Elias Stimac Talks to Randy Jones of The Village People

American Music Award Winner Randy Jones of The Village People will be hitting the New York stage scene just in time for the holidays, but the vehicle he is guest-starring in should not be confused with a nativity play. Tim Douglas’s The Madonna Whore... Confessions of a Dirty Mind, presented by TwinStar Productions, casts Jones as "a psychiatrist who may need help himself." The production is billed as “a sexy and intimate play that explores the relationship between an actor struggling to survive in NYC and a hot porn star who loves him.”

One of the best-loved performers of the modern music era, Jones performed as The Cowboy in The Village People and went on to win many accolades and sell over one hundred million units. As an actor, he has starred in the motion pictures such as Three Long Years, Façade, A Tale About Bootlegging, Lawn of the Dead, and Can't Stop The Music. Onstage, he starred in the New York runs of Bingo City with Anita Gillette and Sodom:The Musical with Jonathan Kaplan. His touring credits include Meet Me in St. Louis with Cathy Rigby, Carousel with Ed Ames, and Funny Girl with Carol Lawrence, Music Man, Chicago, Will Rogers Follies, and 42nd Street.

In between rehearsals for Madonna Whore and preparations for the release of his new CD Ticket to the World – you can find out details on the eclectic pop disc at www.cdbaby.com/jonesrandy -- Jones took the time to speak with New York Cool about his life, his loves, and the Village, where he still resides.

Elias Stimac: What are your creative inspirations?

Randy Jones: As an actor and music artist, I consider myself extremely fortunate to live in the heart of the greatest city and the cultural epicenter of the world. Living in Manhattan is akin to living in a functioning laboratory for an actor. Every type of human behavior is available for inspiration and observation in some form at one time or another. It's astonishing!

Elias Stimac: How did you become involved in this new project with Tim Douglas and Eric Thal?

Jones: Tim and I worked previously in the same film, Three Long Years, directed by Peter Welch. Last spring when Tim had a reading for Madonna Whore, I was unavailable, but when he contacted me this past fall about doing the same play here in NYC at the Producers Club, my schedule was clear and I was onboard. I was also eager to work with the director, Eric Thal. I've been a fan of his work for some time and have enjoyed him in A Stranger Among Us, Six Degrees of Separation, and The Puppet Masters. Working with Eric, Tim and the other members of the cast has been great. As the psychiatrist, I only have scenes with Tim's character, Steven.

Elias Stimac: How are you preparing for your role as a psychiatrist who might need his own help?

Jones: I've had a couple of dinners with some pals of mine who are therapists, and watched a couple of seasons of Huff. I also went back and looked at two Brian DePalma films, Dressed to Kill with Michael Caine and Raising Cain with John Lithgow. Those two portrayals certainly gave me some insight on therapists in need of therapy themselves.

Elias Stimac: What are your fondest experiences as The Cowboy in Village People?

Jones: I've got a whole slew of memories from those days, probably enough to fill an encyclopedia. I know I've got enough for a 300-400 page book... I've just signed that deal and it is expected to come out for December 2007 -- just in time for Christmas -- so put it on your list! The opportunities and experiences were certainly incredible... from performing in outdoor concerts for crowds as large as 280,000, to doing a UNICEF benefit with Ginger Rogers and Amanda Lear at the original Moulin Rouge in Paris, to performing in a Command Performance for the Queen of England. Not to mention traveling the globe and performing in every major nation on nearly every continent. I also got to star as myself in a $35 million dollar (that's 1979 circa dollars) film, Can't Stop the Music. Even Loretta Lynn had to get Sissy Spacek to do her cinematic portrayal in Coal Miner's Daughter!

Elias Stimac: Is it true you also had a chance to wow the crowd at Yankee Stadium recently?

Jones: Yes, this past summer I was invited to attend a home game for the NY Yankees and sit in the mayor's box. There I was, sitting with the current and former mayors, when at the top of the 7th inning as people are standing for the "seventh inning stretch," we hear the familiar opening strains of "YMCA." Well, by the time the song got to the chorus, the entire sold-out 'House that Ruth Built" filled with more than 55,000 fans was up on it's feet doing the letters, Y-M-C-A, like it was second nature...while Michael Bloomberg, Rudy Guiliani and I were projected up on those HUGE Jumbotron screens singing along and doing the arm movements. Yes, even today, life can often be a bit surreal for a simple guy from down in the Village!

Elias Stimac: Out of all your music awards, which one means the most to you?

Jones: Of course the multitude of awards and honors range from the "Georgie" presented by American Guild of Musical Artists to the prestigious Golden Lion to the German Bravo Awards to Canada's Juno Award to the Billboard Magazine Dance Forum Awards. I've also been presented the keys to more than 45 American Cities. But I guess the American Music Award is the one that means the most. Dick Clark [producer/creator of the American Music Awards] is a great guy and he was one of the first -- along with Merv Griffin, Hugh Hefner, and Johnny Carson -- that recognized and supported The Village People in the early days. They were sort our “Godfathers” in the beginning.

Elias Stimac: You have acted in several movies -- how did your musical career help you as an actor?

Jones: Achieving success in a musical career certainly gave me the confidence in any sort of performance. However, my training background includes my degree in film, theatre, and communication from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and a degree in choreography and dance from the North School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, N.C. And I have always loved musical theatre, having toured in Meet Me in St. Louis with Cathy Rigby, Carousel with Ed Ames, Funny Girl with Carol Lawrence, Will Rogers' Follies, Music Man, Chicago and 42nd Street.

Elias Stimac: How did you choose material for your new CD?

Jones: In choosing material for Ticket to the World, I worked closely with the executive producer Will Grega and the producer Frosty Lawson. We worked on nearly 30 songs and eventually arrived at the 14 tracks which appear on the final product. Of course, anything I would sing has to sit well in my voice and I have to feel good about singing it. I also have to find some affinity with the song. Usually the lyric is the most important to me. It must speak to me in order for me to come up with a vocal performance. This collection of songs is for my friends and fans. It's a package of fun, feelings, and dance music.

Elias Stimac: What are the best things about working in NYC?

Jones: I love New York, I love Manhattan, and I love the Village! I have always lived in the Village since I moved to the city. Working here is so much different that L.A. One doesn't need to spend unnecessary time in a car. For a city that has such huge buildings and large numbers of people, places, and things, there is something amazingly “human” about it. Far from being the intimidating daunting metropolis that visitors and tourists may see, I think that those of us who live here see it as it really is: a bunch of neighborhoods and small towns that just happen to be next door to each other. For the huge numbers of us that live here, we are a remarkable example of the definition of what a "city" is. I am so glad that I can call NYC home.

For more information on Randy Jones, check out his website at www.RandyJonesWorld.com or visit http://imdb.com/name/nm0429063/bio.

The Madonna Whore: Confessions of a Dirty Mind was written by Tim Douglas and
directed by Eric Thal. The artistic director is Susan Campanaro.
The show is playing at:

THE PRODUCERS CLUB
358 West 44th Street (between 8th and 9th aves.)
November 29 – December 3, 2006
December 14 – 16, 2006
Evening shows 8:00 pm
Saturday and Sunday matinees at 3:00 pm
Advance ticket sales please go to www.themadonnawhore.com