Interview: Jak Malone on MISS YOU, MISS YOU, REALLY WANT TO KISS YOU! at the Laurie Beechman

After a year of performing in Operation Mincemeat on Broadway, Jak Malone is coming back across the pond, this time for a cabaret show at The Laurie Beechman Theatre! Recently, we had the chance to chat with Malone about his upcoming shows. We discussed how it feels to be returning to New York City, how he’s been choosing songs for the cabaret, and even what inspired the title - Miss You, Miss You, Really Want to Kiss You!!

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How did you first get started in the world of theatre?

So this has become the stuff of lore now about me. It's quite well known now that I was a difficult child for my family to contend with. I was just a little demon kid! I have vivid memories of choosing to be unpleasant, and my family really struggled to manage me. It took my nan to point out, “Well, actually, when he is quiet, it's because he's drawing. He can sit with paper and pen and pencils for hours, and you won't hear a peep out of him. When he does have a tantrum, he goes up to his room and blasts the Grease soundtrack to the max, and he sings along - he's using music to self-soothe. It calms him down, and he ends up having a nice time in his room. I think he's incredibly creative, and he needs a creative outlet.” So they found a youth theatre for me to go to, a little drama club that I would go to every Tuesday, and as soon as I went there, it was like night and day. I was just a happy, well-rounded, good kid. So I've done theatre ever since, because I'm kind of like, “If I stop, what will happen? Who will I become?” It's like Jekyll and Hyde - I worry that if I stop, I might go insane and get arrested!

And what made you want to create this show, Miss You, Miss You, Really Want to Kiss You!?

I was planning on heading to New York for a visit, because I made so many good friends there, and I miss them all! And I wanted to show my face and remind Broadway that I'm still a thing, and I would love to come back one day. My very good friends who run the Beechman contacted me and said, “Would you like to do a show while you're here?” I was their New Year's headliner last year. Because of visa stuff, I'm not allowed to get paid, so they said, “Well, you wouldn't get anything for doing it, but it'll just be nice to do,” and I was like, “Please, I'm more than happy!” That's joy to me. I love doing these shows. I love cabaret. It was something that I started dabbling in after the first West End run of Mincemeat. I started doing these little shows for the fans, and it just rapidly became the most fun I could possibly have. So they offered me this show, and immediately I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I want it to be a love letter to the incredible year that I had, my year on Broadway, which was this wonderful, joyous, fruitful year. So, I came up with the title, Miss You, Miss You, Really Want To Kiss You!, A, because it's ridiculous, and I have to pepper a little bit of silliness into everything I do, and B, it's true! I've been dreaming every night about hugging friends that I'm going to see - I'm so excited! It's going to be a celebration of the wonderful time I had, a giving of thanks, and an intense reunion, because I'm not planning on playing it cool at all. It's called Miss You, Miss You, Really Want To Kiss You!, and they better pucker up!

And can you tell us a bit about your creative process for a cabaret show like this one?

Sure! So I'm blessed, because of my work on Mincemeat and the role that I played, people know to expect from me that the gender won't matter when it comes to choices and songs. So right away it's just a matter of what I want to sing, what vibe I want this to be. I want it to be a celebration of my wonderful year on Broadway, [so] I've decided to go quite old Broadway with it - there's a lot in there that's quite classic cabaret. I found myself over the last month or so listening to all the divas, there's a lot of Carol Burnett in there, a lot of Liza, lot of Judy. I've gone, “What are the big Broadway legends doing when they do cabaret?” Because usually, I'm a little bit more free with it - it's just whatever the hell I want to do - whereas this time I've gone, “Let's try and have a through line and harken back to something that I really enjoy.” I've learned a lot of new stuff for this one. Most shows are a mix of a few new things, and then a lot of stuff that I enjoy and do well, whereas this time, the majority of the songs I'm performing will be new and no one will have heard me do them, so that's going to be very exciting.

Do you have any particular songs you're looking forward to performing?

Yeah, there's a song called “Give a Little Get a Little (Love)” that I've found by listening to Carol Burnett. It's this album where she's performing live, and it's just really fun! The message speaks to how the world can turn on a smile and a kiss, and I love the song so much. But there was no sheet music available for it anywhere! Because I sing a lot of women's songs, I have to source the sheet music, and then I have to transposable a lot of the time, whereas this one simply didn't exist. So I got in touch with my very good friend and collaborator, Jonas Tattersall, who I do a lot of my cabarets in the UK with. He usually will accompany me, and I asked him if he could make an arrangement for me of that song, and he's done that! So I'm very happy that I'll get to open the show with that song - I really had my heart set on it. It was wonderful that he could come through.

What is it like to be returning to New York after Operation Mincemeat?

Just so exciting! My big struggle when leaving was knowing that all of my friends were going to be in one building without me. This is the problem with leaving a show! When I left Mincemeat in the West End, I had that same feeling. All of these wonderful pals still meet every day, they still convene every single day - I'm just not there. I really struggled with that, but at least I had the option of popping in. And I do! I pop in all the time. Whereas Broadway, it was like, “Oh, I'm really leaving. I can't even swing by.” So I'm very lucky that I always had my eye on this. I always thought, “I'm going to head back in summer. I'm going to put some money aside, make sure I can do it.” All these relationships that I forged that mean so much to me . . . I just can't wait to squeeze people! That's the whole point of this trip. The cabaret is the most joyous bonus, but the whole point was hugs.

What is it like to be returning to the Beechman Theatre, in particular?

Great! The Beechman became a second home for me while I was there. I just found my people. It was being renovated when I first visited, and I met Tom and Michael D’Angora, who own and run it. Tom told me his vision for the room. There was nothing done, it was a building site, and he said, “This wall is going to be blue tile, this wall is going to have a projection on it . . .” All this wonderful stuff. I was so enamoured with his energy and his enthusiasm for the room that I was just like, “Oh, I've got to perform here!” So that's something I always had my eye on, and then, in the process, made wonderful friends with them. The day I got nominated for the Tony, I gathered some friends, and we had a big lunch celebration there! I just found that whenever something good happened or whenever something not so good happened, that's where I would want to go, amongst friends and amongst family. When I knew I was going to come back and visit New York, it was always going to be my first stop, so when they reached out to me, I was like, “Of course, let's do something fun!”

What do you hope audiences take away from this show?

I hope audiences take away that Jak Malone is very invested in coming back to Broadway. In no uncertain terms, I am like, “Please bring me back!” Rest assured, I'm doing everything I can on my end. I'm writing, and I'm doing a lot of work. I have this wonderful collaborator named Alexander Sage Oyen, who is a New York composer, and I'm writing shows with him. But I said it before I left, and I've said it ever since. I get a lot of DMs that say, “Oh, I would love for you to come back to Broadway!” And I'm like, “You're very kind to DM me that, but I would prefer that you just put that out there! I'm grateful, but tell your local theatre producer that you want Jak Malone to come back to Broadway.” The main takeaway is, Jak is just as in love with Broadway as he's ever been, and can't wait to come and spend more time there. And I'll always find a way to visit, because it's just the most wonderful, wholesome, warm community, and I'm delighted to be able to spend just a couple of weeks there this summer.

And finally, how would you describe Miss You, Miss You, Really Want To Kiss You! in one word?

Sassy - it's just so many divas! It's a compilation of the divas, so there's gonna be sass. I've just packed my suitcase with all the outfits I'm gonna wear. Let me tell you, there are sequins, there are feathers, there are beads. It's going to be good, it's going to be sassy!

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Miss You, Miss You, Really Want To Kiss You! runs on July 15, 16, and 20 at the Laurie Beechman Theatre. Livestream tickets are also available. The in-person tickets are completely sold out for July 20 and going fast for the remaining dates.

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