Arts & Entertainment
No walk in the ‘Park’ for Claybourne Elder
George’ actor Elder on the rigors of artistic life
Brynn O’Malley as Dot and Claybourne Elder as George in ‘Sunday in the Park with George.’ (Photo by Margot Schulman; courtesy Signature Theatre)
‘Sunday in the Park with George’
Through Sept. 21
4200 Campbell Ave. Arlington
703-820-9771
At 32, Claybourne Elder is living the theater dream with a charmed career. The handsome out actor’s first big break came playing Hollis Bessemer, the young gay heir in the original off-Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim’s “Road Show” in 2008.
“I’d just moved to New York and went on an open chorus call never dreaming I’d be cast,” he says. “They asked me back and I got the part. Suddenly I was playing across from two actors I revere, Michael Cerveris and Alexander Gemignani, and Sondheim was sitting around drinking coffee and giving notes. It was unreal.”
Elder has worked nonstop ever since on Broadway and beyond, interpreting extant parts and creating roles like Clyde Barrow’s likable brother Buck in the Broadway musical “Bonnie & Clyde,” and aviator Charles Lindbergh in “Take Flight.” He played Ollie, a New Orleans prostitute in “One Arm,” Moisés Kaufman’s dramatic adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ same-titled short story and unfinished screenplay.
And now he’s tackling the part of George in Signature Theatre’s production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s wondrous musical “Sunday in the Park with George,” a role Elder has had his eye, and ear, on for a long time. The story focuses on the struggles of French painter Georges Seurat (called George in the musical). He’s surrounded by his lover Dot, and his masterpiece “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of Le Grande Jatte” and those characters depicted in the painting. In the second act, George’s sculptor descendant (also named George and also played by Elder) strives to make sense of life, love and art in 1980s New York City.
For many musical theater lovers, “Sunday in the Park with George” holds a special place in the canon.
“It’s my favorite among all the children,” says Elder laughing. “It’s true. The show has so many universal themes. People connect to it in deep ways. It’s an emotionally charged theatrical event.”
“And my part is magically written,” he adds. “I couldn’t ask for a part written more perfectly in my range. I’m a tenor with a dash of baritone. My songs have lovely rich lower things and then go up high. It’s technically challenging but in a very pleasurable way, never needlessly challenging. Sondheim never writes music to impress. He doesn’t have to.”
Matthew Gardiner, the Signature production’s director, concurs on “Sunday’s” specialness. “Ever since first watching the original Broadway production on VHS tape in middle school, I’ve always wanted to do this musical. The score sung by Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters is forever seared on my brain. It’s perfection and for my money, it has some of the best music ever written. It speaks to what it is to be an artist. And what it means to connect with people and achieve harmony in our lives.”
Finding the right actor to play George was imperative to Signature’s production, Gardiner says. “There were casting sessions in New York and Washington. We were looking for a strong, quiet presence. There’s something serious going on behind Elder’s eyes. In tandem with him being a fantastic singer and a great actor, he’s a likable and engaging person — someone to root for. That’s not something you can direct.”
Elder, who graduated from the University of Utah with a degree in dramaturgy, confesses to being sort of a geek. His major allowed him to study works within historical and philosophical contexts. As an actor, he uses extensive research to get a handle on his characters. And it works. Fans sometimes don’t recognize him from one show to the next. “Well, that’s what actors do,” Elder says. “We disappear into the role.”
It’s not as easy to disappear on TV. Last year Elder took a break from theater to appear on CW’s “The Carrie Diaries,” the now-canceled prequel to “Sex and the City.”
“From that show I got recognized by 15-year-old girls and gay men a lot,” he says, recalling one bar visit with family. “A patron wouldn’t stop screaming ‘Pete!’ It took me a while to realize he was calling me. Pete was my character’s name on the show. That was a first.”
Georges Seurat died at just 31 without ever having sold a painting. Still, Elder feels connected to him. “He’s consumed by art. I can relate to that. Theater requires me to be in a room every day performing. When you’re in a show in New York you don’t leave town. You miss weddings and life events all the time. That’s just how it is.”
Fortunately, Elder’s husband, director Eric Rosen, is in the business and understands how it works. The couple is based in New York City and Kansas City, Mo., where Rosen heads up the Kansas City Repertory Theatre. They work hard to spend quality time together and stay close with their families. Elder describes his Mormon parents as “the most liberal conservatives you’ll ever meet.”
Next up, Elder is slated to play the young doctor in John Doyle’s off-Broadway revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Allegro.” Rehearsals start the day after Signature’s “Sunday” closes. And the dream continues.
Celebrity News
My evening with Madonna
Gay icon headlined the World Pride Music Festival in Amsterdam
Editor’s note: International News Editor Michael K. Lavers and Photo Editor Michael Key will be on assignment in the Netherlands through Aug. 10. They will be covering World Pride in Amsterdam.
AMSTERDAM — Madonna and 6,000 of her closest friends celebrated World Pride at Amsterdam’s AFAS Live concert hall early Sunday morning. I was fortunate enough to be one of them.
Madonna last Wednesday nearly broke the internet when she said on social media in Dutch that “I got somethin’ I wanna talk about,” referring to an opening line in “Danceteria,” one of the tracks on her “Confessions II” album that has received rave reviews since its July 2 release. The track has been on near constant replay on my playlist since I first heard it.
— Madonna (@Madonna) July 28, 2026
MISTR — a telehealth platform that offers free access to PrEP, Doxy PEP, STI testing, and long-term care that has organized Madonna’s Club Confessions shows in the U.S. and the U.K. — later confirmed the rampant speculation. I woke up on July 30 to an email in my inbox from MISTR and the World Pride Music Festival PR team that said I was on the press list.
Madonna was indeed going to headline the World Pride Music Festival that Jake Resnicow and Insomniac produced, and I was going to be there. OMFG!!!!
The gay icon had one more surprise in store.
The Dutch internet on Saturday once again broke over speculation that Kylie Minogue was going to appear alongside Madonna. I was getting ready to leave our hotel in Amsterdam on Saturday night when I saw a video of the two of them together.
“Madonna is now teasing Kylie Minogue on her social media … she may be one of her ‘special guests’ tonight,” I wrote in a text to Washington Blade Editor Kevin Naff at 8:46 p.m.
“Have fun! This is turning into the gayest concert ever,” he responded.
I arrived at AFAS Live shortly before 11 p.m. My press contact walked me and two other Dutch journalists into the venue’s cavernous main room known as the Black Box. We made small talk for a few minutes before I started to walk around and listen to Josh Harrison who was on the decks.
Madonna was scheduled to take the stage at 1:30 a.m., but she is known for being late — she is Madonna and she does what she wants. Hayla, a British singer, and Bebe Rexha are among those who performed ahead of Madonna. Thousands of sweaty men — including a group of Australians next to me who were eagerly awaiting Kylie’s anticipated appearance — packed the Black Box and were dancing, anticipating what was to come.
MISTR CEO Tristan Schukraft at one point came on stage and declared Madonna was indeed in the building. The moment for which we were all eagerly waiting finally came shortly before 2:30 a.m.
“Mother is here and this is gay heaven,” said Madonna when she took the stage.
Stuart Price, who produced her “Confessions on a Dance Floor” album in 2005, manned the decks during Madonna’s set.
She opened it with “I Feel So Free” from “Confessions II.” Madonna then sang “Bring Your Love” and “Danceteria” to which this reporter — and everyone else — sang along.
Madonna then teased a surprise before she began to perform “Love Sensation.” Kylie soon appeared on stage. It was nearly too much for my fellow partygoers from Australia. It was indeed the gayest concert ever!
Madonna and Kylie performed “Love Sensation” together. They then sang “Hung Up” and “Sorry” from “Confessions on a Dance Floor” to round out the set that ended shortly after 3 a.m.
Madonna and I share the same birthday — Aug. 16 — and I would like to think she and Kylie gave me an early birthday present. In all seriousness though, it was an amazing night for me and for everyone else who was fortunate enough to be there.
“On the dance floor I feel so free,” says Madonna in the opening of “I Feel So Free.”
For those few precious hours at AFAS Live I did not think about the Trump-Vance administration and the myriad ways it is destroying the U.S. I did not think about the National Guard troops deployed to D.C. I did not think about the pointless wars that continue to ravage Ukraine and other countries around the world. I simply lost myself on the dance floor and celebrated an icon who has always stood with my community.
Thank you, Madonna.
The Petal Release Party and Drag Show was held at Spark Social on Friday, July 31. Performers included Tiara-Missou, Labianna and Darcy de la Cuadra.
(Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford)
Celebrity News
Madonna headlines World Pride Music Festival in Amsterdam
Kylie Minogue made surprise appearance alongside gay icon
AMSTERDAM — Madonna on Sunday headlined the final night of the World Pride Music Festival in Amsterdam.
The gay icon took the stage shortly before 2:30 a.m. local time (8:30 p.m. ET on Saturday) during Club Confessions, a set that MISTR, a telehealth platform that offers free access to PrEP, Doxy PEP, STI testing, and long-term HIV care, organized.
“Mother is here and this is gay heaven,” said Madonna when she took the stage inside Amsterdam’s AFAS Live concert hall that can hold up to 6,000 people.
Stuart Price, who produced Madonna’s 2005 “Confessions on a Dance Floor” album and “Confessions II,” which debuted on July 2, DJed the set.
Kylie Minogue made a surprise appearance. She and Madonna performed a new remix of “Love Sensation” from “Confessions II.”
(Washington Blade video by Michael K. Lavers)
“Throughout my career, I’ve always supported efforts to fight HIV and AIDS, and that fight begins with education and access,” said Madonna in a MISTR press release. “With MISTR, (CEO) Tristan (Schukraft) is expanding access to HIV prevention and sexual healthcare for everyone. Through this work, he’s helping preserve and strengthen LGBTQ+ spaces while investing in the communities and culture that have long sustained us.”
Minogue in an Instagram post thanked Madonna, Price, Schukraft, and MISTR.
Madonna appeared at The Abbey in West Hollywood, Calif., in April. Madonna in June celebrated Pride month with a pop-up performance in New York’s Times Square.
Jake Resnicow and Insomniac produced the World Pride Music Festival that also featured Bebe Rexha and Paris Hilton, among others.
“Pride has always been about bringing our community together,” said Resnicow. “At a moment when too many people are being told to hide or make themselves smaller, gathering openly, joyfully, and without apology matters more than ever. I couldn’t be prouder of what this festival brought to life in Amsterdam — one dance floor, completely free.”
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