Interview: ' I Just Want to Make Sure I Get it Right': Actor Joel Harper-Jackson and Musician Andrew Lippa on I AM HARVEY MILK

I Am Harvey Milk, with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa, will be making its European premiere at Cadogan Hall on 27 October. West End star Joel Harper-Jackson will star alongside Broadway actress Sierra Boggess. The work, part choral and part theatre, tells the story of Harvey Milk, a gay-rights activist and politician in the United States who was assassinated in 1978. 

Recently, we had the opportunity to talk with both Lippa and Harper-Jackson about the upcoming performance of the show. We discussed how they each got started in the world of theatre, the importance of Harvey Milk and his legacy and creating an emotional journey through the show.

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How did you each first get started in the world of theatre?

Andrew: In tenth grade, I auditioned for and was cast in a high school production of The Pajama Game. I had seen a few musicals prior to this (Annie; Fiddler) but I played a Steam Heat Boy in The Pajama Game and got hooked. When I was in high school, I loved everything about putting on a musical...Everything about it seemed to say, “You found your place.” 

Joel: I was involved in lots of theatre at school - did local amateur productions when I was a teenager and then went to study Musical Theatre at The Hammond in Chester. In my final year, I left early to do the twentieth-anniversary tour of RENT. From that, I briefly went to work on a ship to pay off my student debt, then moved to London.

How did each of you first learn about Harvey Milk?

Andrew: I’d been aware of the basic biographical information about Harvey Milk for a long time. But it was the movie Milk that really changed everything in 2008. Once I’d seen that movie - and it seemed every gay man I knew had also seen it - Harvey found his proper place as icon and hero in my heart and soul. 

Joel: I’m embarrassed to say that I didn’t know anything about Harvey Milk until the Dustin Lance Black film, Milk, came out in 2008. In fairness, I was sixteen and the internet wasn’t what it is today. But I remembered seeing the film and feeling such a duty to be unapologetically out. To see how the generations before us had fought tirelessly to get equal rights - the sacrifices they made, the scrutiny they were under, the way they were treated was so unjust. I came out when I was eleven and I was always a very strong-minded child that was never one to apologise for who I was, but seeing this film really lit a fire in my belly.

Can you tell us a bit about I Am Harvey Milk?

Andrew: Since I was so enamoured of the film Milk, I knew what I didn’t want to write - a biography. Instead, I was interested in writing a series of events that would have an emotional impact. I was given some rules - a men’s chorus; an orchestra; vocal soloists; an hour. From there, and with a lot of research, I pieced together ideas and impressions. Some things in I Am Harvey Milk are true - he DID use a lavender pen to sign that important legislation. Some are inventions - his dialogue with his younger self; a woman in his life who both supported and reviled him. Some are suppositions - I’m sure he partied in The Castro a lot, so, “Friday Night in the Castro” seemed spot-on. 

Andrew - Can you tell us a bit about your creative process for I Am Harvey Milk?

Andrew: In addition to the above, I wanted to create an experience that was an emotional journey - not only about Harvey, but about gay experience as I have lived and seen it. The piece doesn’t so much tell a story as it shares a set of feelings. It starts in the past. The second song is what happened at the very end of his life. The very end of the show is the middle of Harvey’s story. Chronology wasn’t important to me. What WAS important - getting right (as right as I could) Harvey’s presence, voice, style, passion, love, humanity. 

Joel - What is it like to be taking on the role of Harvey Milk?

Joel: Nerve-wracking! I was completely and utterly flattered when we started having conversations about me potentially playing him. However, he’s a real person - his efforts impacted so many people's lives, impacted my life, so I feel a real duty of care to him and his story. I just want to make sure I get it right. Aside from the a tiny amount of nerves, I’m chuffed to bits. The thrill of acting for me comes from completely escaping, jumping in to another person's world and, in that process, I hopefully get to learn something about myself. The fact that I've been given the right to jump into Harvey Milk's world, someone whose ripple effect and legacy impacted me personally as a teenager decades after he was gone, is a real gift. 

Do you each have any favourite moments/songs from I Am Harvey Milk?

Andrew: I never pick favourites among my work, but I do love musical counterpoint. “Tired of the Silence”, the final song in the show, is filled with vocal counterpoint. That always thrills me to write and to listen to. And I save it for the finale of the show!

Joel: I have a few! “San Francisco” is my personal favourite, especially the beginning. We really get to hear the choir is in its full glory as there’s an acapella section which breaks my heart everytime I hear it. 

What do you hope audiences take away from I Am Harvey Milk?

Andrew: From our premiere in San Francisco in 2013, a story - a young woman (early twenties) told our director she was going outside the theatre, post-performance, and “make that call” to her parents. She was motivated by the piece and by the community of LGBTQ folks there that night, to come out to her family. She felt safe enough with us to do that with them. She had, so it seems, found her tribe. If I Am Harvey Milk can lead a child to do this, lead a parent to love their gay child more, give one person a stronger sense of self-worth and/or belonging or bring all people together to choose love first, well, that’s a fine take-away. 

Joel: I hope they feel like they want to walk a little taller, specifically the LGBTQ+ audience members. No doubt about it, our world has progressed so much since the seventies, but there is still an awfully long way to go. Now, it’s our responsibility to be visible, to set positive examples for the next LGBTQ+ generation and to never apologise for loving who we love.

How would you describe I Am Harvey Milk in one word?

Andrew: Bloody brilliant! (That’s two words, sorry!)

Joel: Bold.

I Am Harvey Milk will be performed on 27 October at Cadogan Hall. The profits from both performances will go to LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall. 

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