When Hamilton‘s Lin-Manuel Miranda said on the Tony Awards that “love is love is love is love,” he could have had no idea how much that one comment summed up the goals of singer/actor Philip Chaffin. Though he has appeared in such shows as King David, Strike Up the Band and Houdini, Chaffin is perhaps best known for his recordings (primarily on PS Records) that celebrate the Great American Songbook.
His new project finds the singer tackling songs that are not usually sung by men. His idea to do so for Will He Like Me? (a love story) was to create a song cycle that depicts the full range of experiences and emotions a gay man would have during his romantic life. What might seem at first glance like a gimmick turns, instead, into a moving story of one man’s hopes, dreams, lusts and loves. And by the end proves Miranda’s point. (Though this project was conceived well before Miranda’s comments.)
I spoke by phone with Chaffin about the concept of the project, how he selected songs and how much this project reflects his own life. He was at times surprisingly nervous, but the determination that got a project like this made in the first place, ultimately won out.
It should also be noted that Chaffin has been in a relationship with Tommy Krasker (to whom he is married) for 25 years. Krasker, who co-founded PS Classics with Chaffin, has been battling autoimmune illness. His illness required the couple to relocate to Florida and take a break from the one thing they most enjoy doing: making and recording music.
To paraphrase a Stephen Sondheim lyric from Anyone Can Whistle, I’m sure there were plenty of people who said “don’t” about this project.
No. Because no one really knew about it. We tried our best to keep it quiet. I told my voice and acting teacher, otherwise I didn’t tell anyone about it. I was so scared somebody would come out with this idea before I could. Honestly, if somebody else did, it would not be the same thing. I don’t know if somebody else has come out with a CD like this before, but I haven’t heard it.
When I listened to the album, I never thought how weird it is to hear a man sing these songs. Is that the goal – to make audiences recognize a universality to straight and gay relationships?
We’re all the same when it comes to love, aren’t we? My original idea was to do something theatrical for myself and then we did this. I was working in Philadelphia and Tommy comes with me so I can help take care of him. He was like, “Maybe we should go into the studio. We’re here in town. Why don’t we knock a few tunes out and see what we got.”
What were those first songs?
“Will He Like Me” and “I Got Lost in His Arms.” When I first met Tommy he was working with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and Patti LuPone came in and she sang “I Got Lost…” and paired it with something else. I always wanted to do it. The songs that ends this is “Windflowers.” Those three songs started the process.
How much is this song cycle autobiographical and reflecting your relationship with Tommy?
I didn’t want the listener to say “This is him doing this” or “This is him doing that.” I wanted the listener to kind of make their own story from it.
I would say the end part pretty much. The last 4-5 songs. “Who Gave You Permission” (from the made-for-tv film Queen of the Stardust Ballroom)…we’ve been together 25 years now. Tommy does have health issues. It was very emotional in the recording studio. It was also our first time in the studio in three years or so. Seeing Tommy not as strong as he used to be and not able to do the things he used to be able to do, but still coming in the studio for me. This was a lot of work for Tommy. We’re going to take a little break. If something amazing comes long, we’ll figure out a way to do it. This was tough on Tommy.
Did you find it challenging to wrap your mind around singing these songs originally written and performed by women?
A lot of these songs you gotta go, I’m not going to take this traditional male role. I’m going to take the softer side of it. In every relationship a man has a soft side. Not being just masculine. I’m a soft guy. I like a man to take care of me sometimes. After a while it was pretty much sometimes this is what I want – someone to hold me, to take care of me, to say things are going to be alright. Sometimes I like to be the man to say I’m going to make everything alright.
There are many people who think showtimes and/or the Great American Songbook are relics of a time gone by. Yet here you are reframing them to tell the narrative of a gay man’s life. What does that say about the perpetual topicality of these songs?
What’s kept a lot of the American Songbook going is that the stories are always “now.” The love songs – some of them might be a little corny, but the sentiment is what everybody feels or wants to feel or the lost-ness of being in love or wanting to be in love. Everyone feels it and some of these composers have written songs that have kept with the times.
All photos by Howard Zucker