David Zak

One of the longest-running productions of Naked Boys Singing! is at Chicago's Bailiwick Theatre, where David Zak is the director of the show and of the theater itself. We heard such great things about this production that we flew to Chicago in March, 2003, specifically to see the show and to conduct interviews.

o what's a nice guy like you doing with a play like this?

[He laughs.] We love lots of different types of things here -- besides the Hamlet with deaf actors, we have a kids' show opening next week. We want to make it a community resource for the WHOLE theater. People are hung up on labels (they're helpful for things like green beans!). We've had good luck with what people said couldn't be done: combining gay shows with kids' shows. We finished a gospel musical, we were nervous that a black audience wouldn't come to a theater which had "Naked Boys Singing" on the marquee. It's been a joy to me to be able to do all in the same building -- even though we have a couple of freakouts every year. But the moms who come here to see the kids' show eventually come back with their girlfriends! Sometimes the kids see the posters [with naked men] and laugh -- but compared to Showtime and HBO these ads are nothing.

Compared with the other productions, what are some of the things you do here differently?

We have "Pizza Boy", a song they wrote specifically for us. It fills out the show a bit. We have the ballet duet -- male-male dancing -- which got cut on the way [from Los Angeles] to New York, and that makes the show a little bit deeper because it makes it a bit controversial for the girls (but so what?). And I like the show because also it has its couple of serious moments, too.

Sometimes critics say "Don't do any more AIDS plays," but it's nice to go back and forth between the serious and the not so serious. When Bob Schrock [the original director] was here he wasn't crazy about doing "The Entertainer" in drag -- but the author liked it. Bob has videotapes from around the world. The changes we made would have been doomed if the material wasn't good.

ave you produced or directed any other plays involving nudity?

Sure! Party got its start here (worldwide). The author, David Dillon, [wrote it after he] was in Chicago and had been to a cast party which turned into a "Truth or Dare" contest. The show started in the late night slot with a $200 budget, and people had a great time identifying with one of the characters -- people coming for the sheer joy and sheer openness. Naked Boys Singing! is less confusing; Party was complicated for many different reasons.

Jerker is a wonderful play. The Gay and Lesbian program is about 15 years old, and we remount Jerker on a regular basis about every five years. It's really about people reaching out across barriers. It's one of the first great gay plays in the second half of the 20th century. It was written as a radio play, but as a stage play I think it really works well.

Once a year there's sort of a "Naked Boy" type show. That's always a dilemma -- and if there's no nudity the audience level goes way down. Any gay bookstore is fueled by the magazine sales, and you'd be an idiot if you didn't recognize that nudity is the gasoline that fuels this community's engines. I like nudity a lot as an audience member when it works well. It can be excruciatingly horrible when the play's bad.

I heard a rumor that there was going to be a Naked Boys Singing! movie.

I think they've been trying to sell the screenplay for quite awhile. I head that they had found a producer who had agreed to let [Robert] Schrock direct it and write the screenplay. It sounded like previous incarnations [in terms of the general structure of the piece].

A problem [with making a movie] is that you have 13 or 15 different authors who all have a say. My sense was that it would be a backstage view at a Naked Boys Singing! production with additional stuff happening behind the scenes.

oncerning auditions and recruiting actors: Is there a difference between doing this for Naked Boys Singing! and for other shows you do here?

Yes. For any other show we have hundreds to choose from. With Naked Boys Singing! it's almost an individual case; we had 25 or 30 to come to the audition. They sing, they move, they're comfortable. It's a tough show to cast. We've had the whole gamut of experiences. One guy signed up, then quit the night after his girlfriend saw it.

One candidate had danced at the Gaity theater in New York City and wanted to have similar theatrical experiences here. But he just couldn't sing. Some people want to be naked for the wrong reasons -- they're out of their clothes before they say hello. Finding the right people... it's like a family. If you got to choose your brother in law you'd be real careful about who you pick because they have to get along with the delicate balance of the other guys and their energies.

Your actors are a bit more talented with their penises. [On a small number of occasions, a cast member would make it clear that he was aware of how his penis was behaving.]

Flapping around? It's something that the cast has developed over time. I think it's fine, I think it's fun. I don't think they're doing anything inappropriate.

id you have a local gay naked group come to see the show naked?

Yeah. We've done it once each year. The first was Windy City Naturists. The second year we did a clothing optional night and that was an interesting experience. Not everyone got naked and it was more complicated -- including one woman who was topless.

How do you market this show differently from the other shows here?

We spend a lot of time going to wedding shows, trying to set up feature discussions on the radio, etc. It's an interesting process. Unlike a lot of the other productions, we were the first which was part of a bigger or regional theater. We just did a TV commercial -- which is different because it has carefully edited video footage. Once, at WGM Morning News, the boys popped up and sang from behind the news desk [so viewers couldn't see if they were naked below the waist]. They're doing a fundraiser this weekend: Karaoke night at one of the bars.

I've heard that there will be a "Naked Boys Singing!" sequel. Yes?

Not that I know of. Last year I went to New York and saw a gay version of "A Christmas Carol." And I could have done a naked boy Christmas Carol -- Marcus would have been perfect for Tiny Tim. We might do this. but probably not. Also, I have a great interest in dance and doing a gay dance festival.

n Provincetown they had weird problems with the police. Any legal problems here in Chicago? Have you gotten any flak from the community for doing a nude show?

The Provincetown version I never saw. It was one hour -- cutting out all the serious stuff so they could do more shows weekly. There are several producers who produce summer things; Adam Weinstock produced Naked Boys Singing! there. His rival made a big deal [complaining] about how their performance space was within 100 feet of a church. Or there was some sort of building code thing which this guy dug it up, thinking that he would put Adam's production out of business. But the opposite happened. Adam Weinstock is a smart, smart producer; the Naked Boys Singing! boys were singing on the street. He capitalized on it to the Nth degree. Then the New York producers picked up the story and sales went through the roof! So much for seedy producers trying to pull put one over on people. I think they might be back -- maybe not to Provincetown, maybe on cruise ships.

What is the Chicago ordinance on nudity?

You can't be naked in a bar or anywhere that's selling liquor.

The funniest misconception is that the rehearsals must be very sexy -- the casting couch. The bottom line is that it's not sexy at all, it's like being in a nudist camp. It's terrifying even so.

ere you scared that the show might open and close quickly?

Robert Schrock's theory is that if a production is too dirty it closes early. Chicago is the only production which hasn't closed quickly which was not directed by him.

What's the bigger significance of the show?

It moves the cause forward and nobody gets freaked out. Vagina Monologues has helped open up the topic of sex and nudity in the culture at large. I love the spirit of the show and the energy that our guys bring. In New York the boys are very beautiful and buff. Our guys are appealing because they're more like regular guys.

Marko [the newest and youngest cast member] went through the process that a lot of guys go through, thinking, yeah I can handle this, audiences and rehearsals all seem safe and welcoming... And then the curtain opens to an audience including your boyfriend and your coworkers...! Once you get past that, you blast through all your inhibitions and it's an incredibly liberating experience. It's really great to see how the actors have grown and changed and the show has changed because of their openness and honesty. There's no place to hide! If you've got bubbles in your butt or you're ill... oh lord, you're exposed in every sense of the word.

I give them all credit; I think they're all brave souls and happy souls.

And I think it really shows on stage. Thanks for chatting!

You're welcome!

Copyright © 2003 phdtop.com.
All rights reserved.