John Cardone

John has one of the most expressive voices in the cast of Naked Boys Singing! (NBS), and two of the choicest solo numbers: "Entertainer" and "Perky Little Porn Star [from Skokie, Illinois]". Since this cast performs in Chicago, Illinois, and Skokie is only a rapid-transit ride away, the lyrics are particularly appropriate. So is the actor who plays the formerly innocent nice Jewish boy from Skokie also from Skokie? Also Jewish? Also a porn star?

Enquiring minds wanted to know!

o what's a nice boy like you from Skokie Illinois doing in a show like this?

[He laughs.] I'm actually from Los Angeles, California, and I'm not Jewish. But I love doing the number because the show is so presentational in nature, and the audience really thinks it's my story.

Have you ever been theatrically naked before this show?

Yes -- I was in a play a year ago at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in a play called Fucking Our Fathers. My ex-lover wrote this play where one of my characters, a street hustler, gets fucked on stage. That was my debut into nudity. It was a simulated fuck and not... [His voice trails off.] Doing NBS is nothing after that! But it was easy, because when I was in Europe they're not as taboo about nakedness, and I really didn't know anybody there; no one flew over. I was running that show here last summer, and they were looking for an actor in NBS, and the director knew I sang, so I auditioned and went from one nude scene to a whole nude show.

Have you ever been naked in public before this show?

I'm 42 now, but when I was 38-39 I was a stripper for a year. I was never technically naked, but close enough -- and I had people touching me for a dollar. I was trying to make money to move back to Los Angeles, and a little part of me wanted to perform before I got too old. It was very interesting stepping into the role of a stripper, because you see where the power exchange switches. It's really an acting job: you become this persona for whomever your target audience is. It was fun!

Fifty percent [of the strippers] were straight guys going through the motions, and they'd confide me that the male-male thing is physically distasteful to them -- but it's your job to let men touch you. For me as an actor it was interesting from that point of view. When people were offering me prostitution I wasn't interested in going that far... it's just too complicated.

Where was the place?

Here in Chicago at the [name omitted], and at a bar called the [omitted] Club.

o you consider yourself a nudist?

Like Tim? I'm a closet nudist. I haven't gotten around to exploring it, just visiting Palm Springs and so on [where you can be naked at many of the resorts].

Has being in the show affected your being naked in your daily life?

I'm so much more open! For example, when I was with a bunch of friends on a weekend getaway, I just dropped trou, and I didn't think anything of it. I used to have a little bit of boundaries -- but now I go into the hot tub naked... I'm just going to get naked, I'm just going to do it.

As a younger actor I had a much stronger issue with nudity, I wasn't going to just exploit myself. As I've aged I appreciate that part of myself, but I'm not as serious. Like Picasso said, it takes a long time to become young.

How did you find out about the show for the first time?

During the Gay Pride festival in 2001, my show was running in repertory with this show. I first heard of it in Los Angeles, but I didn't research it. I only saw it here.

What is your most moving theatrical experience involving an actor's nudity (you in the audience or you as the nude actor)?

[He thinks for quite awhile.] It's a tossup. I guess Bent, where the nudity affected me deeply but not in a sexual way. I don't think the Elephant Man was totally naked. Then I saw Party -- actually auditioned -- but once I saw it I thought it's very freeing and it seemed like fun, what is the big fucking deal?? It kind of humbled me: what are we so precious about? I still wasn't ready to do it, but I got that nudity could be a fun, celebratory thing rather than a cheap, degrading thing.

hat's the weirdest thing that's happened to you during a NBS performance?

The weirdest? Hmmm. I guess the most unusual thing is to be ogled by women, because I came out when I was 23, so to have women responding to my penis and my physicality... it's interesting and a new perspective. And women are so much more open about it than the gay men are. Some of the gay men are discerning and a bit competitive. Men have that narcissist thing where they are contrasting and comparing -- "could I do that ?", "would I do that?", whatever -- but in some of the conversations I've had, it brings up naked and nudity and penis issues for certain men. But then the show is so innocuous that by the time it's over they've forgotten about the penises.

What's the funniest thing that's happened to you outside the theater as a result of you being in the cast?

I was shopping at Christmastime in TJMaxx and these two old guys were whispering about me, and they were inching toward me and they were like "we saw you" and I was "yeah, uh huh" -- like some dirty little secret, like they were going to report me to my mother. I just had to laugh. I guess everybody has their own take on the whole nude thing. Certainly it means getting a lot of exposure. I've been in NBS almost 8 months and you can't go out without one or two people saying they saw me in the show.

Any downside from being in the cast?

One of the questions when we were interviewed was, would others hesitate to hire you when they see NBS on your resume? Most people aren't going to tell you that, but I think if anything it would only be somebody's skewed view of what it means to be in a naked show (no morals? etc.). I could see it being a problem, but they probably wouldn't be honest enough to tell me that. The last audition I got called back for was Ragtime and that didn't seem to have an effect.

oes your mother know?

My mother knows!

Has your mother seen the show?

She's coming in April with bells on! She's one of those totally supportive, "seen everything I've ever done" kind of mothers.

Any other relatives?

My sister loved it, lovvvved it, she thought what a celebration of sexuality and life, she loved me in a dress [during the "Entertainer" number], she wanted to bring her kids to see it, to show them what's possible, all the options in life. My sister in law has seen it. I think my straight older brother has no intention to see it. My mom is coming to see it with my other brother. My dad is in Los Angeles and probably would come if he lived in Chicago.

Do most actors nowadays consider being nude in a show a plus?

One guy flew in from North Carolina and wanted it in his résumé because it's a hit show -- if the nudity is part of it, it's just the gimmick that gets people in. Sometimes the Bailiwick theater has a reputation for being exploitative -- for just showing penises. Sometimes people like that. But Naked Boys Singing! is so much more than that. It's wonderful!

John, thanks so much for talking with me.

You're welcome!

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