Broadway Beckons Sam Morrison
by Steve Desroches
When comedian Sam Morrison plays the comedy clubs in Times Square it can feel like going back in time itself. In many ways the country has, in the big picture, moved in a more positive direction when it comes to LGBTQ rights and issues, despite current setbacks. He’s reminded how homophobic the United States still is when he tours the country, or takes to the mic in the middle of Manhattan in what has become a gigantic tourist playland. As such, the audiences can be less than interested and at times hostile to material about Morrison’s experiences as a gay man. Sometimes to get them on your side Morrison, and other LGBTQ comedians, resort to jokes about tired stereotypes or humor misted with hints of homophobia as it makes the almost entirely straight audiences more comfortable, treating them as the norm and perhaps even reinforcing a sense of superiority. But as Dorothy Parker once said, “Heterosexuality is not normal, it’s just common.”
On the other hand, there are straight people in the clubs who get it when Morrison goes on a deep dive into gay culture and lingo. He’s learned not to make assumptions, but rather ride the vibe. “We live in a world that is so algorithmically divided now,” says Morrison. “I’m surprised by my rooms all the time. You can go to Middle America and be confronted with exactly what you might expect and then have a night that completely takes you by surprise. I make jokse about being attracted to older men and about bears, and it’s a surprise as to who laughs sometimes. And then when you encounter homophobia, that’s a surprise, too, especially when it’s in New York, in Manhattan. Then I go to Brooklyn and I am the least gay thing there now.”
While unpredictable gigs might be part of being a comedian in general, for a gay standup comic it can be even more perilous. However, throughout his career Morrison has never shied away from making jokes about whatever he likes, even if he has to take his audiences on the slow road to get there. And that commitment to self and art has paid off as Morrison is preparing to move from the small Times Square comedy clubs to the big league on Broadway with his solo show Sugar Daddy, which has its roots in Provincetown.
Morrison first came to Provincetown for Bear Week in 2017. He fell in love with the town and he also realized that his attraction to larger men was real, and he felt supported and not judged in Provincetown. That following year he returned with his solo show, Hello Daddy. It was during that run that he met Jonathan Kreissman at Spiritus Pizza and the two fell in love. Tragically, Kreissman died of COVID in February 2021 at the age of 52. Overwhelmed with sadness and grief, Morrison began to write, and what came out was Sugar Daddy, a theatrical comedic show exploring grieving as well as Morrison managing diabetes.
The show was a megahit at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland in 2022 and again in 2023 when he brought it to Provincetown followed by an off-Broadway run at the SoHo Playhouse that was extended four times. And now Morrison has received the backing to bring Sugar Daddy to Broadway.
“I’ve never had these kinds of resources before,” says Morrison. “Standup is usually just a small stage, a spotlight, and a microphone. I’ve always been a theater kid at heart. Now I get to do what I’ve always wanted to do and take this show and do what I’ve always wanted to do with it. To take standup and theater and see what happens when you bring the two together.”
While the Broadway production of Sugar Daddy is still a work in progress, Morrison is working on other projects, including coming back to Provincetown for a residency at the Hawthorne Barn at the invitation of Twenty Summers, where he will also give a talk about the creative process that led to the show. Provincetown is important to him in so many ways, says Morrison, one of which is hearing from older gay men who lost partners to AIDS when they were his age. It’s helped manage grief as well as prepare a show, as at the height of the AIDS epidemic little to no platform was given to explore grief on the stages of comedy clubs or Broadway. Morrison feels the responsibility as well as the opportunity. While at the Barn he’ll work on a screenplay that is a fictional adaptation of Sugar Daddy with a dash of The Wizard of Oz set in Provincetown. It’s only in places like Provincetown that one can feel free enough to explore such ideas, says Morrison.
“Provincetown has just been huge,” says Morrison. “There’s not a lot of venues that you can do the stuff I do. There aren’t really any rules in Provincetown. I want to say I went to Provincetown for the artistic freedom and the artistic community, but you and I know both know why I really went to Provincetown in the first place.”
Bringing Sugar Daddy to Life: On Creative Process with Sam Morrison is on Saturday, May 31 at 7 p.m. presented by Twenty Summers at the Hawthorne Barn, 29 Miller Hill Rd. To RSVP (there is a $20 suggested donation) visit 20summers.org. For more information call 508.812.0278.
