Arts & Entertainment

Born again music

Gay former gospel singer finds success in electro-dance pop

Published

14 years ago

February 9, 2012

Chris Willis, who’s single, averages about 40 weekends a year traveling. (Photo by Marco Ovando courtesy BIG Management)

Paris is apparently a lucky name for singer Chris Willis.

The Ohio-born singer/songwriter had a great run in contemporary Christian music in the ‘90s; one of his biggest gigs was working as a backup singer for gospel legend Twila Paris on her seminal 1993 “Beyond a Dream Tour” though later he established himself as a go-to session singer and had his own gospel album out.

Later in Paris, France he collaborated with French producer/DJ David Guetta and the two enjoyed an unusually rich partnership that resulted in the No. 1 dance hits “Love is Gone”, “Give it All You Got” (both 2007) and “Gettin’ Over You,” a 2010 collaboration with Fergie and LMFAO.

Now Willis, who essentially rebuilt his music career from scratch after coming out around the new millennium, is branching out solo once again. His hit “Louder (Put Your Hands Up)” was a No. 1 hit in 2010 on the Billboard dance chart. Last year’s “Too Much in Love” went to No. 4. Last month it went to No. 1 on the DJ Times Dance/Crossover chart.

They’re both on his latest EP “Premium: Songs From the Love Ship, vol. 1,” which dropped in November. He’s planning two more installments and spends about three weekends a month on the road, performing 30-minute sets in dance clubs all over the world. He’ll be in Washington on Feb. 21 for a media blitz, though no performances are planned.

He remembers a pivotal turning point during a break in performing on a cruise ship in the late ‘90s — the feelings are eerily similar to those shared by many other gays who grew up in evangelical Christianity.

“I was always thinking, ‘How do I reconcile this with what I hear in sermons and what I read in the Bible,’” Willis, 43, says during a phone interview from his Atlanta home. “All those years living in the closet I tried to pray it away and lived with all this doubt, guilt and shame. I couldn’t reconcile the process either. It felt odd in a way because to a degree, I always had a certain sense of peace in my soul. I had to really learn to adopt a philosophy that there are no mistakes and for whatever reason, this is the hand I’ve been dealt. I started to realize that nothing positive was ever going to happen unless I accepted it.”

Despite the inner struggle, Willis says he enjoyed his years in Nashville working with gospel acts like Paris, Mark Lowry, Amy Grant and others (he’s also cut vocals for Dusty Springfield, Ricky Martin, Kelly Rowland and Quincy Jones). He considers several of Grant’s former back-up singers such as Donna McElroy, Vickie Hampton and Kim Fleming, dear friends who helped him network wildly in the ‘90s.

“I have such respect for those years and that time,” he says. “It was a great grooming period for me and though it was tough personally and internally, I learned to take the good with the odd and bad and embrace and appreciate the whole pie.”

After moving to New York, he started to rebuild his career almost from scratch. He had “almost no contact” with people from his Nashville years and says there’s almost zero crossover between the gospel and electro/dance industry brass. Never mind that the industry paradigm was, of course, crumbling around him — he did one album for Warner Brothers that was shelved. His second, an eponymous 1996 release, did modestly well on Star Song, in imprint eventually bought by EMI.

Willis met Guetta in Miami in 2000. They clicked musically and Willis is featured on the title cut to Guetta’s 2002 debut, “Just a Little More Love.” It was only a modest international hit but it was the start of the second major phase of Willis’s career.

Despite his successes — Willis says clubgoers all over the world know his songs and sing along when he makes appearances — it’s still a highly competitive field.

“I can make a great impact in the electro market but on the charts, you’re up against the latest remixes from Beyonce or Rihanna and it’s really intimidating,” he says. “As an artist, it obviously makes me a little nervous, but I love making music and taking that risk and chance. And you know, I tend not to pay so much attention to the charts. It’s a great way to avoid being disappointed. I’m just happy to be able to work and travel and I have many loyal supporters who help keep me going.”

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Photos

PHOTOS: ‘Studio 69’

Glitterati Productions hold party at Bunker

Published

17 hours ago

May 11, 2026

Michael Key

'Studio 69' was held at Bunker on Friday. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Glitterati Productions held the “Studio 69” party at Bunker on Friday, May 8.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

Arts & Entertainment

Washington Blade’s Pride on the Pier returns June 13 to kick off D.C. Pride week

Pride on the Pier officially launches Pride Week in D.C.

Published

23 hours ago

May 11, 2026

Staff reports

The Washington Blade’s annual Pride on the Pier celebration returns to The Wharf on Saturday, June 13, 2026 from 4-9 p.m., bringing thousands of LGBTQ community members and allies together for an unforgettable waterfront celebration to kick off Pride week in Washington, D.C.

Now in its eighth year, Washington Blade Pride on the Pier extends the city’s annual celebration of LGBTQ visibility to the bustling Wharf waterfront with an exciting array of activities and entertainment for all ages. The District Pier will offer DJs, dancing, drag, and other entertainment. Alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase for those 21 and older.

“Pride on the Pier has become one of the signature moments of Pride in D.C.,” said Lynne Brown, publisher of the Washington Blade. “There’s nothing like watching our community come together on the waterfront with live music and incredible energy as we kick off Pride week.”

Pride on the Pier is free and open to the public, with VIP tickets available for exclusive pier access to the Dockmaster Building. To purchase VIP tickets visit www.prideonthepierdc.com/vip.

Additional entertainment announcements, sponsor activations, and event details will be released in the coming weeks.

Event Details:

📍 Location: District Pier at The Wharf (101 District Sq SW, Washington, DC)
📅 Dates: Friday, 13, 2026

⏱️ 4-9PM
🎟️ VIP Tickets: www.PrideOnThePierDC.com/VIP

Theater

National tour of ‘Gatsby’ comes to National Theatre

Out actor Edward Staudenmayer talks playing the show’s gangster

Published

2 days ago

May 10, 2026

Patrick Folliard

Edward Staudenmayer plays Meyer Wolfsheim in ‘The Great Gatsby.’ (Photo courtesy National Theatre)

‘The Great Gatsby’
May 12-24
The National Theatre
1321 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
$59-$196
Thenationaldc.com

Often dubbed “The Great American Novel” for its depiction of ambition and self-invention alongside the reversals of success, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” says it all in a fast read.

Set against the excesses and energy of the Roaring Twenties, “The Great Gatsby,” novel and now the same-titled hit Broadway musical with a jazz/pop original score by Jason Howland and Nathan Tysen, tells the story of Nick Carraway and his friendship with Jay Gatsby, an enigmatic millionaire intent on reuniting with ex-lover, Daisy Buchanan.

It was during a four-month 2025 run in Seoul, South Korea, that out actor Edward Staudenmayer first played the show’s heavy, Meyer Wolfsheim, a gangster who helped Gatsby make his murkily acquired fortune. As Meyer, Staudenmayer opens the second act with, appropriately enough, “Shady.”

Now three months into a year-long North American tour, the show is poised to enjoy a brief run at Washington’s National Theatre (5/12-5/24).

While putting on his eyeliner prior to a recent Wednesday matinee at Chicago’s Cadillac Palace Theatre, the upstate New York-based actor shared about Gatsby and a life in theater.

WASHINGTON BLADE: Despite your good looks and terrific voice, you’re rarely the leading the man. How is that?

EDWARD STAUDENMAYER: I’m definitely a character man. I’ve been painting lines on my face to play old men since I was in high school. I was the youngest freshman in college playing old Uncle Sorin [in Chekhov’s “The Seagull”].

There have been many villains. Some darker than others. Meyer Wolfsheim is a very bad guy, but he doesn’t haunt me once I’m offstage. I play a lot of pickleball.

BLADE: Is it true that like so many of Fitzgerald’s characters, Wolfsheim is famously based on someone the writer encountered in life.

STAUDENMEYER: That’s true, Wolfsheim is pretty much a direct portrayal of real-life mobster and 1919 World Series fixer [Arnold Rothstein].

BLADE: When did the 1925 novel first surface on your radar?

STAUDENMAYER: Like many of us, I was assigned “The Great Gatsby” in high school. It was short, and filled with sex and illicit activities. I thought it was great. Definitely wasn’t a Judy Blume novel.

Interestingly, the book wasn’t originally a huge a success for Fitzgerald, but because it was about war and having the girl at home, they gave it to GIs leaving for WWII. After returning, a lot of those guys went on the GI Bill and became English teachers. They assigned the book to their students.

BLADE The idea that the book’s first-person narrator, Nick Carraway, is gay and enamored with Jay Gatsby is long discussed among readers and scholars. Does the musical touch on that?

STAUDENMAYER: Yes, there’s conjecture about Jay and Nick, and it’s implied in our show. It’s also implied about Jordan Baker, Jay’s fleeting romantic interest. Ultimately, she’s a confirmed bachelor, and a professional golfer who only wears pants.

Our performers are really good. Josh Grasso who plays Nick is fantastic. I’ve had to stop watching him in his last scene; it’s not good for Meyer Wolfsheim to take his curtain call crying. Our Gatsby, Jake David Smith, is good too. He’s gorgeous like Superman and sings like an angel.

BLADE: Do you ever imagine backstory for your characters whose sexuality is undefined?

STAUDENMAYER: I do, but not with Wolfsheim. I don’t see it. I’m trying to be as butch as possible with this ruthless killer.

BLADE: Have you had to do that in your career?

STAUDENMAYER: For a long time, I wore a mask to hide my gayness. I worked hard on being believable, that I was into the girl or that I was a tough guy.

It’s a different world now, and it’s so refreshing to be around the younger actors today; they’re remarkably open and comfortable.

BLADE: What was your coming of age like?

STAUDENMAYER: I played high school football in Palm Springs [he chuckles, alluding to the arid gay mecca], and I was pretty good too. But much to the chagrin of my parents and coaches, I quit the team to act in our senior year play. My super butch dad played semi-pro football and he was an ex-cop. I’m named after him. While I didn’t become my dad, I’ve played him often on stage. He was a true Gaston [the bumptious rival in “Beauty and the Beast”]. And like Gaston, he used antlers in all his interior decorating.

BLADE: Did he live to see your success in theater?

STAUDENMAYER: He did. Life was challenging growing up but the last 10 years of his life we couldn’t get off the phone with each other [his voice catches with emotion]. He accepted me entirely, and we became very close.

BLADE: Looking ahead, is there a part you’d especially like to play?

STAUDENMAYER: Like all baritones I’d love to play Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd.” I’ve come close but it hasn’t happened yet. There’s still time.