Jonny Be Good :: One Man's Gay Fringe

In his one-man show "The Gay Guide to Tinseltown" (debuting at the Hollywood Fringe Festival on June 4 as part of its One City, One Pride lineup of LGBT-themed shows presented through a partnership with the City of West Hollywood), actor and real-life Universal Studios tour guide Jon Manganello takes audience members on a tour of Hollywood's messy queer history, from Rock Hudson's hushed hookups and his subsequent battle with AIDS to the real heroes at the heart of the Stonewall riots, in order to show how far the LGBT movement has really come. The Rage Monthly caught up with Manganello for our own messy journey through five questions.

What was the genesis of the show?

I was training to be a guide and I mentioned that I wanted Adam Levine to be my husband and a trainer of mine said, "Nope, can't say that." I was like, "Well, that's not fair." One of the female tour guides was able to make a comment about how hot Clint Eastbook looked in stirrups, but I couldn't say that? That was sort of a turning point for me, and inspired the premise to the show.

This show is called a journey through Hollywood's messy gay history. Are we talking douche or shower here?

(Laughs.) I'm saying shower. It's a hygienic show. I don't know that I'd necessarily
call it family fun, but certainly you can come after you've eaten dinner and your stomach will be fine.

How much of it was inspired by your own experiences as a gay man?

It goes back and forth, playing with time and space between my own life and also historical moments where I embody either gay actors or prominent people
in gay history, like Rock Hudson and Ronald Reagan. A lot of it was inspired by my own life, but I also am so sick of the one-man show by an actor about being an actor and about how hard being an actor is, so that's not what this show is. It's more a history with a touch of autobiography, but as a disclaimer, don't come expecting historical accuracy. It's historically accurate if it was your, like, exaggerating uncle telling you history. It's based in fact, but is sort of blown up.

Is it true that if you want to find a gay guy in L.A., you just go to Starbucks or Universal Studios?

(Laughs.) It's so weird that you know that, but yes. There are a lot of gay tour guides in L.A. I don't know all of them, but certainly I know quite a few. But, I would say to go to the Starbucks in Universal. That's where I go on my lunch break anyway.

If you could pick one gay destination and give a tour of it, what would it be?

Oooh, that's a great question! I would love to go on a gay tour of Europe. I'm Italian and I have a crazy Italian family, and whenever we go on vacation, we always do straight, Italian stuff and I would love to go do gay, Italian stuff in Rome and Paris. Now you've got me thinking. Who knows? That might be my next one-man show!

The Gay Guide to Tinseltown takes place Saturdays, June 4,
11, 18, 25 and Friday, June 24 at the Actors Studio, 916 North
Formosa Avenue in West Hollywood. For tickets and informa- tion about the full lineup, go to hollywoodfringe.org