NICK DRAKE (May). They/them. From St. Louis, Missouri, they grew up performing at The Muny as a child and decided to extend their education in Music Theatre at Baldwin Wallace University. Nick’s other theatre credits include Back To The Future (Reginald/Goldie/Marvin Berry Cover), Kinky Boots (Angel/Lola Cover), Ain’t Too Proud (Swing/Dance Captain) Hadestown (Assistant Choreographer). TV and film credits include Fire Island (Hulu), “Saturday Night Live” (NBC) and “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” (NBC). Instagram: Nickxdrake

Hi Nick, this is Steve Noll with Our Lives Magazine. You’re probably on tour right now?

Yeah, I’m currently in Pittsburgh right now.

You’ll be in Wisconsin soon!

Yes, and I can’t wait. I love Madison.

I have six questions for you. Number one, tell us about the show and why should the queer community come see it?

The show is called “& Juliet,” and it is the most perfect accumulation of pop music that we’ve grown up with and Shakespearean times, which is really, really cool, that we all learn about. And I think the real reason why everyone wants to see the show is because it’s an example of how to go on your own journey and to figure everything out, especially when you’re in your early twenties. And I think the thing that I love the most about it is my character and how Shakespearean the character is made and all the faults and journeys and loveliness that happens to them. And I think for a lot of queer kids and queer people in the queer community, I think it’s just a great love letter of how to be unapologetically yourself, how queer people have so many different layers and we all go through things that any straight, cis-normative person goes through. And I think it’s just a really great way of showing how queer people can find love and find love in different ways and to be unapologetically themselves.

My second question, how did you get into this show? What is your story? What is your background? How did you get into the whole Broadway scene?

So I’m from St. Louis, Missouri, which has the largest outdoor theater in America called The Muny. And when I was in sixth grade, I worked with one of the youth directors and she was like, “You should audition for The Muny.” And then I did 15 or 16 shows in the span of eight years there. So I was just working with EGOT winners for my entire preteen to almost young adult lifetime. So that’s been really, really great and informative. And I went to school at Baldwin Wallace University, and I studied music theater with voice primary and just kept doing it. And then I graduated in the pandemic. And what was funny about that is that I was studying abroad in Denmark at the time, and the ban happened, and we had to evacuate Denmark. And so I had to fly to London, but I was stuck in London for, I guess, I think three days. I had 3 1/2 days there. And my friend, Shelby, who was in the same class as me, who is now on this tour with me, she was coming back on spring break and she was like, “Oh, we’re going to be in London for three days, just stay with us.” So I stayed with them for three days, and guess what show that we saw? & Juliet.

Wow.

Yeah, it was crazy. It was in London on the West End. And what was even funnier about it was that it was a cut show and they did a concert version because half the cast was either out on illness or out on injury. And the part that I play, May, wasn’t in the show at all. But we saw this concert version of the show of & Juliet, and I was like, “Oh my God, I’m so in love. I’m so ready to see this queer character that I know I’m going to play someday. I have to play it if it ever comes to America.” And lo and behold, it came to America. And I couldn’t do it the first time because I think I was on tour with Ain’t Too Proud at the time and I couldn’t go back home to audition. And then I did Kinky Boots Off-Broadway, and I worked on Hadestown on tour, and I just finished my first Broadway show, Back to the Future. And during Back to the Future I was like, “I have to be queer. I can no longer play men anymore.” And then this audition came up and I said, “Finally.” And I was like, “Oh my God, I totally need to get this.” And lo and behold, look at me now. I’m playing May on tour, so it’s the greatest gift that I’ve ever been given so far.

Excellent to hear that. Okay, question number three. The show features non-binary characters we talked about. How important is it to have this representation on the stage?

I am so grateful for this character and for how queer our show is in general. There are queer people dancing with queer people. There are straight, cis-normative people dancing with straight other cis-normative people, and there are male-identifying bodies holding hands with other male-identifying bodies. And I just love how expansive that they’ve made this show. But the thing that I love the most about it, because, I mean, May is like a newborn baby when it comes to queerness and a character in the show, they were technically born when Anne Hathaway decides that they’re created for Juliet. And they just go on this crazy queer journey that I think every queer person has to go through in navigating your love life, your outward self, your inward self, your personality, and how you express yourself. And I’m so grateful for this character, because every time I get to play it, I’m reminded about how queerness is so expansive. And for anyone who’s known me before the show, I was literally talking to my Back to the Future friends, they’re like, “We got a totally different Nick. Nick was such a…” I had to play football players; I had to be a gas station worker in Back to the Future. And then anytime I call my Back to the Future friends, they’re like, “You’re so pretty and soft even outside the show, and it’s heartwarming to see how the show has made you chip down your edges and refine… You’re yourself and you kind of look more happy.” And I just love the fact that I get to be expansive in my queerness. And I think for a kid like me who was seeing shows on tour when they were in St. Louis, I was like, “I would love to see this representation on stage so that I know that people like me still exist and people like me exist in the Midwest.” And something that’s so heartwarming is that when I go out to the stage door, I have so many queer people crying in my arms being like, “You have no idea how important it was for me to see this today and how you portray this role.” And even I’m talking so much about it, but tonight one of my understudies are going on, their name is Ishmael, and they have a totally different body type than I do. And my other understudy, Jordan, has a totally different body type from both me and Ish. And I think what’s so gorgeous about when they get to play it is that they bring something else to it, which is bigger bodies on stage or tiny, skinny little bodies on stage falling in love. And that is also really, really important to me, and they’re also so, so queer and so fabulous, and I am just so excited that we have three different versions of one character that’s all going to be a different version of it. And I just think that’s so special for everyone to see.

That kind of plays into my next question. Madison is a very queer-friendly city, but I assume many cities on this tour may not be. So what’s been the reaction from the audiences in those kind of cities?

Yeah. We were just in the Carolinas, and I was more nervous about South Carolina than I was about Durham or, let’s see, Charlotte. But when we were in South Carolina, it’s kind of like an older town, it’s like everyone has kind of been there for a while. It’s so cute though and everyone has been really sweet.

But I would walk down the street in all of my makeup by myself and people would be honking at me being like, “Hi, May. We loved you in the show.” Or they’ll stop me when I’m getting coffee and they’d be like, “You were so great. You were just absolutely fabulous, and we just adored you so much.” So the response after the show has been really, really great. And sometimes during the show you can look out into the audience and see these old, excuse me, I mean these old white people be like, “What is going on?” But I haven’t had any hate or anything yet. But I am more than prepared to know that when we go to Texas, we go to Texas for a month, we go to Houston and Dallas, I know that there’s going to be a few people who are going to walk out. There are a few people who walked out on Broadway when I was standing by on Broadway for a little bit, and people were telling me about that too. But some lady in Charlotte was like, “There are these old men in the audience shaking their heads, but I’m so glad that you are the person that you are and you’re so strong enough to say, ‘I don’t really care about what you think, but the fact that I got to do it in front of you is going to make you think.'”

So other than the part of May, what’s your favorite part of the show?

I love that every character gets a full arc storyline. Everyone either gets to make up at the end or they get to discover something about themselves at the end. And they really do learn how to change as a person. And I think what’s so special about this show is that I think the way that we do it is that it’s a big celebration of joy and heartache. And I think every actor on that stage just brings a lot of human tendencies to these overexaggerated Shakespearean characters, and there’s just so much heart in it, and I am just very grateful to be a part of that.

Cool. Excellent. Okay, so one last question. If you could play any role on Broadway in any show in the history of Broadway, what would it be?

In the history of Broadway?

Yeah. So even a show that ran 30, 40, 50 years ago, if you could play any part.

Oh my God. Can I give you my top three? My number one would totally be Charity in Sweet Charity. I think I would absolutely kill that. I like to think that I’m the non-binary Debbie Allen. So I really think Sweet Charity would be really fun to do. And then I’m going to say two, I would love to be Elphaba. And then three, I think I would love to be Maggie in A Chorus Line.

Well, those are all the questions I have for you, so thank you. And I wish you only a great success with not only this show but for the rest of your career. So, we need you out there.

Thank you. See you in Madison in a few weeks!