When Michael McElroy joined the cast of Rent in 1997, he had no idea what was in store. Before he was offered the part, he hadn’t seen the show, and he was wary of Rent’s hype.

But McElroy soon fell in love with the “beauty and rawness” of the music and its message. Fast forward to 2010, and he’s been playing Tom Collins on and off for more than a decade.

While not the main character, Collins propels several of the shows main themes. He’s a black, gay HIV-positive AIDS activist and a former squatter of the contested loft. He’s also the instrument through which Angel, the scene-stealing Latina drag queen, is introduced to the rest of the characters.

And on top of all that, Collins also has one of the most touching (and acrobatic) songs in the whole book: the I’ll Cover You reprise. And that means, day in and day out, that McElroy has his work cut out for him.

We reached him on tour to ask the most important question: is it draining to sing every night? Here’s what he said.

It is one of the hardest things I’ve very done in my life. Just technically, it covers my entire vocal range. Everything.

I have to disassociate myself from the emotion a little bit, because technically I just have so much to do. For me, as a performer, I believe that I should let the audience have the emotional response. I just tell the story. If I break down, I’m not telling the story.

There have been a couple of times that that really came to pass. When we were on Broadway, and we were filming for the closing night and they had more lights and cameras in the house -- so I could see the audience’s faces. That almost put me over the edge, because there were so many emotions going on in my life and that night, and in the show, and what that meant. I had to keep myself in check. I feel it, but I have to let the audience feel it moreso than me.

You really can’t go there every night. That loss is so intense and severe, it would put me in the crazy house. You know, as actors, whether you’re doing Medea or whatever, you know where you have to go. But you’re not really 100 percent emotionally in that place, or else you would go crazy.

Just a little something to whet your appetite. Look for a full-length piece (Rent: is it still relevant?) next week in Xtra and on Xtra.ca. Rent lands in Toronto Jan 12.

 

 

Chances are, if you're reading this, you're not in the closet.  At least I hope not.  It's dark and cramped in there and the secrets smell like old socks left in the back corner.

But it's one thing to know that life is better without secrets and quite another thing to actually figure out when and how to let go of them.  That's where a guy like Howard Bragman comes in -- he's a publicist in LA who helps celebrities come out.  I traded emails with him a couple years back when basketball player John Amaechi made the brave decision to go public about being gay and Bragman made the process easy for everyone concerned.

For those not famous enough to need a PR guy or rich enough to afford one, however, we have True Love Lies, the new play from Edmonton-born Brad Fraser in which the sexual secrets of an entire family come spilling out in hilarious and poignant ways:

 

Debuting in the UK last year, now running in Toronto until Nov. 1 and hopefully being restaged elsewhere after that, this loose sequel to Fraser's classic Unidentified Human Remains and the True Nature of Love begins as a zippy post-nuclear-family sitcom before growing into something far stranger and sadder as the characters (beautifully played by the terrific ensemble) each wrestle with not only what secrets they're hiding from each other but also what secrets they're hiding from themselves.

We don't look at a lot of theatre here on the Roundup (preferring to leave that to the mighty Rob Salerno) but seeing this play after reading the big writeup on Bragman and his efforts to free Hollywood types from their own prisons only made its themes stand out even more -- the truth shall set you free...sort of.

We tend to believe that whether that truth is something unpleasant (like learning that the potential HIV vaccine is a dud) or something controversial (listen for the sound of shrieking girls as Esquire magazine insists that the Twilight vampires are gay) or something awkward (the British tabloids going to town on further details on the death of out singer Stephen Gately), one must reveal all, but one of the most provocative things about True Love Lies is right there in the title -- for the sake of those we love, some secrets are better kept.

Sex advice columnist Dan Savage riffed on this notion a while back and, just for kicks, I'm reprinting it here today because it's so valuable.  Savage is one of the gay community's great truth-tellers so it's weird to hear him argue on behalf of illusion:

Ultimately, all these men are asking the big questions:  who do we lie to, when do we tell the truth and how do we know the difference?

Sure, there was a lot of tittering over Daniel Radcliffe's nude scene in "Equus" this past year but the "Harry Potter" star really came into his own at a Broadway AIDS benefit last week, debuting his hilarious love song to his horse co-star:

In other Annoying British People News, Sir Elton John has lost his lawsuit against the UK newspaper that made fun of him. While we feel for our Velvet Mafia leader, there is still a great sigh of relief as we now continue with our regularly scheduled Elton John teasing!

In Annoying Wannabe-British People News, Madonna has granted ex-hubby Guy Ritchie 50 million pounds, one of the largest divorce settlements ever. He even gets to keep his pub! It's said that Madonna will be moving back to New York -- we look forward to hearing her retire that off-putting fake British accent and reclaim her off-putting fake Bronx accent!

Sometimes teasing goes too far:  everyone's picking on poor actor Scott Caan for getting his balls caught on film by paparazzi while out surfing, and then there's the weirdo who took Neil Patrick Harris' adorable chat with Elmo on "Sesame Street" and turned it into something dirty!

Get ready to tease Ellen Degeneres and Britney Spears -- they're going Christmas caroling on Ellen's show today, if you seek enough!

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences raised eyebrows this week when they ignored all the comedians out there and chose Hugh Jackman to host next year's Oscar Awards.  But why not?  He's hosted the Tonys and the man knows how to put on a show:

Watching Hugh camp it up in shiny gold pants might seem like pandering to us gays but no -- the hot, hot new trailer for next summer's "Wolverine" film is pandering to us gays!

I'm generally fond of that Irish chain-smoking "asshole" Denis Leary (his firefighter TV drama "Rescue Me" is terrific) but here's how he's lamely defending his use of the word "fag" in his new book:  "I come from a Catholic background where the nuns were always telling you, 'Don't do this, don't say this,' so any time anyone tells me I shouldn't say something, my reaction is, 'Why not?'"

Oh I see, Denis -- you're rebelling against authoritarian nuns by mocking the people they regard as heathens or worse? Wow, I'm sure that's got 'em trembling under their black robes, big man.

I think it just might be time we can start saying "legendary Canadian playwright" Daniel MacIvor, as he's just been granted Canada's biggest theatre award, one based on mentorship. Congratulations to a great talent and, with a prize of $100,000, the first round at Tallulah's Cabaret will be on him!

Sorry Ellen, but Rachel Maddow is the smartest lesbian on TV and her new show is actually challenging news giant CNN in the ratings!

Grab a box of Kleenex, cause here comes some sweet-ass mobile-phone porn!

A new British poll shows that 23% of respondents under the age of 25 have had gay sex while a whopping 24% overall think gays should be in prison. The remaining 50-plus percent just has the occasional fantasy about gay sex in prison.

The end is finally in sight for the US election campaign (this ad, by the way, is fucking awesome) and we love how Barack Obama can say the word "gay" without flinching like a lot of politicians do. Yesterday, Obama made a stirring and stunning closing argument.  Of course this means he must die.

And finally, more on the gay marriage fight in California: while gay congressman Barney Frank put the smackdown on a debate opponent, YouTube is full of supportive ads both funny and fiery but this is the one that you'll want to send to every Christian you know: