Welcome back to Queeries! I happen to find myself surrounded by wonderful people with the work I do and want to keep track of that here. Every month(ish), a cute lil interview will find its way into your inbox! Somewhere above this text, you can find the taping of our actual conversation, and somewhere below this text you’ll find my article-blog-post take on it.
Okay this one is a bit chaotic. Gemma and I have just spent some time catching up at the park, and are quickly regrouping at the house before heading to Spoons and Toons at Nitehawk Cinema(Side note, Spoons and Toons is so much fun, you should go). We’ve decided to record a Queeries episode, and I admittedly underestimated our ability to talk.
Gemma is a dear friend of 6ish years. They are the absolute best, and I am so very grateful to have them in my life. I’m excited to get them to talk about themselves for a bit, they never get to do that. “I work jobs, I have fun, I like art. And I think I will only ever be fulfilled in life as long as I am surrounded by art.” they tell me. Its true. (at the time of recording) They are an Assistant Stage Manager at Company XIV in Brooklyn, on their show Queen of Hearts, and have recently begun sub-stagehand work at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, currently housing Hamilton on Broadway. They’re also a painter, and a fun lil guy.
The creative spirit was seemingly thrust upon Gemma from the beginning. Both of their siblings were very athletic, and “[My parents] said, this one is not doing what the other two did, so this is the artistic one”. They started drawing, painting, singing, and being a creative soul. “And it kind of just never left me. That was who it was decided that I was but then I also decided that that’s who I was as well, and it hasn’t felt wrong at any point.” Art seems to be a big chunk of their identity. It’s what they find themselves surrounded by at any given point, and that feels right.
Cue the Willie Nelson interruption. Willie Nelson is my roommate’s weenie dog. He loves attention, and he decided the interview needed to include him at this time.
I ask if they think they’ll return to performing at any point. “It comes and goes.” they answer. “I don’t really know how to, or what to do”. It seems like more of a fun thing. Random projects here and there, but no sense of urgency.
Around that time, I ask about the ‘popping and locking’ of it all. Gemma took a Street Funk Hip Hop class for 8 years. This is one of my favorite bits of lore about them. Every once in a while I remember it, and it never fails to make me smile. Upon getting to college, they dropped dance to focus on other things, but it’s always in there somewhere. Ha.
They mention Sleep No More, and so I take that as an opportunity to walk through their theatre journey. They grew up doing theatre as much as they could, until they had a creepy experience with a man in high school(didn’t we all). That was enough to spook them, which is how they ended up getting into painting instead. There was an interest piqued there, a brief aspiration to get into fine arts, but as so many creative souls experience, there are so many different cookie jars to put our hands in! Watching It’s Such A Beautiful Day brought the interest in film to Gemma. “It changed my life in the way a film will in high school.” So then the decision was made to Do Film and Go To Film School. Upon graduating, it was 2020 and a double strike in the film industry. Work was scarce and appropriate pay was even more scarce. It felt pretty bleak, and so they applied for a job in the props department at Sleep No More and ended up PAing instead, which evolved to ASM and then eventually SM work.
Thats a very long winded journey. But context is important. Sleep No More led to Company XIV, and now they’re subbing at Hamilton. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but things tend to fall into Gemma’s lap. From my perspective, opportunities have presented themselves right when Gemma needs them. I find it fascinating. Sure, everything happens for a reason and what’s meant for you will find you, blah blah blah, but this is another level of symmetry in their life that I’m often struck by. They tell me they have no idea what’s going on most of the time, which I think is true. But Gemma has a certain openness and ease about them that allows what they need to come into their life right around the time they need it. It’s rather incredible to behold.
Shifting gears, I love asking people the Capitalism Question(I should really think of a better name for it). It’s always met with a deep breath and an eyeroll and a batten down the hatches. Artists are forced to have such complicated relationships with money and so it’s always SUCH a conversation to have. Gemma had a lil shop in college for a while, where they were selling paintings and jewelry and sculptures. After a while, “It turns into this fucked up game of placing your self worth off of how much money you can get from people based on how much they like the weird little things you make.” BOOOO. “I think that once money is placed onto anything, it ruins it inherently.” What a reoccurring theme. “So if someone just wanted to pay me to have a good time, that would be awesome. But I don’t think that’s ever going to fully be the case.”
Let’s get into the woo woo of it all. “I do pay attention to astrology, and so I think there are certain ways in which I can see things coming through an astrological lease, and try as I may, ride that wave.” They also have a psychic step-mom. Thats also part of it. Naturally. Sandra is a psychic consultant and she taught Gemma tarot when they were younger. Gemma learned astrology through osmosis with Sandra, She certainly opened the door. From there Gemma has always carried that interest and has continued to learn. “It’s always been something that I’ve fallen in and out of, but it something that I like to bring up when I don’t know what to say in a large group of people.” I can confirm, reading people for filth is an excellent party trick.
[[I totally forgot a few things, like I said we had an event to be at.]]
That being said. I ask about a message for Past Gemma. “Be more discerning. Just because you see the best in everyone, doesn’t mean they see it in themselves and it's not your job to teach them how to do that and a lot of good people can end up doing bad things just because they don’t know what’s going on, yourself included.” And a message for Future Gemma? “If you still don’t know what’s going on, thats fine, it’s gotten us this far. I hope we’re doin great. If we’re not, we will at some point. Its fine. Hey.”
You can find Gemma on Instagram, and on their website. I love them so very much, and I’m so glad we were able to chat. Told you it was chaos.
