James T. Lane is no stranger to Broadway. The Black gay performer has starred in A Chorus Line; Kiss Me, Kate; The Scottsboro Boys; and most recently, Chicago, where he portrayed Billy Flynn opposite Jinkx Monsoon in her history-making run as Matron Mama Morton.
But now, Lane is staging his own story in Triple Threat, which charts his rise from the South Philadelphia projects to the role of preeminent entertainer — conquering addiction and homelessness along the way. It’s also a one-man show, in which he portrays 20 different characters from his life’s journey. In this interview, Lane talks the highs and lows of creating Triple Threat, which runs through July 30 at Theatre Row. Learn more at bfany.org.
You just finished your run in Chicago, which included Jinkx Monsoon as the first drag performer to play Mama Morton and yourself as an African American Billy Flynn. What was it like to help make casting history in such a pillar production of Broadway?
It was incredible! Talk about perfect casting, and to find out that Jinkx’s dream was to be in the show made it that was inevitable. It was a perfect fit. You could feel the buzz when Jinkx was announced. At the time, I was across the country touring on the road as Paul Williams in , and I could feel the excitement from there. I couldn’t wait to share the stage with Jinkx. What a moment. What a life.
