Broadway’s Michael John LaChiusa talks yak coats, onstage electrocutions & the collaborator that changed his life

For over 30 years, Broadway composer, lyricist, and book writer Michael John La Chiusa has surrounded himself with powerful women (what gay man doesn’t?). Toni Colette, Eartha Kitt, and Audra McDonald are among the starry names to appear in his works. But behind the scenes, one formidable force has been both collaborator and mentor, challenging the artist to push the form’s boundaries.

Graciela Daniele’s career began by studying dance in her home country of Argentina. She then moved to Paris to continue training, where she saw a production of West Side Story featuring Jerome Robbins’ original choreography, inspiring her move to New York City to study jazz and modern dance. Twenty-six Broadway shows (and a Tony Award for lifetime achievement) later, the performer, choreographer, and director still had one more story to tell: her own.

Daniele and LaChiusa were first introduced as potential collaborators on Hello, Again, a musical adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler’s La Ronde. The pair hit it off, and the musical came to life. (A 2017 film version co-starred Cheyenne Jackson, T.R. Knight, and Audra McDonald.)

Over the decades, Lincoln Center Theater has become their artistic home, presenting boundary-pushing productions of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Marie Christine, and Bernarda Alba. Their latest work, The Gardens of Anuncia, draws inspiration from Daniele’s life growing up in mid-century Argentina during Juan Perón’s presidency. The magical and occasionally quirky production (there’s a talking deer, after all) gathers another starry ensemble — including Pricilla Lopez, the original Morales in A Chorus Line — to create a musical memory of Daniele’s creative inspirations.

Queerty caught up with LaChiusa after the celebrated Off-Broadway opening, a production described by the New York Times as “a beautifully sung tribute to sisterly admiration.”

It’s been over 30 years since I first met Graciela Daniele, but the one thing that remains vivid in my mind from that first encounter is …

It was winter and cold. She came into Lincoln Center, where we were meeting, and she was wearing a yak coat. This big, furry, yellow yak coat. She looked like a baby Bigfoot. I loved her instantly. I mean, who wears yak in NYC?

I fell in love with musical theater after seeing ___________ … 

This would have to be a high school production of Camelot when I was seven or eight. My mom took me. The guy playing Lord Pellimore or whatever had a dog with him, some mangy old sheepdog. During a crowd scene, the sheepdog lifted its leg and peed on the old-fashioned stage lights. There was a zzzz-zap and the dog went limp. Plop. The curtains closed slowly. You could hear them dragging the sheepdog off. Then the curtains opened: everyone was right where they had been standing, and they went on with the show––only the Lord Pellimore guy now just pretended he had a dog. I thought that was cool. That’s when I fell in love with theater.

The Gardens of Anuncia celebrates Graciele’s early years growing up in 1940s Buenos Aires (think Evita but a lot less glamorous), where women play an essential role in her formative years. _________ has been one of the most influential women in my life … 

Obviously, Graciela has been a formidable influence. She’s been a kind friend, a gracious and creative colleague, and, most importantly, a wonderful teacher. I had a terrific mom who passed when I was in my early 30s, and Graciela has filled that void. Friend, colleague, teacher: what better mom could you ask for?

The garden is a mythical place, full of memories and transformation. If I could plant a seed for the next generation of LGBTQ+ youth, it would grow into …

A garden of no labels, where every sort of plant could exist without judgment or fear of being uprooted or destroyed.

The queer theatermaker everyone should be paying attention to right now is …

Everyone must always pay attention to playwright Paula Vogel, full-stop.

Broadway’s The Wild Party was just that, with a cast that included Eartha Kitt, Toni Collette, Norm Lewis, and Nathan Lee Graham in his Broadway debut. The wildest real-life theater party I ever attended was …

I’m not a theater party kind of guy, so I don’t go to them often––I rarely spend a lot of time at my opening night parties. However, parties that turn into theater … that’s another story.

The LGBTQ+ person I’d love to collaborate with … 

There are so many––and so little time. I’d love to collaborate with Saheem Ali [Associate Director at Off-Broadway’s Public Theater], do something outrageous with Tina Landau [playwright and director], and make music with Paula Vogel [Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and producer].

The Gardens of Anuncia plays at Lincoln Center Theater through December 31.