Conversation with Jamie Jarrett, composer/writer of "Wonder Boy"

Broadway ReFocused is in conversation with Jaime Jarrett - a New York based composer/playwright - whose mission is to tell honest and imaginative queer stories that simultaneously break the rules of cis-heteronormativity and break the supposed rules of our physical universe. Most recently, his musical Wonder Boy was developed through a staged reading at Musical Theatre Factory. Jaime is the recipient of New York Musical Festival’s “Outstanding Emerging Artist Award” as well as the Ira Brind School of Theatre Arts’ “Excellence in Playwriting Award.” In this podcast we learn about how he came up with this incredible new musical and also listen to a beautiful new song, “The Body”. Jaime gives us the amazing backstory of how this song came to be which is authentic and vulnerable. Learn more about Jamie on his website: https://www.jarrettwritesmusicals.com/, and on IG @sauci_boy.

Musicals With Impact - Ep 2 - Wonder Boy, the musical

Spencer Williams: Today our guest is Jamie Jarrett, composer and writer of Wonder Boy, a new musical. Welcome to the show today.

Jamie Jarrett: Hi, thanks so much for having me.

Spencer Williams: This is exciting to learn about your show and I'm excited to showcase it today. So, why don't we jump right in and why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself and how Wonder Boy came about.

Jamie Jarrett: Absolutely. So, I am a musical theater writer. I started writing musicals in college partially because I didn't get cast in the season. And also because I noticed that maybe one of the reasons I wasn't getting cast in the season was because there weren't a lot of roles for people in the LGBTQ+ community.

So, I thought that might've been part of what was factoring into that. And I wanted to start seeing some musical theater that represented queer folks. So, in college I identified as a lesbian and I auditioned for the school season, didn't get cast and was seeing that there wasn't a whole ton of LGBTQ+ representation.

And basically I wrote a musical about a lesbian who is trapped in a novel, and she comes out of the novel to rewrite a very tragic story that she was put into. And from there I was given so much support at my school to continue writing it and just realized that there were so many more musicals that I felt queer folks had within us.

And specifically as I began my journey realizing that I was transgender and started learning a lot about that and about myself and about what it even means to be a man right now in this world. I started writing Wonder Boy . In the beginning, I wrote it to tackle the saying that I was hearing a lot, which was that trans people are born in the wrong body.

And I hated the idea that my body was just flat out wrong. That felt really disturbing to me, I couldn't really vibe with that. I wanted to see my body as complex, perhaps as opposed to just negative and bad. And I also saw that superheroes also had different bodies than we were used to, and they were celebrated for that. And sometimes it led to mishaps and tricky situations. Spiderman certainly went through a difficult period and getting used to his sticky hands and his new strength and the swinging. And I wanted to get to see like the second puberty I was going through on T and also like the interestingness of my body. Like I'm 5'5", shorter than most guys. My voice was very high for a long period of time where I was openly identifying as a guy. So, I knew that I was different than what a lot of people imagined a man to be, but I wanted to be able to see that difference as something powerful and cool as opposed to something bad or negative, which was why I thought, like there's definitely something here in creating a transgender superhero and exploring the Venn diagram that overlaps with the two of them.

Spencer Williams: I love that part of the reason why these stories are born out of you is because you haven't seen yourself on stage and you haven't seen yourself in stories in musical theater. And I love that your courage and your bravery around that to be like, no, this is so important and I'm going to use this particular medium to share that because we need stories. I mean, this is the whole reason why I started this podcast was to amplify these new types of stories. And so it's, exciting to hear that you're like, no, I couldn't audition, so I'm going to write my own show that I can be in.

Jamie Jarrett: Thanks. Yeah. I mean, I really hope I keep saying, like, I'd love to be able to write like the trans Elphaba or the trans Dear Evan Hansen, that role that like other people like me could go like, Oh, I really want to play that person one day because I really, I don't act anymore. But when I was an actor, I didn't have a lot of roles that I was like looking towards like, Oh, that could be me one day.

Spencer Williams: Yeah, absolutely. I think that's amazing.  Well, why don't you tell us a little bit about the story of Wonder Boy then?

Jamie Jarrett: Yeah, absolutely. So, Wonder Boy tells the story of Jackson who is a college student he's about 20 years old and he is navigating his new identity as a transgender man. And also as a superhero, basically his super genius, mad scientist, twin sister has this business where she creates study drugs.

And one night she creates a new drug, a party drug she's branching out to make some more money. And she at first offers to test the drug on Jackson. And then when Jackson reveals that he is on an antidepressant, she goes, this is too dangerous. It's not going to happen. He ends up stealing the drug and taking it himself, even though he knows it's incredibly dangerous.

Because Peyton has described it to him as something that's going to make him feel indestructible, like completely unbreakable. In other words, in the back of his brain, this is my key to masculinity. This is my key to being a man. I'll be unbreakable, I'll be super strong. But he doesn't realize that everything that the drug does to him, including giving him super strength and the ability to fly. It also leads to him having this power where he automatically self heals anytime he gets caught. And he has been planning and prepping to get gender affirming top surgery. And basically now that surgery is completely off the table for as long as he exists as a superhero.

So, he's navigating that while also navigating a relationship with an ex-girlfriend who identifies as a lesbian and doesn't really know what to call herself when she still has feelings for a man. And also navigating his relationship with his roommate who is non-binary and figuring out what it means to be vulnerable and what it means to be a man.

And is there a world in which those two can really co-exist? What does that look like?

Spencer Williams: Okay. So my mind was just blown. I knew I was interested in the show, but now I'm like, wait the intersectionality of all of this is incredible.

Jamie Jarrett: Thanks.

Spencer Williams: And then like, I want to know what happens. That's amazing. And I also think like, when you just said, those two questions, I feel like everyone can navigate those questions as an audience member. Right? What is vulnerability and what it is to be a, and I'm air quoting "a man" and cisgendered men can navigate that and everyone can.

Jamie Jarrett: Yeah.

Spencer Williams: And I think that's like also a super powerful part of that. When you were just saying, I was like, this is not just, I know it's about getting representation on stage, but it's also like, you can see yourself in that wherever you're at.

Jamie Jarrett: That's what I hope, you know, obviously I want the show to speak to trans individuals, but I also do think that every gender can learn a little something about, "what the heck are we doing with masculinity in this culture?" Like what, it has become so incredibly toxic. And I have to believe there's a version that is not toxic. That is not harmful. That isn't about oppressing others, but it feels like we haven't really found that yet. And I don't know, I kind of think that it's my duty as a man to start to like, take that apart and go, all right, we can't keep doing this version. And I'm hoping that Wonder Boy can help us work through that.

Spencer Williams: Absolutely. It's funny because my next question was, why is this story need to be told? And I'm like, okay, you already answered it. Yes, we need to understand masculinity and the toxic part of that. And you know, for me personally, cause I love musical theater, but like why not musical theater? Right. Things that can reach a wide audience and we can ask these questions.

So, and unless you have anything more to add to the idea of why should this story be told? I feel like we already have that answer.

Jamie Jarrett: Oh man. Let's see. I mean, that definitely is one of my core reasons for why it needs to be told. And I guess also why it needs to be told through musicals is that I do feel like musicals have a universal quality oftentimes and have this very unique ability to literally like synchronize heartbeats in a room when a song is playing and we all tap into that tempo.

And even if you're not completely intellectually understanding what it characters going through, I think sometimes you can get it like through your body with the music , which especially like when we're talking about what it's like to be a trans person who has a complex relationship with their body, like why not tap into an art form, that's going to like directly go straight into your body and like go into your nervous system, you know?

Spencer Williams: Yeah, absolutely. I literally just got chills thinking about it. I think actually the one thing that I missed, right. Well, it's not the one thing, but like one of the main things I miss of being in the audience is having that collective emotional response to someone onstage. And I think absolutely music can create space in a new way for words, you know, specifically for people who don't have a lot of experience or they might not know a trans person or they have a very specific viewpoint on that. Music can absolutely create some space for them to understand that experience.

Jamie Jarrett: Yeah.

Spencer Williams: On a whole new level.

Jamie Jarrett: Yeah, I hope so. That's the intention.

Spencer Williams: That's great. So, tell us a little bit about the development process. Where are you at? Joe Barros, artistic director of the New York Theater Barn, is one that suggested to talk to you about this show. So, I know you've done some work there, but tell us a little bit about where you're at in that process.

Jamie Jarrett: \Yeah, so fortunately I've received so much support from the community and getting this on its feet and figuring out like how to really dive into so many parts of it. I originally got to do it at this place called The Dare Tactic, which was like a little downtown theater. I did a short little development at NYMF.

And then I went on to Musical Theater Factory, which was a major support. I worked with them for a year and a half on Wonder Boy, which culminated in a week and a half reading process, which really like helped me like bring it to a new level. And right now I'm with Theater Now New York, I'm in their writers group.

And I'm going to be with them hopefully for the long term working on this piece. So, right now I'm really going in and looking at the libretto and specifically the music trying to find some clarity, I think the first few years of writing this, it was like vomiting on a page going like, here all my feelings. I have so much to say about how I feel as a trans person, how I feel as a queer person. I need to get like every single piece of it out. And I wrote a million songs and wrote like 10 different drafts, and now I'm going, okay: this needs to be able to, I vomited it out, it needs to start to make sense to everyone or not everyone, but it needs to start to be communicating something specific and really diving into like, what am I trying to say about masculinity or what questions am I trying to pose here?

And really making sure that each story beat and each song is zooming in on that thesis of, or our thesis question of what does it mean to be a man? What does it mean to be vulnerable? How do we do that together? So, it's really some fine tuning and also in some places really just doing an overhaul because I'm realizing the first thing I did was not it.

Spencer Williams: Yes. There's always a process. That's why I love to ask that question because like, if you're not a musical theater writer, these shows just don't happen, right? Like so much process, so much of , I love that you're like kind of vomited on the page, and then it's like the editing process and really trying to figure out what you want to say. And I think because it's on the stage and because you're singing and all these different things, it takes some time to figure out who, even getting the right actors in the room is a big beat. Yeah. And so Musical Theater Factory is in New York City yes?

Jamie Jarrett: Yes, yeah.

Spencer Williams: So, you're based in New York?

Jamie Jarrett: Yes, I am.

Spencer Williams:  Well, I'm excited to kind of hear about what that new journey is now with the show and how that, changes and, focuses. That's exciting. Are you sending it out to different festivals or, submitting it that way, or are you going to focus right now on just working in that space that you, have that opportunity to?

Jamie Jarrett: It's pretty much half and half part of it is. Like working with the writers groups and then I'm also at BMI. So, I'm able to bring in stuff to BMI. It is so great to like, be getting so much feedback. I deeply appreciate it. It is so important to me. So, half of it is doing rewrites and then the other half is working with my agent to figure out like next steps , where we're going to send it.

Who we think would be really psyched about this? Who do we think really needs to see it? Like, do we need to be getting this out to like 16 year old trans people? How do we get it to them? Do we think they're actually the perfect people to see this who need it the most? And looking at places that, you know, are excited about supporting trans work fully, you know, being like, yes, we want to do like a super gender full cast with you and have a gender full creative team, places like that are so exciting to me.

So, it's really kind of doing two at once, doing all the rewrites, and always making sure that the libretto of my Dropbox is as up-to-date as possible because we are sending it out as much as we can to folks who we are psyched about, who we think would be psyched about it, because at the end of the day, I really think it's so important for trans folks, and cis-folks, to be able to get their hands on this and to get this like story in their bones in one way or another.

Spencer Williams: I love the intentionality around, making sure that whatever theater company or whatever, place is going to do this is ready for this type of material and it's ready for the audience. And then also to make sure that on both sides, that creative and on a cast that there'd be some representation that would make sense. Right? And not every theater, unfortunately is ready to do that right now. And like, hopefully they're working on it. I've definitely seen a lot of effort in regards over the last few months specifically, which I'm happy about, but the intentionality around that is probably very important to telling the story correctly in the way that you need.

Jamie Jarrett: Thanks. Yeah, I hope so.

Spencer Williams: So one of the things that we love to do is listen together one of the songs. Why don't you introduce the song a little bit about where it comes into the show and maybe a little bit about how you wrote it?

Jamie Jarrett: Absolutely. So, this song is called "The Body" and it sung here by Luke Zimmerman who has played Jackson/Wonder Boy for a few readings now.

And he's also become a very close friend of mine in that process. And this song happens maybe almost midway through the show or a little bit earlier, really right after Jackson realizes that he is unable to get his gender affirming surgery, that he had been planning on getting and starting to process what his life is going to look like now, because it starting to look very different from how he thought it was going to work out. And this song has gone through so many rewrites I've, oh man. It was one of the first songs I wrote in the show. It originally wasn't even a song that was primarily for Wonder Boy. It was supposed to be for like a bunch of different characters all talking about their experiences and their body.

And it took a while for me to realize this was really Jackson's moment to zoom in. And for me to write a song that I very much drew from my experiences with gender dysphoria, personally, it took me a very long time. I mean, very long seams. Uh, I will say this. I was supposed to get top surgery at a certain timeframe in my life.

I went, this is when it's going to happen. And I went through the process of trying to make it happen and like, I was getting hit with a lot of roadblocks specifically like the hospital, like wouldn't pick up the phone, which is just one of the smaller things that can just happen. And then when I finally got on the phone with someone, they gave me a date that was massively further out than what I had intended.

And I was looking at a very long wait time, which unfortunately is super common at this point in time. And other people face even bigger roadblocks than mind, but even just that small roadblock felt so terrifying and upsetting. And so I really drew on that on like what it felt like to be like I have to live this way for a whole year.

And looking at Jackson and him going, I have to live this way for the rest of my life and trying to tap into that. I think gender dysphoria is a really complex subject. It could be very difficult to talk about. And I wanted to write a song that was as truthful to it as possible or at least as truthful to my experience.

So, that's this song I hope that it like does some justice to other trans folks experiences. I'm not sure if it always does, but I think sometimes it does hook in and people do feel some form of relatability or useful catharsis when they hear it.

Spencer Williams: Well, thank you so much for sharing all that and being vulnerable around that. I'm sure that's, you know, this is, this is your truth inside of that and, we're excited to listen, so here is "The Body."

Wow. So yes, thank you for writing that first. And also thank you for allowing to share that with us today.

Jamie Jarrett: Thank you for sharing it I'm really psyched. I just I've been working on new orchestration, so it's nice to get to put that out into the world.

Spencer Williams: Yeah. What's it like to kind of hear and pause for a second and just listen to your song?

Jamie Jarrett: Ah, you know it's funny. I think sometimes. After I've finished writing something it almost doesn't totally feel like it's mine anymore. If that makes any sense. Sometimes, like, I feel this like weird distance from it. That's not like a bad distance. It just, it almost, and in a lot of ways, I think with my friend, Luke who sings it, it will sometimes just kind of feel like his song the way he sings it.

He really is like, I think, one of my like favorite people to work with. And specifically like, has such like an exciting vocal sound. And so I think like hearing him sing, it is part of this magic for me of hearing this come from another person. And you know, it's also kind of a warm, remembering of like, Oh yes, I did write this. This took a lot of work and I did it.

Spencer Williams: Absolutely. It does take a lot of work. Do you feel like that he is also allowed to bring his truth inside of that? That's part of that shift?

Jamie Jarrett: Yeah, I hope so. You know, he's a very talented actor and I think that anytime he does the song, I feel he has a deep connection to the material and I hope he's able to bring his truth to that song.

Spencer Williams: Yeah, you could hear it in the song. So, that's why I was asking. So, tell us a little bit about what your dream is for Wonder Boy, I always love to ask this question because you know, we all, musical theater writers, we all have big dreams and you know, they're all inside our heads. So, what is the dream?

Jamie Jarrett: I have so many dreams. You know, I think like one of like my core dream is like, let's get this in front of like, as many trans folks as possible. Any trans folk person who's like, I want to hear a story and see a story about a trans superhero, talks about bodies in a complex way that doesn't hate on what our bodies are like, that makes space for multiple experiences. Anyone who wants that kind of story, I hope that they have access to this. You know, unfortunately theater can be kind of classist, so I'm excited to figure out what we can do to make it not that, to make it accessible, to make it something that people can reach.

And that it's not just for wealthy white people, you know? So, we have a lot of work to do there. So, part of my dream for Wonder Boy is just a dream for theater overall and figuring out how we can get people to see this, you know, when there are so many barriers in the way right now, like what can we do? To work on that, you know, that's part of my dream. And then, you know, another part of my dream is getting a super gender full cast and creative team working on this, bringing their authentic selves to the room and getting to be in like a full production of this. You know, I have dreams of off-Broadway or Broadway, depending on the day, I fluctuate between the two.

You know, but I think it would feel incredibly meaningful to me to see this like fully staged production and get to like, take that like small little kernel that I had when I was like 20 years old and wasn't even really completely out as trans yet was still figuring things out, but knew that like I needed to start writing this piece and that at some level it was going to be useful to the world.

So, for it to get a full production and get a cast album out there that kids can listen to, like while they walk to school, which was that I used to do when I was like 10 or not 10, maybe like middle school I think, I would walk to school and listen, or in the hallways, I would listen to like, Rent or whatever was like the cool thing at the time.

And I'd like to be able to be that for like some 13 year old out there, who's like, no one understands me, but this musical understands me. I want to be able to be that for someone.

Spencer Williams: I love your dreams, particularly, I love the idea of more equitable access for theater, you know? Even for me who I've seen, you know, tons of musicals, on Broadway, it's it's gotten even more classist in the recent decade. I feel like personally, I used to go and see a show for 20, 30 bucks and like, that's just not how it works anymore. Yeah. So, I love that. Well, very cool. How would one, if this is the first time they've heard of Wonder Boy, and you as a writer, like what, how can they learn more about your projects and about Wonder Boy specifically?

Jamie Jarrett: You can learn more at jarrettwritesmusicals.com. Which is Jarrett is spelled  one J, one A, two R's, one E two T's, and then writesmusicals.com. That is a great way to see what I'm up to. And also you can follow me on instagram @sauci_boy,  which is sauci spelled with an I instead of a Y underscore boy, B O Y. And yes, it is totally a Shakespeare reference, even though I'm not a huge fan of Shakespeare.

Spencer Williams: Oh, I love that. Well, great. I hope that listeners do check that out. Amplifying this story and your voice and the trans community inside musical theater, I think is a really important thing to do for the trans community, like you mentioned, but also like for the CIS community, I think it's really important so that we understand your story and to get a better viewpoint and everything. And I think we can do that with musical theater. That's my dream.

Jamie Jarrett: I love your dream.

Spencer Williams:  I love it. Well, thank you so much for being here, Jamie, and listen to Wonder Boy.

Jamie Jarrett: Thanks so much for having me.