Queerty Query: Randy Jones

Randy Jones

With the noise being made about Brokeback Mountain may we remind you of the original gay cowboy: Randy Jones. The cowboy from the Village People recently chatted with Bradford Shellhammer about playing God, the Pet Shop Boys, and those other cowboys, Jake and Heath.

What is it like playing God?
As opposed to WHAT? (smile)

Tell us about the new plays?
I’m having a ball playing God in Sodom: The Musical. There’s nothing like having all the power and playing the multi-male-plus roles in I Wanna Be Rosie at LaMaMa sure keeps an actor on his toes. Getting cast as God was typecasting, getting cast as George Clooney is hype-casting, and getting cast as Marlene Dietrich…well, that’s just pipe-casting!

How did the idea for the Village People come together?
I believe it to have been a Halloween nightmare of a couple of Frenchmen, Henri Belolo and Jacques Morali. And God is thanked for the experience!

Randy dishes on Jake and Heath after the jump.

Being the cowboy and all, are you excited to see Brokeback Mountain?
Definitely…from the number of inquiring phone calls I got from those two guys during filming, I should’ve gotten a credit as a technical advisor! I don’t know what all the fuss is about: hot gaycowboys is nothin’ new! I’ve been turning on the ladies (and more than a few fellas) since the 70’s! Of course now we have Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger playing gay for pay per view. What will they think of next?!

What did you think of the Pet Shop Boys’ “Go West” cover?
The Boys did a stand up job. I liked it so much that I am returning the favor by covering the Pet Shop Boys’ “New York City Boy” on my new CD Midnight Cowboy due out in early 2006. Boy!

Do you keep in touch with the other Village People? Do you still perform?
Yes. I have been a solo artist for years. Away from VP, I’ve done several films, CDs, lots of theatrical productions, and I tour solo. One film, Three Long Years goes to Sundance in Jan. ’06 and A Tale About Bootlegging is released next Spring. I go directly from Sodom: The Musical into I Wanna Be Rosie opening Dec. 2 at LaMaMa. This is one busy, busy cowboy! But I’m a bit of a workaholic, which beats the heck out of being an out-of-workaholic.

In the Village People heyday, were the parties BANANAS or what? Were boys throwing themselves at you?
Yes…And yes…and yes they still do. And yes I love bananas!

We noticed you started a blog. Do you read blogs? If so, which?
I read everything. A couple I really enjoy are Lady Bunny’s and RuPaul’s. The Internet has been truly revolutionary. For instance if you take a look at my website, there are a number of multimedia elements: photos, text, short films, and audio clips. These are amazing times!

God or Cowboy. Who has more fun?
God doesn’t get to wear a hat, so I’ll have to go with the Cowboy and his “magic hat”.

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