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Cheyenne Jackson Leads Cast & Crew of Xanadu By Jody O’Neil Paused outside the site of his future roller disco in Los Angeles, Sonny Malone, a Venice beach-boy far removed from the science of rockets, stands erect in cut-off denim short-shorts on the brink of discovery – his poor, addled brain working overtime to puzzle out the patterns of familiarity: “Wow. Look at this place. Where have I seen this – hey, wait a minute. This is the place on the background of the mural. I’ve been painting it and I’ve never seen it until now. It’s like the face of the girl I’m painting that turned out to be Kira.” There is a beat. He lingers. He cocks his head slightly, staring unblinkingly out into the house and asks himself directly: “Who am I talking to?!” The audience erupts in a swell of laughter; the kind of laughs earned by a performer imbued with impeccable comedic subtleties – as anyone who caught his impossibly placid rendering of Kenny Loggins’ sun-baked memoirs at last fall’s Actors Fund benefit, Celebrity Autobiography: In Their Own Words, can attest. For while Jackson has won the hearts of many based purely on matters of physique, he is, in effect, the consummate leading man – infusing his deft and witty command over any assignment with rugged charm and the sweetest appeal this side of Shubert Alley. The rich baritone helps, too. Broadway is lucky to have him; and Broadway Cares over the moon to count him among its dear friends during appeals season, and all year round. Passing on Elvis Raised in a house his dad built on a 40-acre lot, Cheyenne’s beginnings on the Idaho-Washington border were humble, but hearty. “For three years we had an outhouse, didn’t have running water or indoor plumbing,” he says, “But it was amazing, and we had goats, chickens, dogs, cats, ducks, birds, a horse and grew potatoes. It was a very Norman Rockwell-esque childhood.” Encouraged by their mother (“an amazingly talented self-taught singer”), Cheyenne, along with his brother and sister, took every opportunity “to explore our creative sides in whatever capacity.” His first theatrical performance was as Albert in a high school production of Bye Bye Birdie. “Everyone asked me why I wasn’t playing Conrad Birdie, ‘the Elvis guy’, and I said it was because I wanted to play the funny lead.” Broadway’s Resident Romeo Flash forward 14 years to find the farm boy, and one-time Seattle salesman, drafted from the cast of Altar Boyz – where he’d spent the past two years in workshop – to originate the role of Chad on Broadway in All Shook Up – a role that would earn him a Theatre World Award and nods from the Drama League and Outer Critics Circle for Outstanding Lead Actor. It seems the allure of Elvis would not elude him, but what of the instant stardom? “At the time everything was happening, I think I was too tired to realize everything was clicking, career-wise. But, I do remember being in a cab driving through Times Square with my parents and seeing a four-story billboard of myself over the Palace Theatre and thinking … this is strange.” Though a television pilot Cheynne shot late last year in Chicago wasn’t picked up, he feels blessed to keep blading toward Mt. Olympus in the crowd-pleasing Xanadu. As he wrote on his website blog last month, “The audience response continues to be great and I have lots of confidence that Xanadu will continue to flourish.” Following his gripping performance as the heroic Mark Bingham in the Oscar-nominated film United 93, can we expect to see more of him on the big screen? “I don’t have any dreams to be Brad Pitt, but I would love to make a film a year while living in New York,” he replies. International House of Jackson With eight shows a week and a home-life that includes the dog he rescued from a fence in Harlem and a scientist partner not keen on posing for pictures (“He says he’s like the Amish… like it’s giving away part of his soul”), how much time is left for charity? Lots, apparently. He’s been involved with amfAR for the past several years and recently served on the Benefit Committee for the New York Gala. And he also appeared in the line-up at the 3rd Annual Broadway Backwards concert benefiting the LGBT Community Center back in February. But, it is his involvement with Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS since 2002 that has endeared him in a big, local way to so many of his fans. He sites a performance in Broadway Bares as one of his most memorable. “I was the 11th chorus boy from the left in a pair of plastic underwear watching Jane Krakowski sing ‘Burlesque is Back.’ I thought I had died and gone to heaven.” Over the eight long weeks of Gypsy of the Year appeals that stretched through the Local One strike, Cheyenne was a tireless champion of daily collections, mostly offering up his services in the photo booth to admirers from all over the world. (A montage of these fan photos accompanies this article). But, he is quick to counter that, adding, “It definitely was a group effort,” and taking time to name each cast-mate as well as stage management, dressers and house staff who all played a part in making Team Xanadu the longest, sustained Broadway show fundraisers over the course of a single season in the history of BC/EFA. That’s over $100,000! In a house that seats 600! Fittingly, Cheyenne and his fabulous leading lady, Kerry Butler, have had their caricatures installed at Sardi’s, a marked indication of their, and Xanadu’s everlasting appeal. When the news first broke, we asked if he had any idea where his likeness might come to rest in the venerable boite. “Well,” he said, “according to my friend (and co-star) Tony Roberts, Sardi’s likes to move you around. Tony is currently in the men’s bathroom. So, if you see me hanging over the urinal, at least I’ll be in good company.” We’ll shake on that.
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