Iconic Showmances and the Power of Queer Storytelling as a Broadway Creator and Novelist with Chad Beguelin


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Dec 25 2024 62 mins  

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Presenting a really special holiday Broadway episode with Chad Beguelin who recently wrote his first novel called Showmance! Showmance is about a down-on-his-luck Broadway playwright who is marooned in rural Illinois in this sharply funny queer rom-com.


Chad knows a lot about the Broadway industry since he is a six-time Tony Award nominee, and his Broadway works include The Prom, Disney’s Aladdin, Elf and The Wedding Singer. He also co-wrote the screenplay for The Prom, currently available on Netflix.


Because I can't help myself, I asked Chad about his relationship to Wicked, and he reveals how Stephen Schwartz, the composer, has been such a wonderful mentor to him. He shares how Schwartz provided valuable feedback and guidance during the development of The Wedding Singer and expresses admiration for Wicked's important messages about acceptance.


I ask Chad what he thinks about The Wedding Singer's recent resurgence in popularity with younger audiences and ask him what he thinks about it being revived? And because Laura Benanti's recent interview on That's a Gay Ass Podcast has made headlines (mostly because of her critique of Zachary Levi), I ask Chad what he thinks about Laura apologizing to him and Matthew Sklar (his writing partner) about negative comments she's made about her experience in the musical?


Then, Chad discusses the process of writing his first novel, Showmance, and the differences between the structured, collaborative nature of musical theater and the more solitary, open-ended approach of novel writing.


And finally, Chad shares details about his upcoming musical projects, including a new farce called Horrible People and an adaptation of the novel Something Fabulous, which he describes as a "gay Bridgerton." Throughout the interview, Chad's creative commitment to creating more queer-centric stories and characters shines through!


You can find more information about Chad's work and his new novel Showmance here: https://www.chadbeguelin.com/


Follow him on Instagram, @chadbeg.


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