Todrick Hall Keeps the Spirit of Pride Alive

Todrick Hall seems to be everywhere these days. Since competing on American Idol 10 years ago, he has built up an impressive resume which includes acting in Broadway musicals Kinky Boots and Chicago, appearing as a judge and resident choreographer on RuPaul’s Drag Race, dancing in music videos like Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do,” and becoming a trailblazer paving the way for young, LGBTQ creatives. With more than three million subscribers on YouTube and 1.8 million on Instagram, Todrick has no plans to slow down any time soon.

As a staple in the Pride festival circuit, Todrick usually travels around the country to headline and perform. Unfortunately, many Pride events have been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but there is a bright side. Todrick plans to take part in several virtual events while being safe in the comfort of his own home. As a social media influencer, he is committed to staying connected with his audience. To make light of a dreary situation, Todrick even released a new album in April called Quarantine Queen which is themed around the pandemic.

In OUT FRONT’s exclusive interview, we caught up with Todrick to talk more about what inspired him to make this album, how he is holding up in quarantine, and what his plans are for this year’s Pride Season.

Hi, Todrick! Thank you so much for chatting with me. I would like to begin by talking about your latest album, Quarantine Queen. What inspired you to create a COVID-19 pandemic-themed album?
I was honestly really nervous about it because I never want to be one of those people who is perceived to be taking advantage of a situation that some people are suffering from. So, I was a bit concerned about whether or not I should do it, but I received advice from somebody that I love and look up to and respect. They basically taught me the lesson that you should never be ashamed of what you’re doing as long as your intention and the reason why you did it was with love.

I saw on social media how all these kids had their proms, graduations, cheerleading competitions canceled, and I know how important these events are. The thought of not being able to be in my favorite show The Wizard of Oz during my senior year, and obviously anybody who follows me knows that I am obsessed with anything Oz themed, the thought of it being canceled is so heartbreaking because I know how exciting that is. To have that moment to shine and have your legacy left at your alma mater.

So, I wanted to write a song to cheer some of these people up. I wrote “Mas(k)ot,” and then I got asked to do the Stonewall Gives Back concert, and I gladly said yes and decided to do a remake and a parody of my own song, “Nails, Hair, Hips, Heels.” Once I started doing it, it honestly became so much fun, and I know that my fans always respond to the things they know that I had fun making. You can’t bottle it up; you can hear it in someone’s voice when they are having a great time. It shines through, and fans can feel that. So, that’s why I wanted to make it. I wanted to do something that makes people want to get up and dance, feel inspired, and put a smile on their face right now during what a lot of people would consider to be a very dark time.

The video for “Masks, Gloves, Soap, Scrubs” featured a star-studded cast. Was it difficult to put it together?
It wasn’t difficult. I reached out to a lot of people, and I didn’t want to pressure them. I feel like a lot of celebrities are feeling, in some ways, busier now than they were before this all happened. I was so grateful that so many people sent in their videos, and it was really last minute, so I had a lot of other people who said they would have done it but there just wasn’t enough time. I love how creative everyone got and seeing how much fun it looked like they were having making the videos in their homes. I was so grateful.

How have you personally been holding up during this pandemic?
I’m honestly doing well. I haven’t had a vacation in a long time. As an unsigned artist, I don’t have a record label, so it’s been four or five times harder for me to do something than an artist who has a manager, sponsorship, endorsements or a record label behind them. I feel like I was just saying yes to so many things and hardly keeping up, and I know I would have never given myself a vacation.

So, this has been a good time for me to relax, look at myself, and work on my mental health. I also started to work on projects I have been saying for years that I wanted to do but haven’t started writing or put forth the effort. This is a time for a lot of artists to do that one project that they said they wanted to do, and it’s going to be interesting to see all the art that comes out of this time.

A lot of creative people are being forced to sit at home and relax and watch Netflix, which I think is a great option! I’m trying to do a mixture of both. I have been watching my favorite TV shows, old seasons of RuPaul’s Drag Race and all my videos because sometimes you can get so caught up in the machine that you forget to pat yourself on the back for the things that you have. Look around, and be grateful for the things you have. I have really been thanking the universe, God, and whatever for what my team and I have accomplished because it has not been easy.

You are a staple at Pride festivals, but unfortunately, many have either canceled or will be held digitally. What are your plans for Pride, and how will you be celebrating?
I am trying to do my part as a social media influencer to do as many virtual proms, LGBTQ+ celebrations, and fundraisers. I have been raising money for Broadway Cares and sold $50,000 worth of costumes, props, and accessories from my home that I’m donating to help my friends in the theatre community. Everybody in the theatre is a queen, whether they are a female or male performer, or a person in the orchestra. Most of us are part of the LGBTQ+ community, so that’s another thing I’m doing for Pride. I’m trying to raise money and extend help to my friends that are in the theatre community.

And how can others celebrate Pride while staying apart and maintaining social distance?
I feel there are going to be ways for people to make virtual parades and stuff. I think that people are getting so creative, and it makes my heart flutter to see the way people have come together. I don’t remember another time in American history, and definitely not since I’ve been alive, that so many people have been forced to come together, get creative, and help each other out. I think people should follow their favorite queer artists and look at the options that they have of ways to celebrate Pride.

There are probably going to be tons of shows on Netflix. I personally would love to suggest that people watch the documentary How to Survive a Plague during Pride season because HIV is such a humongous deal, but it’s a disease that can now be controlled. Billy Porter came to me when I was doing Kinky Boots on Broadway and said I should really watch this documentary because it shows how much the gay community fought and had to come together at a time where there were no Facebook friend invites and group check messages.

They had to put up flyers and work to get people to come together to fight so we can have these vaccines, pamphlets, information, press, free condoms. Just a host of things to keep us safe. That’s something I think we should all be doing at this time, even just remembering all the people who are no longer with us, so that we can be safe during this time. I would strongly suggest it because it’s a very moving documentary. It’s awesome and will make you grateful for the people who came before us.

What does Pride personally mean to you?
Oh, that’s hard! Pride to me is being able to embrace, accept, and love who you truly are while also feeling safe with family while doing so.

When did you attend your first Pride event, and what is your fondest memory from that experience?
I was in high school, and I went to Pride accidentally. I was hanging out with some friends, and they said, ‘Oh, my gosh, I think it’s the Pride Parade. They were gay friends that I had, but we went to Pride, and I didn’t really know what Pride was. It was an unfamiliar term for me. When I got there, I remember being scared at first. I remember being completely afraid that there weren’t enough police or protection and that somebody might come in with a gun and start putting bullets in everyone.

I remember being scared for longer than I probably should have been, which makes me sad now to think that just because we were congregating, that would have been enough for someone to want to end our lives. Then, I remember that feeling turning into a positive feeling. For the first time ever in my life, I was with a group of people that looked like me and understood me. I didn’t have to make an excuse or have to watch how I waved, or if I had a little bit too much Beyoncé in my step or too much glitter in my strut.

It was the first time I remember being like, nothing matters. You can be whoever you want; you can be your true self, or you can go further and be even more outrageous, more open, more flamboyant, a more fabulous version of yourself, and it doesn’t matter. You’re never going to be too gay, too out-of-the-box, too different. That was the first time I ever felt that feeling, and I loved it. It was way too hot, probably unhealthy, but I didn’t care. I stayed outside in the sun all day to keep that feeling.

Now, when I go to Pride and perform, it almost makes me cry to the point where I can’t look at the little kids because when I see a little kid in a stroller holding a Pride flag, they are being trained to love people. They are being carefully taught to accept other people. To me, that is so gorgeous, and I love the fact that my children and grandchildren have a slight chance to grow up in a world where they’re not going to be considered different for who they choose to love. I love the fact that we are alive right now, and I can say I played a part in helping make the world safer for them. That’s something to be proud of.

You made a virtual appearance at the second-annual Pride Summit hosted by Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter on June 13. This event featured engaging conversations with LGBTQ artists making an impact in the media. Did you ever think you would become such an influential LGBTQ artist?
Never, never. I always just wanted to be a dancer in the ensemble of a Broadway musical, and as life goes on, I realized that I have so much responsibility, and people are looking up to me. They’re wondering what I’m going to do, and what I say matters now in a sense, more than I ever thought it would. I wear it with a badge of honor. I take pride in the fact that I am a role model for so many people, and I make decisions every single day when I’m living my life based on the fact that I’ve accepted that responsibility. I’m grateful for it. I never would have dreamt in a million years that I would be somebody who is a big influence in the community. It means a lot to me.

My first exposure to you was when “Beauty and the Beat” premiered on YouTube. That made me fall down a rabbit hole and watch more of your content. Have Disney and The Wizard of Oz always been major sources of inspiration for you?
I think so. As I get older, I realize that I grew up in a very small town, and I think subconsciously that I was always trying to get away. I always knew there was something more colorful and more beautiful, like someplace else. That’s kind of what Dorothy was searching for. I just always loved these stories and how they were over-the-top.

I loved that there was music because the music helps tell the story. I was always fascinated by that concept, and music heightens every emotion. So, I think I have always been very, very, very, like, almost obsessed with things that had anything to do with Disney or The Wizard of Oz. Even going to another land like Alice in Wonderland, The NeverEnding Story, any of those things that make you, for two seconds, suspend reality and believe that there could be another world with fantastical creatures in it. It’s been something I have loved since I was a child.

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You also like to include drag as a central component in your work. Why is drag so significant to you?
I think that I’ve never felt freer as when I started doing drag. I remember as somebody who had a boyfriend when I discovered that I liked doing it, I was always nervous. There was, like, a rule in the house that he couldn’t watch me when I performed these numbers, and it makes me sad to think that was a rule that I implemented myself, even though he wasn’t judging me. He told me several times that this doesn’t make him feel like I’m any less of a man, and that he loves that I can do this, that I’m really talented, and he loves watching me transform.

When you have on nails, hair, hips, and heels, you feel like a completely different person. There are certain things that I have done, and I constantly rehearsed to be Lola in Kinky Boots on Broadway, but the second I put on those six-inch, thigh-high, red boots, I walked differently. I moved my hands, my hair, my neck, my eyes differently, the way my mouth was moving, it was like I became another person. It was like how a straight man would look at a shield of one of his favorite Marvel superheroes. It does that same thing for me. Not just a straight man, but anybody who loves those types of action movies. It makes me feel like I’ve become my gay version of Superman, Spiderman, or Batman. I love it so much.

When I watch videos back and see myself, I don’t even recognize that person, and I love that I don’t. I have my very own, like, Hannah Montana-type situation. I love it, and I never thought I would be so into drag. Now, there are some guys I have gone on dates with, and it’s made me sad because I’ve met people who I think are going to be the one, and we’ll sit down to eat, and they’ll say, ‘So, when did you start doing drag?’ They say it in a way that seems almost like they’re disgusted by it. That it makes them less than a man, and now I’m no longer an option to be their boyfriend.

It used to make me really sad, but now I am realizing that the person I’m supposed to be with is so much more open-minded and forward-thinking, on the right side of history, and they would be able to look back and see that I’m an actor and a performer. That doesn’t make me any less of anything. It’s just a part of who I am, and I want whoever I date or end up marrying to feel that way. That may be more difficult to find, but I’m not going to stop doing those things, wearing heels and feeling like I’m Beyoncé, so that I can get a boyfriend. That’s not worth it.

What’s next for you? Do you have other upcoming projects we should be on the lookout for?
I have so many dreams and goals, like, I can’t even express to you. I want to create TV shows, and I have a Broadway musical that’s been in my heart to write for the longest time. I have a kid’s television show that I want to do. I want to write a book. I want to be able to rap and feature on other people’s phones.

As far as I know, in 2020, there has never been a song on the radio where a man is singing to another man. As progressive as we are, and I am so grateful for the advancement, but to say that’s never happened is pitiful. I would love to be behind the artist that does that or even be the artist who does that. That’s my goal and my dream. To be on the radio with my voice coming out saying something that I think will be, like, game changing for gay men across the world. So, that is my goal, and I’m not going to stop working until it happens. It may never happen, but that’s the beauty of life. You can give yourself the knowledge and try every single day to accomplish it. Whether I do or not, I will be so grateful that I tried, and hopefully I cleared a pathway for somebody else to be able to do it and make it easier for them.

*Photos by Jon Sams