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 generally known as the dreamy host of SiriusXM’s “The Information With John Hill” and co-host of “Andy Cohen Dwell,” is presently touring the nation with a one-man live performance, “Wellness Verify.” The actor and musician gave HuffPost 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 Music),” a comedic recap of a current seashore trip advised from the angle of his canine.
“I at all times assumed my canine, Pete, was homosexual as a result of he’s small, and albeit, he seems to be tremendous homosexual,” Hill quipped. “However this summer time I introduced him with me to Fireplace 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 serious lesson for me to not decide anybody by their look or presentation. Even a small, nine-pound chihuahua will be ruthlessly, hatefully homophobic. I carry out the track to rejoice his long-suffering lifetime of tolerance.”
Watch “The Similar 5 Gays (Pete’s Music)” beneath.
All joking apart, “Wellness Verify” 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.” Ultimately, 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 put in writing and carry out his unique music. He lastly fulfilled that objective final yr when the primary incarnation of “Wellness Verify” debuted. The present is directed by his “Hairspray” co-star, Marissa Jaret Winokur.
“The inventive 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 based mostly on one thing another person wrote. I write the jokes. I write the music. I play the music. I sing the songs. I needed to problem myself to do the whole lot myself.”
Relating to the live performance’s title, he added: “This present is a literal ‘wellness examine’ for myself and anybody who involves see it. Are any of us okay? The world is insane. And despite the fact that I feel that most individuals are unwell, I additionally am extremely entertained by what I witness in my day-to-day life. Entertained and likewise enraged.”
From the sounds of it, “Wellness Verify” is off to a powerful 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 best way to the highest ― assuming mainstream audiences are prepared for it, that’s.
“I bear in mind seeing Bruce Springsteen’s Broadway present the place he sat on the piano and talked about New Jersey,” he mentioned. “I assumed: ‘This is able to be so a lot better if he had been a homosexual man singing about his homophobic chihuahua throwing a tantrum on Fireplace Island.’ So I wrote that present. That’s clearly what the individuals need. And I’m prepared to offer it to them.”
