As New York grapples with an overdue blast of winter climate, John Hill is able to take audiences on a sun-drenched getaway courtesy of his chihuahua, Pete.
Hill, greatest often called the dreamy host of SiriusXM’s “The Information With John Hill” and co-host of “Andy Cohen Stay,” is at the moment touring the nation with a one-man live performance, “Wellness Examine.” The actor and musician gave JHB a sneak peek on the present, which performs at New York’s Inexperienced Room 42 Thursday earlier than a two-night stint in Chicago this weekend, by way of the video beneath. In it, he performs “The Similar 5 Gays (Pete’s Tune),” a comedic recap of a current seaside trip advised from the angle of his canine.
“I all the time assumed my canine, Pete, was homosexual as a result of he’s small, and admittedly, he seems tremendous homosexual,” Hill quipped. “However this summer season I introduced him with me to Hearth Island the place we stayed in a home with 5 different homosexual males who talked about Broadway actresses for seven days straight.”
He went on to notice: “It was a significant lesson for me to not choose anybody by their look or presentation. Even a small, nine-pound chihuahua may be ruthlessly, hatefully homophobic. I carry out the music to have a good time his long-suffering lifetime of tolerance.”
Watch “The Similar 5 Gays (Pete’s Tune)” beneath.
All joking apart, “Wellness Examine” is a delightfully irreverent return to the Texas-born Hill’s songwriting roots. He spent the early years of his profession in musical theater, showing on Broadway in “Hairspray” and “The Boy from Oz.” Finally, he relocated from New York to Los Angeles to work in tv and movie manufacturing earlier than embarking on his radio internet hosting gig with Cohen, a former boyfriend.
At the same time as Hill discovered success in different realms, he nonetheless longed to write down and carry out his unique music. He lastly fulfilled that purpose final 12 months when the primary incarnation of “Wellness Examine” debuted. The present is directed by his “Hairspray” co-star, Marissa Jaret Winokur.
“The artistic genesis for this present was that my life has modified fairly dramatically over the previous couple of years ― my father handed away, I received sober,” he mentioned. “The problem I gave myself is to have it’s 100% from my mind. It’s not primarily based on one thing another person wrote. I write the jokes. I write the music. I play the music. I sing the songs. I wished to problem myself to do every part myself.”
Relating to the live performance’s title, he added: “This present is a literal ‘wellness test’ for myself and anybody who involves see it. Are any of us okay? The world is insane. And despite the fact that I believe that most individuals are unwell, I additionally am extremely entertained by what I witness in my day-to-day life. Entertained and in addition enraged.”
From the sounds of it, “Wellness Examine” is off to a robust begin, with the likes of Kelly Ripa, actor Kathy Najimy and, after all, Cohen praising Hill’s musical chops. As for Hill himself, he’s able to take the present all the way in which to the highest ― assuming mainstream audiences are prepared for it, that’s.
“I keep in mind seeing Bruce Springsteen’s Broadway present the place he sat on the piano and talked about New Jersey,” he mentioned. “I believed: ‘This could be so a lot better if he have been a homosexual man singing about his homophobic chihuahua throwing a tantrum on Hearth Island.’ So I wrote that present. That’s clearly what the individuals need. And I’m prepared to provide it to them.”
John Hill will carry out “Wellness Examine” at New York’s Inexperienced Room 42 on Jan. 18 and Feb. 1.