With his time on the New York stage at a halt for the foreseeable future, Jack Scott is using his time in self-isolation to offer moments of joy to listeners facing a holiday season like no other.
The Broadway singer and actor unveiled his debut solo single, “Train Ride,” this week. The song’s music video, above, shows him enjoying a virtual night out with a handsome suitor (played by fellow performer Justin Prescott). Together, the two men showcase some fancy footwork and sip cocktails on the beach before uniting in a tender, loving embrace.
“As a queer kid growing up, performing was always my escape, safe space and therapy,” Scott, 29, told HuffPost. “What used to be my way out of self is now my best way in … the inspiration for ‘Train Ride’ came directly from the golden age of song-and-dance storytelling, a time when queer stories weren’t being told. By using this classic format with queer casting, the result is subtly defiant.”
Catch the video for “Train Ride” above.
Scott made his Broadway debut in the 2012 stage adaptation of “Newsies,” starring Jeremy Jordan and Kara Lindsay. Since then, the Ohio native has garnered a devout following on the cabaret circuit, performing at nightclubs and intimate venues in New York and across the country.
Like other performers, Scott was at a loss in March when theaters and other performance spaces went dark to curb the spread of COVID-19. With live performances still heavily restricted eight months later, he vowed to remain “open to the opportunities this time might bring” by delving into a new medium ― which, in his case, meant putting his talents as a solo artist front and center.
“It’s been a great time to explore new ways of creating,” he said. “I try to keep myself present in the moment and to see what I can do in the next 24 hours and allow myself to ask for help, which doesn’t come naturally.”
To direct the video, Scott enlisted Zen Pace, a Brooklyn, New York-based artist who also shot 2019′s “This is Magic” for Grammy-winning duo A Great Big World, and the autism documentary “Spectrum of Love,” released in April. Together with choreographer Peter Pasucci, they envisioned “delicious and poppy vignettes” that would represent pure romantic fantasy.
Scott’s voice, Pace said, “reminded me of the music I used to listen to with my grandmother in Flint, Michigan.” He added, “I hope everyone who watches it can have a moment of levity in a time when we absolutely crave it. A little bit of a queer romantic escape is exactly what we all need.”
Scott, who relocated from New York to Los Angeles earlier this year, initially planned to release “Train Ride” during LGBTQ Pride Month in June. Though the music video is being unveiled later than intended, he’d still like it to set the tone for his forthcoming work as a singer-songwriter, and expects to release new music next year.
“I joke that Frank Sinatra was my voice teacher, so it seems fitting that my first release is a classic jazz quintet,” he said. “If I get an older generation of jazz fans to relate to a queer couple, and a younger generation of LGBTQ people to listen to jazz, I will be very happy!”
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