By Drew Wilson
Before there was Book of Mormon, there was Confessions ofa Mormon Boy – Steven Fales’ autobiographical play about a good Mormon boy
gone bad as an escort in New York City.
I had the chance to speak to Steven about his upcoming run
at Denver’s Dangerous Theatre (March 29-April 1) and talk about family, religion
and spirituality in addition to sex, drugs and Tyra Banks! Here's part one of our conversation. Part two will run tomorrow.
So Steven, tell me
about the show.
You know, first of all, people always think ‘Oh, another Mormon
show’? But I am the original. Long before Book of Mormon opened on Broadway, my
show opened off Broadway. And it’s the only true offering of the Mormon experience
you’ll find on stage – Angels in America you can’t say is a true story. Book of
Mormon, you can’t. And then the film Latter Days? It’s semi-autobiographical
but not really true.
What do you mean by
true?
Well, you only get a two-dimensional look at Mormon culture
and the Mormon experience in those films. What I’m offering is the true story
and it goes much further behind the scenes. As far as the gay Mormon experience
we have a more seasoned, nuanced approach. Nuances that writers outside of
Mormonism just won’t get because they’re not Mormon. I will take you from a Mormon
temple marriage all the way to escorting in Manhattan - the gritty underbelly
of NYC.
How does one go from
being a good Mormon boy to a NYC escort?
Well, I think you know how things can go sometimes in the
gay community. I’m certainly not the only one.
What made you write Confessions of a Mormon Boy and the rest of the trilogy?
One of the things that prompted me to write was that my
mother-in-law was not honest about the gay Mormon experience and she was
considered the patron saint of gay Mormons. Carol Lynn Pearson wrote this major
best seller called Goodbye, I Love You, about bringing her ex-husband home to
die of AIDS, which came out in 1996 through Random House.
I married her oldest daughter Emily. I told her I was gay
before we got married and I thought that, with reparative therapy, any problems
with my same sex attraction could be eradicated and we could keep it together.
We were getting married for children, for art, for the Lord and because we were
friends. But as time went on, I had my issues and she had things that I took on
that were equally as challenging as what she took on with my same-sex
attraction. When it all fell apart I was under the microscope quite a bit
because of who my mother-in-law was and so I became a double bastard in Utah –
a bastard to the Mormons and a bastard to gay Utah. So I then took my pain and
anger and my well-preserved 30 year-old self to New York and boom, overnight
I’m escorting in penthouses.
The real thing about this show is that is is the story of
what it takes to wake up and stop being a victim. I think the greatest tyranny
is the tyranny within. It’s not the Mormon Church. It’s not the sex industry.
It’s me. It’s a powerful piece but it’s also very sexy, very funny and it’s
only the first of three. I also wrote a prequel and a sequel. And I’m so glad I
get to see Denver before the Book of Mormon comes your way!
Why do you think
Mormonism is having such a day in the popular culture sun?
I think it was inevitable that Mormonism would arrive and
claim its place in Americana. The west, as you know, was settled in large part by
the Mormons and so we have wonderful stories to contribute to the American
experience.
We could talk about a minority coming of age, a persecuted
people who want to be accepted so they excel in many different arenas so they
can be legit. Any number of things.
I really do believe in my people but what disappoints me is
that we have not told our own stories. And if we have told them, we have not
told them honestly. So it’s time. Time to tell our stories. And this is just
the beginning, I think that the Mormon experience is just about to pop!
So you still consider
yourself a Mormon?
Well, lot of the show is about my children. I have two kids
…
Ooh, how much they know
about your experiences?
Well, my son saw my show in Orlando last spring almost a
year ago and said ‘Dad, it really humanized you.”
And so I say, I may no longer be a Latter Day Saint but
something about me will always be Mormon. It’s a cultural thing. Technically
I’m now Episcopalian. This church is very progressive but also traditional. My
own spiritual path has finally aligned with something that works for me and I’m
happy to be on this path of spiritual development. When I left Utah I threw the
baby out with the bathwater in terms of spirituality.
In what way?
I turned into a charming, ferocious smiling creature. I
escorted for a very intense nine months. Long enough. I still sometimes have
flashbacks to that whole mindset. So that’s what you’re going to get from me. You’re
going to get the New York section where we deal with sex work. I’m not there to
glamorize it, so it’s very gritty and very real. It could have been grittier but
I am still Mormon, remember. You have to come see how gritty it is!
Sponsored by MileHighGayGuy.com, Confessions of a Mormon Boy will run
for only five performances. For more information or tickets visit DangerousTheatre.com or call 720-233-4703.
