What a catch

After six years as a working New York actor, you’d think Cheyenne Jackson would have gotten at least a little slick. But while the hunk’s beefy thighs tend to be his most talked about attributes, his refreshing bluntness is his most striking feature. When asked how he felt being snubbed by Tony nominators for his work in Xanadu, he says, “I was crushed…and pissed!”

And he should have been. Not only did he show amazing commitment by stepping into the role four days after original star James Carpinello got injured, but Jackson’s endearing turn as stoner/aspiring artist Sonny is the heart and soul of that campy musical. Other actors might have made Sonny a one-note roller-skating punch line in short shorts, but Jackson never once winks. He plays him as seriously as he would Billy Bigelow (one of his dream Broadway roles), as evidenced by his electric performance of “Don’t Walk Away” during this year’s awards telecast, which blew the roof off of Radio City Music Hall.

Despite frustration at losing out on a Tony nod—his second close call after winning critical praise and a Theatre World Award as an Elvis-type crooner in 2005’s All Shook Up—Jackson considers the stage his home. (Although he’s not dismissing Hollywood. As he points out: “One hit TV show and you can do theater for the rest of your life.”) For the past year, the actor has spent more time on the boards than in his own bed. While Xanadu was still in previews last season, he did the Musicals in Mufti version of It’s a Bird…It’s a Plane…It’s Superman. Jackson played the caped crusader like an endearing, goofy cutie—that seems to be his specialty. Most recently, he’s been rehearsing the part of bedeviled baseballer Joe Hardy in City Center’s Encores! revival of the Faustian classic Damn Yankees.

After winning fans for his Xanadu pop-rock crooning, Jackson is excited about the opportunity to tackle an iconic role from the traditional musical-theater canon. “If I do my job right, I’ll really be showing a different side of myself,” he says over the phone between rehearsal and show. “This is old-school, legit singing. Also, although I’m very proud of the work I’ve done, everything up to this point has been kind of silly. In Damn Yankees, I’m the straight guy to everyone else’s crazy antics.”

“Everyone else” includes his sitcom-veteran costars, Will & Grace’s Sean Hayes as Mr. Applegate (a.k.a. the Devil) and 30 Rock’s Jane Krakowski as Hell’s seductive emissary, Lola. Working with Krakowski has been particularly gratifying, since the two costarred in the original workshop of Xanadu before scheduling conflicts forced her to turn down the Broadway production. While Damn Yankees director John Rando admits that Jackson’s chemistry with Krakowski is “spectacular,” he says, “It’s hard not to have chemistry with Cheyenne—period—when you’re onstage with him. He just radiates. The same way his character Joe ignites a lowly baseball team, Cheyenne’s enthusiasm can ignite a company of actors.”

Regardless of Rando’s praise, Jackson wasn’t a shoo-in for Damn Yankees from the start. “I believe they went to Patrick Wilson first,” the actor says. “There’s a pool of us who always get his leftovers: me, Chris Sieber, Matt Morrison…” Jackson laughs. “I had done the show a decade ago and I really wanted a chance to do it again. So I booked myself an audition.” As to whether this production will make the same journey as City Center’s Gypsy did last season, Jackson is sure that’s everyone’s hope. “Assuming Jane and Sean want to do it, I think a commercial transfer is clearly the understood goal with this…unless it’s a huge disaster,” he says, his honesty trumping diplomacy once again.

It’s that openness—onstage, in interviews and on his intimate if sporadic blog—that has helped turn Jackson into a new Broadway matinee idol. Sure, he’s a gorgeous triple threat, but audiences and fans connect to him because they feel like they know him. As an out actor from a conservative family, he’s a role model to gay teens (although he’s also got plenty of female admirers too).

But such ingenuousness also means he takes disappointments hard. “My partner is like, ‘Bless your heart, honey, you always think the best of people until they use you or hurt your feelings,’ ” Jackson confides. “I am trying to be wiser. I mean, I know producers can screw you and people lie and that the bottom line is always money…but, as Pollyannaish as it sounds, I always try to maintain hope—about everything.”

Damn Yankees is at City Center.