Curated Texan
Photography courtesy of The Hobby Center Houston
You may have seen him in Call Me Kat, the Saved By The Bell revival, American Horror Story: Apocalypse” or Disney’s Descendants 3. Or, maybe you caught him when he starred in the critically acclaimed HBO Liberace biopic, Behind the Candelabra, or his appearances in American Woman, Full Circle, Glee, and 30 Rock.
If it seems like the person I’m talking about is everywhere, that’s because, well, he is. His name is Cheyenne Jackson and those are just his screen credits as one of the hardest-working actors today.
On Broadway, he debuted by understudying both male leads in the Tony Award®-winning musical Thoroughly Modern Millie. In the off-Broadway musical Altar Boyz, he originated the role of Matthew.His first leading role was in All Shook Up. He was also in Xanadu, Damn Yankees, Finian’s Rainbow, The Performers, and Into the Woods.
Now, Texas audiences will finally have the chance to see him up close and personal in Cheyenne Jackson: Signs of Life on October 26, 2024, at 7:30 pm at The Hobby Center’s Sarofim Hall in Houston. In the show, Cheyenne invites audiences on a deeply personal and uproariously funny exploration of the Universe’s subtle cues. From toe-tapping melodies to saucy showbiz anecdotes, prepare for an unforgettable night filled with whimsy, laughter, and the sheer joy of a perfectly imperfect night of shared experience.
Curated Texan and Jenny Block caught up with our favorite Honorary Texan Cheyenne Jackson to get up close and personal to find out more about his rise to fame and what he has in store for his upcoming Hobby Center performance.
Curated Texan/Jenny Block: As you were growing up, did you always want to be a performer?
Cheyenne Jackson: Yes, I did. I grew up in a very rural town, very poor in Northern Idaho. We didn’t even have running water…it was an outhouse situation. So, my references were pretty limited. But once I found out what really good music was…
I was at a yard sale, and I found a CD, or it was a tape, actually, that had Billy Holiday, Lena Horn, and Ella Fitzgerald on it…and it just blew my mind. Soon after that, I found out what Broadway was. I always knew that I wanted to sing music like that and I wanted to perform. I saw myself as one of these old-school singers, one of these Sinatra-type people that do movies and TV, and also concerts. I’ve always felt like I was kind of born at the wrong time. I feel like in some ways I would’ve thought that kid would’ve been like, well, that would be cool, but no way could I ever be that.
Curated Texan/Jenny Block: What made you think you could go from A to Z?
Cheyenne Jackson: I’ve just always had a very clear vision and a very good understanding of my talent. I knew very early on that I had a gift musically. I’ve never studied professionally, but I have studied my whole life by listening to every artist imaginable, from rock and roll to jazz to classical to American songbook, whatever. I don’t classify myself as a baritone or a tenor. I just want to be able to do it all. I think I was always kind of manifesting before I even knew what that was. I just thought that’s what I’ll do. There has been no time in my life where I thought I would do anything else.
Curated Texan/Jenny Block: Is there anything that happened that just really shocked or surprised you along the way?
Cheyenne Jackson: I guess the first thing that comes to mind is that working on Broadway and doing live performances, I thought I had an idea of what it would take emotionally. physically and spiritually. Then once you do it, you understand the toll it takes to do eight shows a week on Broadway, which I did for years, and sometimes for two years in a row in the same show. That takes every single bit of everything that you have. There is no other way to put it.
Curated Texan/Jenny Block: What a work ethic you have. If you were forced to choose…big screen, small screen, or live stage?
Cheyenne Jackson: I would say, stage. I just am getting off of my residency in New York, which was so wonderful, and I taking a version of that to Texas.
It is the freest that I feel. It’s the most alive that I feel. I love doing TV and I love doing films, don’t get me wrong. But there is nothing like the feeling when you have that interaction with the audience in the moment. And it only happens once and then it’s over and it’s done.
Curated Texan/Jenny Block: What is something you think people would be terribly surprised to find out about you?
Cheyenne Jackson: Let’s see. I’ve never been with a woman. That’s personal, but that’s something.
Jenny Block/Curated Texan: What would be your absolute dream project?
Cheyenne Jackson: These last two years, I’ve kind of come out as a writer. I’ve always wanted to write. I’ve always done it in private. It’s always just been something I’ve done for therapy purposes.
Once my last TV show got canceled and then we had a big writer strike, I was forced to think about what is important to me, how I want to spend my time, and I have dug deep and started working on writing. I’ve written a bunch of things and I’ve sold a few little pitches and things are starting to move and groove a little bit.
I would say my dream would be to star in a television show that I wrote that has some musical components, but not in the traditional sense. Something sad, something funny. Something that is a punch to your guts, but it also makes you cry at the same time. I would collaborate with only my favorite people, only people that I’ve either worked on stage with or worked in a TV show and had a great rapport. The hours wouldn’t be crazy, and my kids could visit and I’d make a bunch of money. God, that would be my dream.
Oh, and, I’ve never performed on the West End. I would love to do that. There’s just something about it. I just love London. There’s something just intrinsically romantic to me about it.
Curated Texan/Jenny Block: Have you ever had anything wild happen on set or on stage that you’re just like, what is my life?
And then probably the craziest thing that’s ever happened on stage, I was in this play called The Performers with Henry Winkler and Alicia Silverstone. And Ari Grainer, an incredible actress, who’s in the TV show, Monsters about the Menendez Brothers right now and plays Leslie Abramson. Anyway, it was a play about adult performers. They’re all going to the adult video awards in Las Vegas. And my wife, Ari and I both play adult entertainers. We get in a fight, and during that fight, she throws a sex toy at me. I’m supposed to jump over it, and it’s supposed to hit the couch. Well, one day she threw that at me, and it missed, I jumped over it and it bounced, landing in the audience. And we could not recover. We could not recover.
Curated Texan/Jenny Block: That’s showbiz. What can audiences expect from the show that you’re bringing to Houston?
Cheyenne Jackson: You’re going to just get me in my most raw and open way. It’s a long-form narrative cabaret that I wrote, and it’s incredibly personal, and I think there’s something for everybody to be able to latch onto. I believe that if you want to connect with an audience, you have to go first. So, I go first and I unzip my guts, and then we kind of just go there together.
Cheyenne Jackson: Two things that pop in my head, one of them is a little adult. The first thing is I have a big tush and I have big legs and it’s hard to fit certain costumes. And I did this really bad production of Phantom of the Opera years ago in Idaho, and I played Raul, and I had to swing out on this rope, and every time I did it and I landed, my pants would split up the back and no matter what, no matter what. So, it was just kind of a running gag at that point.
Ticket prices start at $44. They are available online at TheHobbyCenter.org and in person at the Hobby Center Box Office.
