Quinn

With Swagger, I am telling my own personal story, as embodied by Shakespeare fanboy Quinn, an out queer teen living in a conservative area who is subjected to harassment at school.

He sings about wanting “to escape to a different place” where he’s “not the target of the week.”

Quinn has his treasured Shakespeare comics torn up and peed on by his fellow classmates.

The theme of living with the dissonance of being betrayed by the very people we are supposed to trust is one that interests me, and was also the inspiration for my musical “The Pledge,” about fraternity hazing.

My deep thanks to my dear friend, artist and illustrator Cathryn Falwell, who surprised me one day with this wonderful portrait of Quinn. He has lived in my imagination for years and now her artistry has brought him beautifully to life!