On Valentine's Day, Cheyenne Jackson will be embracing his vulnerability.
Set to appear in two intimate cabaret performances at the Chan National Queer Arts Center, the new home of the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus, the gay star of stage and screen says "My opening bit is about my experience getting hair transplants."
In a phone interview with the Bay Area Reporter, Jackson recalled sharing the story in public for the first time in 2023, on the opening night of a residency at the New York nightclub 54 Below.
"I hadn't planned it ahead of time," he said. "But in cabaret, getting as close to the audience as possible and making an honest connection is where the real magic is. In my life I'm an introvert. Making those real connections with people is something I have trouble with. It's something I'm always working on.
"My husband [Jason Landau] tells me, 'If you want to connect, you've got to take the lead. You've got to put yourself out there.
"So in New York, I just decided to go on, talk about my hair plugs right away and just take the piss out of myself. I was telling it like it is, right from the jump and I ended up loving those shows.
"There's always some innate divide between a performer and the audience, but at this point in my career, I want to challenge myself. I want to let myself go to emotional places that I never thought I'd go in a show and feel a really intense give and take.
Jackson says he's come a long way since his early cabaret gigs.
"I used to hate that intimacy," he said." I remember doing a residency at the Café Carlisle many years ago. People are sitting like one foot away from you there, and I just couldn't deal with it. It felt too close and too vulnerable and I really had a terrible time during that run. Now I don't want to do it unless I just totally unzip my guts and get real."
A challenging year
The past year has felt particularly vulnerable for Jackson, who will turn 50 in July.
"I lost my bestie," he says, speaking about fellow Broadway actor Gavin Creel, a friend of over two decades who died at 48 last September.
As 2024 came to a close in the wake of the Hollywood writers' strike, Jackson realized that "for the first time in my past 18 years as a professional actor, I hadn't done enough SAG work to keep my insurance for myself and my family. I'd done a couple of TV guest spots and a couple of indy movies, but it wasn't enough. I was one gig short.
"I'm lucky to have been able to call up my dear friend from 'American Horror Story,' Kathy Bates, who is a gem of a person and has been a mentor for a decade. She's having great success with the reboot of 'Matlock' and I asked if there was any possibility she had something for me.
"She called back in 15 minutes and said she'd just talked to the producers and there was one role: 'You've got four lines and you don't even have a name' and I was like, 100% yes. I'm so grateful that people in our community look out for each other."
Then, just last month, Jackson found himself having an almost inconceivable conversation with his 8-year-old twins, Willow and Ethan, encouraging them to pack up their favorite things as the family prepared to evacuate their Hollywood Hills home as nearby wildfires encroached.
Their home was left unscathed, but Jackson still sounded rattled remembering that drive to the desert through wind and smoke.
"My kids were counting tractor trailers that had blown over on their sides. The whole experience is hard to believe."
Along with vulnerability, Jackson says he'll be taking the stage in San Francisco with a renewed sense of gratitude and responsibility.
In November, he made a rare return to his musical comedy roots, starring as Albin in a Pasadena Playhouse production of "La Cage Aux Folles."
"I've never worked on a production with so many incredible trans and non-binary people," said Jackson. "It was a queer circus backstage, and it was just beautiful. After the election, I have never felt more like I need to shout from the rooftops and sing 'I Am What I Am.'"
Cheyenne Jackson, Feb. 14, 6pm and 8:30pm. $69-$128. Chan National Queer Arts Center, 170 Valencia St. www.sfgmc.org
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