Is Patrick Breen Gay? - Gus what all people say about

KEVIN SESSUMS Kev Ssums reviews theatre for Towleroad. In an exclive terview, he talks to Next Fall's Patrick Breen about the show, and his sexualy, which Breen discs here for the first time. Patrick Breen is the emotnal anchor of Geofey Nffts’s h Broadway play, Next Fall, which he stars as the atheist boyiend of the Born Aga Christian younger guy who prays for fivens each time they have sex. Nffts play is a heartfelt edy about remptn and how our differenc as gay men are able to be bridged not only by a brtle w but also an nate goodns. The productn recently moved to Broadway after a sold-out n off-Broadway last sprg and Elton John and his hband, David Furnish, me on-board as producers to give the productn a b of show-biz che. Ben Brantley, his New York Tim review, lled the play a “genue rara avis, a smart, sensive, utterly ntemporary New York edy.” Smart. Sensive. Utterly ntemporary. That uld be an apt scriptn of Breen himself, who is a half Sicilian/half Irish native of Staten Island. He is both a foundg member of MCC theatre and Naked Angels, where Next Fall got s start. We met for tea last week on his way to the Helen Hay Theatre where Next Fall is playg next door to Green Day’s Amerin Idt at the St. Jam. PATRICK BREEN: Yeah, we share a wall — the Helen Hay and the St. Jam and they were very kd to . Their sound signers me wh cibel meters our theatre. They blasted stuff om their si and we uldn’t hear a thg. They were so great to . They didn’t want to terfere wh our show bee our show is really quiet at tim. So the first preview they had their show down at like quarter to ten and our is still gog on. I’m one of my quieter scen and sudnly we hear screams om the street bee Green Day was there. So they had soundproofed the wall well and put their woofers the right directn and stuff but you uldn’t soundproof the girls screamg on the street. We were thkg, Are we gog to hear that every night? KEVIN SESSUMS: So do you have gay guys screamg outsi of Next Fall? PB: Y, at the stage door and sometim on the subway as well when they e up to me now. KS: I’m so happy for Geofey Nffts. I’ve known him for a long time and ed to have such a csh on him. PB: Me too. I even knew him llege at NYU and I’m 49 now. Then we were Naked Angels together. KS: Elton John g as a producer mt have helped the move to Broadway. PB: It helped a lot. He’s been so good about publicy. He was on The View. He did Oprah today. His g was credibly helpful bee we’re nobody. Jt a bunch of off-Broadway actors. We don’t have a big star. We don’t have mic. What we have to offer is a really good play. I’ve done three workshops of . At one pot out LA Zachary Quto played Le, my boyiend the play. KS: Some people have a hard time believg that such different guys would be lovers - the age difference, the difference belief systems. Is jt based on hot sex? PB: Hmmmm ... that uld maybe last a year. The relatnship lasts five years the play. They love each other and tablish some kd of ground l of what they n and nnot talk about to make the relatnship work. KS: Even though Le, the Christian role, is imbued wh a kd of heightened shame the play, your character, Adam, has a different kd of shame. More cripplg s way. He’s chosen to love a shameful person — which is a form of shame that is even more sid sce he don’t own outright like Le do. PB: I thk you’re right. I thk there is an herent kernel of homophobia Adam that unnscly is beg exprsed through his relatnship wh Le. KS: I have no problem believg the relatnship. The only thg I have a problem wh believg is that they sell ndl a ndle shop Manhattan and live such a nice apartment. PB: It looked smaller off-Broadway but how do you close the walls for Broadway hoe and still suggt — which I thk is really betiful — the nventn of the wag room the hospal beg the apartment beg the wag room. That back and forth is really effective. KS: What I fd so movg about the play — whout givg too much away — is that the thgs that Le believ and Adam rails agast the play are the thgs that fally help Adam e to terms wh what happens to Le. Adam is healed by Le’s beliefs even if they are not his own. PB: I thk what Geofey is tryg to say is that love between two people — no matter what they believe their crazy religns or non-religns and Adam’s hypochondria and New Yorks is a kd of urban relign — is what matters. KS: You said you ed to have a csh on Geofey also. Are you gay or straight?Contued, AFTER THE JUMP...