts out laughing)

Hey, listen, the times are not changing - they have changed; the tide has turned and it's just a question of keeping the tide moving. And you are saying this stuff out loud, you're saying it in print, and you've already proven that you're a master at manifesting your destiny.

Thank you. That's very kind of you. I am doing Rose's Turn as my finale, so I really do think that when people come, they'll be like, oh, sure, the next revival that comes almost every 10 years - it'll be Kushner. (Laughing heartily)

You'll have to shave the beard.

Oh, gladly. Beards are only temporary.

Beards are temporary, Mama rose is eternal.

(Michael laughs uproariously)

So, in what way would you say your background in performing arts informs what comes out of your time with a camera in your hand?

Music. I can understand an arc of a moment and anticipate that, especially if I'm photographing a show: I can understand how a song is written and understand the beginning, middle, and end, when there's a key change, what that means - I can anticipate all those things. In my headshot sessions, I can understand a moment - if I ask a question, I have the camera there and I know the beginning (is) the first look of "Wow, what a question that is!" and the thought process, which is the middle of the arc, and then the answer, which is the end of it. Right then and there, I can create a song with my camera and capture all of those moments.

Did your style as a photographer develop organically, or did you look to the photographers who came before you and study what they did: how did you find the Michael Kushner photo?

That's a great question. I have always loved headshots - when I was a kid, I would tell the adults in the shows to bring me headshots and I'd sit them down very seriously, and I'd say, "This looks like you" or "You need a new picture" or "I don't like this picture, what does it say?" and I was 12 years old. I realized every picture that I would take of myself was always very specific in the things that I did. I think that's what I really love: that specificity. I think what I go for is that when you look at a picture of mine, you can't automatically tell that it's a Michael Kushner headshot, because the goal is for you to immediately look at their eyes and go, "You look good, I know what you're saying, I know what you're trying to get across. I know the story that you're trying to get across." Then, maybe you take a step back and maybe go "This looks like a Michael Kushner picture."

I can usually spot one of your pictures, but I'm sort of trained that way.

Oh, I like that. Thank you

Would you ever consider doing a coffee table book of photos of Sandwich?

I very much would love to do that.

Nothing but pictures of Sandwich.

What could be better?

Remy could be in one or two as well.

If he wants, but pretty much sandwich,

Michael Kushner, I've had the best time talking to you. Thank you so much for chatting with me today. I will see YOU on the 30th.

Oh gosh. I'm so grateful that you're thinking of coming. Thank you so much. And I'll talk to you soon. Bye now!

Michael Kushner Sings His Hits For Pride plays Feinstein's/54 Below on June 30th at 9:45 pm. For information and tickets visit the 54 Below website HERE.

The Dear Multi-Hyphenate podcast can be found HERE.

Learn about all things Michael Kushner at the Michael Kushner website HERE.

Follow Sandwich The Frenchie on Instagram HERE.

All photos provided by Michael Kushner.

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