Barrowman as bachelor and singer

[fajrdrako]

pfyre posted an article about John Barrowman from 2002. Interesting but odd in a number of ways, the most striking being that it played the '35-year-old bachelor' angle - when Barrowman must have been with his boyfriend Scott almost ten years already at that point. Not a word about his being gay, just a parallel between him and the unmarried, presumably straight, character he would be playing.

I'm accustomed to Barrowman being outspokenly gay, the poster-boy for gay success in the entertainment industry, the Stonewall 'Man of the Year', the man who deliberately takes gay and bi roles, the man about to civil-partner his boyfriend. - Can I use 'civil partner' as a verb? I keep wanting to say 'marry', but it's 'civil partnership' in the UK. Barrowman has said clearly that he sees a difference between this and marriage, and that he is not, in fact, in favour of gay marriage. I can't quite get my head around that: I see it as a matter of equal rights in law, and a valuable thing to at least have the option of marriage the same way straight people do. But. To each his own choice.

It remains surprising for me to see any kind of article about Barrowman that talks about his life but doesn't talk about his being gay. This article was written less than five years ago. Were things so different then?

...Maybe.

I wonder if it makes a difference that this is an American article, while most of what I've been seeing and reading about him is British.

I'm noticed that John Barrowman changes his emphasis from one interview to another - or maybe it's different emphases at different times. Lately, a lot of his talk has been about his upcoming civil partnership ceremony, understandably. (Less than a week away now.) A couple of years ago, in the Doctor Who era, he was saying that he was gay, gay, totally gay, not bi, despite playing the bisexual-omnisexual Captain Jack so convincingly. Now he's said he's maybe-sort-of-kinda bi even though he describes himself as gay, but he 'loves women' and he tells cute sexual anecdotes about himself with them, and gets photographed kissing Eve Myles. I don't think it's insincere, but I do think it is strategic PR.

And I can understand that anyone might enjoy kissing Eve Myles.

... On another topic (but still John Barrowman), I was thinking this morning about how I have said since about the age of twelve that my favourite singer is Andy Williams. (Not that I always or often have the nerve to say it out loud. Not a popular choice with my generation.) Then thinking of John Barrowman singing Moon River, which I was listening to yesterday thanks to the magic of YouTube, and comparing it to Andy Williams singing Moon River, which was one of his theme songs - you know, I like Barrowman's voice better. Andy Williams might just have been supplanted in my affections, after forty-mumble years of loyalty. That's quite a feat.

Comments

[femme-slash-fan.livejournal.com]

small nit-pick... sorry.

it's Eve Myles (I'm a Eve addict which is about the only reason I noticed.)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Oops sorry. (Blush.) Will fix. I hate mispelling names.

[femme-slash-fan.livejournal.com]

Nicely done! sorry... I'ma bit of an Eve fan... in case you haven't noticed. heh.

[grlnamedlucifer.livejournal.com]

>he is not, in fact, in favour of gay marriage. I can't quite get my head around that: I see it as a matter of equal rights in law, and a valuable thing to at least have the option of marriage the same way straight people do.<

I'd heard that it wasn't so much a rights thing as it was a "why would I want to get married in a belief system that hatesme" kind of thing. Which is a valid complaint I suppose.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

God knows Nathan Lane was out-but-in for years. I remember one interview in which he said "I'm unmarried, I do musical comedy, YOU do the math.

Which does indeed make a lot of sense. Not wanting to play the same game the opposition is playing.

[trixtah.livejournal.com]

Yep, that's precisely the reason I wouldn't get "married". My personal take is that marriage has too many religious/ritualistic roots for me to be comfortable with it. Civil partnership is more of a legal contract regarding property matters, and I also think that it should be the cornerstone of a legal relationship between any two (or more!) people (gay or straight). Marriage is something that people do in churches.

Het couples can also do civil partnerships in NZ. I'm not sure what the status is in the UK.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

On a talk show this year, he was quite raunchy about "tried sex with women, didn't enjoy it, not going there again."

Coming out for a musical-comedy romantic lead isn't easy. There's the real fear that you'll never get cast again. I think most actors come out in stages -- God knows Nathan Lane was out-but-in for years. I remember one interview in which he said "I'm unmarried, I do musical comedy, YOU do the math."

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

On a talk show this year, he was quite raunchy about "tried sex with women, didn't enjoy it, not going there again."

Yes, and on other talk shows said things that implied otherwise - not that he was going to start chasing after women, but that he liked them sexually. He's always very funny about it.

God knows Nathan Lane was out-but-in for years. I remember one interview in which he said "I'm unmarried, I do musical comedy, YOU do the math."

LOL. What a great line.

[cyberducks.livejournal.com]

I don't think JB was publically out then - I mean he was out in the industry for a long time, it was sort of an open secret, from what I understand. I think JB, like a lot of gay people had a long hard battle for acceptance both in his personal and professional life. He makes it look easy now, but I bet it hasn't always been easy.

As for if he's a hundred percent gay, or bi - who knows? I will say one thing though - JB has great chemistry with women and comes across interacting with them like he really likes women, including touching them, kissing them. And that is not always the case in my observance of gay men over the years. One example, whenever I have watched Graham Norton in one of his programs, I always get the distinct impression that he thinks women have cooties, and that he doesn't want to touch them with a ten-foot pole. JB never comes across like that at all. I think JB is a sensual extrovert, who primarily identifies with being gay - but his reasons for loving working on TW say it pretty much all "I get to shoot guns and kiss beautiful people" - emphasis being on people here. Why did he kiss EM? Because he likes doing stuff like that and he felt like kissing her at the moment.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

A friend of mine took a film-editing class. One of the exercises was to cut together raw footage from a Richard Chamberlain series and try to get Chamberlain and the female lead (A) in the same shot and (B) with Chamberlain looking like he wanted to be there. ;-)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

He makes it look easy now, but I bet it hasn't always been easy.

Good heavens no, I'm sure it wasn't. Not for any of us, and for someone whose profession revolves around public image in the public eye - well, it must have been bad ten or twenty years ago. When I think about it, it's amazing how much times have changed. Less in the US than Britain or Canada, I think, but the changes have happened in most of hte weatern world.

I think JB is a sensual extrovert, who primarily identifies with being gay - but his reasons for loving working on TW say it pretty much all "I get to shoot guns and kiss beautiful people" - emphasis being on people here.

I agree with all of that. I suspect that, like Captain Jack, he doesn't much like categories, and if he has to pick one, it's 'gay all the way' - but his personality goes beyond any particular category. And I suspect that his life with Scott gives him a sort of vested interest in calling himself gay. I suspect his motivation is both personal and political.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

Oh, and by the way, there's been a theatrical consensus for some years that the lead of Company may well be closeted, or that at least that's a reasonable subtext for the role. The whole point of Company is that Bobby cannot commit to a heterosexual relationship, and nobody, including Bobby, really understands why.

At the end of the show he sings a big song, "Being Alive", about finally being ready to commit to an anonymous 'someone'. It's been considered somewhat unconvincing by many people.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this - I'd like to see Company but never have. In fact, my only knowledge of it is John Barrowman's recording of "Being Alive".

Interesting bit of metatextuality!

[firko.livejournal.com]

Interesting interview (and strange to have no mention of his personal life apart from the dogs), and I think there may be some truth in the 'audience that it was written for' theory.

As I see it, there is an advantage to John being vague about his sexuality, whereby he is less likely to get categorised or stereotyped in both his life and the roles he is offered. Captain Jack is an exceptional case in that his ambiguous sexual preferences form a large part of the character.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

he is less likely to get categorised or stereotyped in both his life and the roles he is offered.

That is the traditional approach. I think actors the world over would be happy if that stereotype changed. I would be happy if it changed.

Captain Jack is an exceptional case in that his ambiguous sexual preferences form a large part of the character.

Yes, which I think is a major breakthrough both for Russell T. Davies and for John Barrowman - and for television in general.

[beck-liz.livejournal.com]

This article was written less than five years ago. Were things so different then?

...Maybe.

I think it really kind of is. And being an American article rather than British probably has a bit to do with it, too. We do have a harder time accepting such things here in the US than elsewhere. But it's getting better here, too, thank goodness.

JB seems to be really really fantastic at doing PR stuff. He always looks like he's having a blast, and maybe he is. I can believe him capable of changing his focus depending on where he was appearing, and still being sincere.

Also, I totally agree with you about his voice. I bought two of his CDs (and already had the "DeLovely" soundtrack before I fell for JB) and I adore them. I wish there was more out there.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

it's getting better here, too, thank goodness.

Yes, I've observed that. Still a way to go everywhere.

JB seems to be really really fantastic at doing PR stuff.

He's brilliant at it. It's part of his talent. He can act perfectly natural and happy in the strangest circumstances. And interviewers like to bait him because he responds so well.

I can believe him capable of changing his focus depending on where he was appearing, and still being sincere.

Yes, absolutely. He doesn't fully contradict himself so much as putting the emphasis on different aspects.

I bought two of his CDs

So did I, and I want more! I hope he's going to put out more - as soon as he gets a spare moment in his schedule.

[trixtah.livejournal.com]

Stick me in as another vote for the "US audience coyness", but also that things have changed a bit in the last few years. I wonder if shows like QAF - which fine upstanding het couples here in Oz appear to be glued to - might have had some small influence on cultural norms.

As for JB having to do kissy-kissy with EM, possibly outside of his comfort zone (although I don't really think that's the case), I'd be happy to throw myself into the breach and kiss her for him. Just as a social service, you understand.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I think QAF really made a difference, at least in the perception of gay people as protagonists, and fully human at that.

I think JB's comfort zone is pretty damn big. But... nice to hear you would so nobly help him out by kissing Eve Myles. Me too. I wish.

[atheneunknown.livejournal.com]

I have a close male freind who came out to me three or four years ago now...and not long after, kissed me at a party. Yes there was drinking...but still.

I've always beleived that sexuality isn't something that is defineable. I'm openly bisexual myself, and as far as I'm concerned, anyone who beleives their straight just hasn't met that 1% of their sex that would just make them lusty.

I beleive souls fall in love with souls, not bodies with bodies...maybe he comes from a simlilar path of thinking. I'd love to think so.

I remember on Johnathan Ross he said something about loving breasts even though he's gay, and if he were to ever part ways with his Mr. he wouldn't rule out being with a woman, if it were the right woman.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I've always beleived that sexuality isn't something that is defineable.

I agree, and I know Captain Jack Harkness agrees, and I suspect Russell T. Davies and John Barrowman would as well. But it's a world that thrives on naming categories and labelling ideas, so the definitions are all around us. Usually not fitting very well.

I'm openly bisexual myself... I beleive souls fall in love with souls, not bodies with bodies...

Me too - we're in total agreement there! And though I absolutely believe this to be true, I know there are many who don't, and I have trouble conceiving their perceptions. Perhaps it's all a bell curve of possibilities and tendencies?


I remember on Johnathan Ross he said something about loving breasts even though he's gay, and if he were to ever part ways with his Mr. he wouldn't rule out being with a woman, if it were the right woman.

Yes, that's the statement I was thinking about.

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

I have always liked Andy Williams, too. His singing voice is so mellow and smooth, and he so obviously enjoys the act of singing. Be brave -- come out, come out, wherever you are, Andy Williams fans of the world!

And I'd love to hear John Barrowman singing Moon River... after hearing him sing the Cole Porter songs, I was completely won over. Doesn't he seem to have a perfect voice for musical theatre?

As for "only five years ago... such a difference?" Um, sorry, but heck yes -- especially because it was an American interview. Why people here are so overly hung up about such things as gender is beyond me, but that does seem to be the fact. It's less so now (Neil Patrick Harris, who played the boy doctor Doogie Howser on tv, has recently come out as gay and happily partnered, good for him, and I'd say that helped make a difference), but it's still a long way from being totally eroded away.

You live in a relatively civilized country, part of a relatively civilized Commonwealth. The States should catch up in about another twenty years or so, maybe. [g]

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Be brave -- come out, come out, wherever you are, Andy Williams fans of the world!

Yes, indeed! The man's singing voice was a pleasure, and I tended to like the songs he sings - showtunes and love songs - my kind of thing.

You lucky woman, you can hear John Barrowman singing "Moon River", just click on this link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa6fi0wZpFk) and enjoy. I hope he puts out another recording of his songs soon, I really do.

I'm not in the U.S. so I can't really judge things there, I just see what's on TV and guess. I think five years has made a big difference in Canada. I think that making gay marriage legal was a big shift in everyone's perception, nationally. Not that individual attitudes necessarily changed, but the status quo is now so different that collective attitudes shifted a little. It's much more the case that being gay, straight or bi is a neutral quality like being 'married or single' or 'blonde or brunette'.

The States should catch up in about another twenty years or so, maybe. [g]

Let's hope! That will probably be in our lifetimes. I'd like to see it.

[filkferengi]

Our local PBS station had a show of clips from the best of Andy Williams' tv Christmas shows. The sets & skits were extremely cheesy, but his tones were golden. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed him.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I'd love to have seen that show! I think most of the Andy Williams LPs I used to have, have not been reissued as CDs - though probably most of the songs appear on the new CDs one way or another. Not my favourite one, as far as I know. Though come to think of it... it's been a year or two since I checked what was available. I must look again.