Musicals Saved Our Lady J’s Life. Now, She’s Creating One of Her Own.
The multi-hyphenate artist spoke to Jezebel about healing, her latest single, "Future of Us," and her own future as she quietly works on her first musical.
Photo: Getty Images Entertainment
In 2020, Our Lady J, the Peabody award-winning writer, producer, and singer-songwriter behind the Golden Globe and Emmy-winning series Transparent, and Emmy-winning series Pose, took up a curious hobby: building a camper from a former Amazon delivery van. This wasn’t just any ordinary pandemic pastime like baking sourdough or binging Tiger King, however. It was her way of honoring the memory of her brother, James, who’d recently died at the age of 30.
“I had known he loved camping and that was something we talked about a lot but I didn’t know that he wanted to build a camper van and go on a trip,” she said. After months of work, the van is in impressive shape. She’s particularly proud of the backsplash. After seeing the photos, I get it.
Currently, Our Lady J is quietly working on a musical. She remains mum on many of the details but does reveal some of the plot: Two gay men and sex tourists from America get mixed up with a lesbian separatist group of ecoterrorist dominatrixes in Berlin, hijinks ensue, etc., etc.
“Musicals kind of saved my life as a queer person,” she said. “For many years, I’ve been interested in writing since I moved to New York. But having no idea how to write musicals, I ended up getting into music direction for musicals. That’s really how I got my showbiz chops and met many of my collaborators these days.”
She also continues to release new music. In May, her latest single (a collaboration with the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus), “Future of Us,” debuted at the Met Gala. The song is a breathtaking celebration of strength in a time where queer struggle seems to be the only story worth telling in media. It’s fitting, as the Chorus played a pivotal role in helping her develop community as she transitioned.