JORDAN ROTH

Jordan Roth, Broadway’s crown prince, could look to the circus. The son of a real estate baron father  and broadway producer mother (with 10 Tonys to her name), the younger Roth has distinguished himself, and the five theaters he owns, with a capacity to balance both major commercial hits—showing , Moulin Rouge, Disney’s Frozen and Springsteen on his stages—to more boundary-pushing projects, gathering seven Tonys of his own. But what’s on at the Hirschfield and August Wilson, and his three other theaters are hardly the only plates he has spinning: he’s raising two kids with his husband, Richie Jackson, while wowing red carpets (including the Met Gala) with spectacular interpretations of looks from his high-end fashion friends like Thom Browne. And that’s not all: he’s forging new creative paths, and giving back, as with his 2023 performance as Mickey Marcus in a reading of The Normal Heart to benefit Broadway for Arts Education.  As he looks towards a season that will include Cabaret with Eddie Redmayne at August Wilson,  and his production of Gatsby, with a score by Florence Welch, he spoke to Blanc about the future of Broadway, abstaining from liquids during meals, and the meditation practice that lets him keep it all together.

Maven of theater, where is Broadway right now?

I think it’s a really exciting time on Broadway. In terms of all the different kinds of shows and thrilling performances that we can experience. I would say we are headed in the right direction, but not 100% back from pre shutdown levels.

Starting with Disney, but also Warner Brothers and JJ Abrams, there’s are theater divisions. These giant movie tentpoles are coming to Broadway. What are the pluses and minuses of that?

We’re experiencing an expanding of the canvas of Broadway. For every major tentpole movie musical movie, there is an experimental, singularly unique, never before seen, kind of show. So I don’t think we’re not in an either-or, zero sum. We’re continuing to expand the boundaries and the possibilities and and that’s all to the good.

I really resist the narrative that a musical based on a famous title is necessarily hacky and uninteresting. Great work can come from anywhere, from any source material, and I think it’s worth remembering that the Golden Age musicals are based on existing source material—looking at you, My Fair Lady, Pygmalion.

You’re known for bringing some of the most famous existing work to the stage, namely Bruce Springsteen. How do you get the boss to say “Yes?”

You don’t. You say “Yes” to the Boss. That show came out of his beautiful heart and mind.

Switching directions, I saw you walk in Thom Brown’s 2022 show at the Javits Center.

That was an epic show. I’ve walked three shows for him, and each one is a fully realized, theatrical world of narrative, mythology, aesthetic and beauty. And that could only ever come from him.

I think that it doesn’t matter if you’re a skater or crossdresser; there is theatricality in whatever we wear. And Thom Browne embraces that, and brings it to an artistic level.

Exactly right. And at the same time, I would talk about Iris van Herpen. Her work is a similarly singular vision and yet wholly different.  The way that she takes organic form and puts it through this lens of science and technology, and then returns it to its organic form, wholly changed. It’s extraordinary.

They just announced the 2024 Met Gala theme, “Sleeping Beauty: Reawakening Fashion.” I’m not exactly sure what that means, but there seems room to play. Are you beginning to think?

We are deep in deep deep in the think process. Andrew Bolton and his curatorial team are so fascinating and rigorous in their exploration of fashion. They give us direction with great room for interpretation and personal expression. Stay tuned.

You’re into health, and I read that you have some very specific dietary focuses. Do you have any interesting food stuff going on right now?

It’s really about listening to your body and my body. My body speaks very loudly if I allow myself to listen. I don’t drink any liquids during meals. I don’t have any raw foods after lunch. I don’t have any grains after lunch. I try to chew a lot.

That’s smart. It’s what I tell my nephew at mealtime. “Chew more.” He’s two-and-a-half.

It’s a good golden rule.

Don’t judge me, but I read an interview this week with Dakota Dakota Johnson, who talked about how she sleeps 14 hours a night.

Oh, I wish I could cvhallenge Dakota Johnson in sleep hours, but alas I cannot. I do meditate twice a day which has been life changing for me. I do Transcendental Meditation.

You’re somewhat of a famous host. You’ve hosted the likes of Oprah at LoveLee, your Hamptons home. I’m just going to ask: who is the best guest?

That’s a great question.

Well, after I’m going to ask you who the worst guest is.

You know I’m not gonna answer.

No no. Who is the best guest?

We have many wonderful guests in our lives; among the best is Arianna Huffington and her family, who come spend a weekend with us every summer. I think the best guests are the guests who bring their hearts. It’s not about presents, though let me tell you, Arianna always arrives with armfuls of the most thoughtful gifts for our children. She always makes the point with each one of us: “Let’s sit and talk. Let’s take a walk. I want to know what’s happening for you right now. How is your heart?” I think that’s what makes a great guest and a great friend.

The theme for this issue is Nothing Lasts Forever. Looking forward, what do you see yourself doing? Is it a different path? Same path? Bigger path?

I am on a journey of canvas expansion.  This notion of “nothing lasts forever” is relative to who we are. We think there is a “who I am” that is rigid and unchanged. And our task is to discover who that is. And then express that. And what we rob ourselves of in that belief is the truth of our own continual evolution and expansion. And so I think I am on a deeply satisfying path of expanded self expression and creating.

Well, that sounds very satisfying.

Yeah, I’ll see you there.

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