Justin Vivian Bond is known as the queen of downtown cabaret, hailed as “the greatest cabaret artist of their generation” by The New Yorker. Anthony Roth Costanzo is “the vocally brilliant and dramatically fearless countertenor” (The New York Times) whose otherworldly high voice has bewitched so many, notably in the title role of Philip Glass’s opera Akhnaten.
Together they have created a show called Only An Octave Apart that mashes up pop classics with some of the greatest opera arias – it is a joyous and surprising musical fantasia, revelling in everything strange and beautiful in the coexistence of contrasts – from Purcell’s 17th century aria Dido’s Lament to Dido’s early 2000s hit White Flag, from Autumn Leaves to The Waters of March and Queen’s Under Pressure. A huge hit in New York, it celebrates the historical and the hysterical, from countertenor to counterculture.
As Viv and Anthony prepare for a month-long run at Wilton’s Music Hall in London from Wednesday 28 September, we caught up with the two stars.
Justin Vivian Bond
Were you aware of Anthony before you started collaborating? How did it come about?
Yes. We met at a few rooftop parties thrown by a mutual friend and I liked him but I wasn’t aware of how talented he was until about ten minutes before he guested on one of my shows. It was then that my jaw dropped.
Were you frightened at first to duet with him?
I honestly wasn’t. I hadn’t even considered it until I heard him rehearsing in the next room. He asked if he could sing with me and I said no because it was my show and I had enough material that I already wanted to sing – didn’t need any filler, didn’t want to learn anything new. I just told him he could sing because I promised the audience a “surprise” guest and he was adorable. Someone else had cancelled so he was a surprise to everyone – including me. Once I heard him sing I was blown away and I thought it would be interesting and fun. It was, in fact, life-changing magic!
How insane is his voice?
It’s just thrilling to stand next to him and witness what he’s capable of. But the truly fun part is mixing our sounds together. It’s a real meld of musical auras that is kind of inexplicable.
How did you choose the musical combinations/mash-ups? Was it a true collaboration?
ARC came up to my house in the country and, with my housemate and occasional Musical Director David Sytkowski on the piano, we just started trying things out. Zack Winokur was there to bounce ideas off of, which was incredibly helpful. Then when we all got into the studio Thomas Bartlett, who produced our record, he came up with some awfully good suggestions. It was his idea for us to do Don’t Give Up, which was a stroke of genius.
Was it a long process putting the show together?
We started working on it in March 2020, worked sporadically throughout the lockdown, recorded the record in February 2021, and then it premiered on 24th September 2021.
Did you try it out anywhere before St Ann’s Warehouse?
St. Ann’s was the first place we did it. We had planned to workshop the music live, then record it. Instead we made a soundtrack for a dream show, then made the dream come true.
Are there plans to take it back to New York after London? Broadway even?
We hope to play all over the world. Anthony wants to do Broadway. I’m lazy so that doesn’t really excite me all that much but I would do it for him, just to be nice. Ha ha!
You made quite a splash in London as one half of Kiki and Herb. Will they be back at some point?
Nothing is impossible. We did a series of shows last December in NYC and neither of us died. I take that as a good sign.
You are guest artists at Duckie Electric Tea Dance this Saturday (24th September) at Eagle London, what can we expect there?
I will be drinking and Anthony won’t. He’s very disciplined.
How do London and New York audiences compare?
I loved all my children equally but, in my experience, London audiences have an evil streak that is a lot of fun to play with.
What is Anthony’s greatest attribute and fault?
His dogged determination is terrifying and inspiring in equal measures.
Even then, he’s just about the most wonderful person to be around that I can think of.
What is next for Viv?
I’m very proud to announce that one of the pieces from my 2015 visual art show at Vitrine Gallery here in London was just acquired by the V&A for their permanent collection. So that’s just to say I’m full of surprises. Be on the lookout for something completely out of left field. I’ve got balls in the air, Honey! And they are spinning!!!
Anthony Roth Costanzo
How did you first meet?
I first saw Viv perform at Joe’s Pub, 12 or so years ago. I was immediately gobsmacked and thought they were one of the best performers I had ever seen. I had my friend take me to their dressing room after and begged to be a guest in one of their upcoming shows. That’s where it all began.
When did you decide to collaborate on Only An Octave Apart? It sounds like an intriguing combination of opera and pop.
We sang together the first week we met and it was electric. We got to know each other over the decade that followed and we became friends. We went to see each other perform all over the world, and we eventually decided we had to do something together. It was so much fun and so fulfilling to find the ways for our repertoires and personalities to fit together into something that exists in its own world but references many others.
We understand a CD came before the stage show?
We had planned to perform together in preparation for the CD, but then the pandemic hit and performance wasn’t an option. Being two Tauruses, we forged ahead and decided that we could find a way to record even during lockdown, so we workshopped our songs, and made the record which we later turned into a show.
Only An Octave Apart was one of the first culture events in New York after the Covid shutdown. Was that a scary time and how did audiences react to it?
It was a completely joyful time. Of course some people were reticent or worried about going back into public, but we took every precaution the health experts recommended (testing, masks, vaccines, you name it) and tried to create a safe environment where people could remember and get lost in the beauty of live performance again.
There was a totally cathartic feeling on both sides of the footlights, and people were hungry for something to lift them out of this dark period. I feel there are certain similarities to the mood as we arrive in the UK on the heels of a Royal funeral, and at a time when so much is going on in this country, that people might delight in live performance as a way of finding solid footing through art.
How does St Ann’s Warehouse in New York compare as a venue to Wilton’s Music Hall?
They are both incredible and unique venues. I love how historic Wilton’s feels and the intimacy of it – we are tailor-making this version of the show for that space, and it’s a space that I think everyone in London should experience again and again. The history is in the air there, and we will be bringing wafts of St. Ann’s, as well as our own pheromones, into that hallowed hall.
What exactly is a countertenor? How rare are they?
A countertenor is just a man who sings in falsetto, and learns how to do it operatically. In a sense they are rare – there aren’t as many countertenors as there are sopranos – but in another sense they are common. Anyone could be a countertenor if they figured out how to use their falsetto fairly well. And in fact, many pop singers past and present (Prince, the Bee Gees, Justin Timberlake) have used their falsetto to win over audiences, and that’s basically the same vocal function as what I do every day.
Do we have anyone who sings countertenor in the pop world?
I’d say that falsetto has been heavily featured in pop singing since the genre began. It can express a lot of things, and it seems to always make audiences scream, faint, or sing along!
Tell us about your recent sold-out site specific BBC Prom featuring Handel and Glass arias in the rave venue, Printworks. It was a hot ticket, described as “an overawing evening with an extraordinary crowd”. You collaborated on it with lots of artists and wore three incredible dresses created by Prada’s head Raf Simons. It sounds incredible.
It was a real thrill to create this performance over several years with the Proms, as well as my co-producers Visionaire and Cath Brittan. It involved so many complicated moving pieces – live dance, live painting, videos by artists from all different backgrounds, a live beatboxer, and of course 500 custom made fashion pieces by Raf Simmons, including my three voluminous dresses.
I identify as much as a producer as I do as a performer and so to have that vision, bring it to fruition, and then perform it in the incredible venue Printworks was a real thrill. I am excited to similarly be one of the producers of our show at Wilton’s, and I can only hope that we will arrive at the same kind of wonderfully diversified, sold-out houses that we had at the Proms!
You are known in the UK for appearing in Handel’s Rinaldo at Glyndebourne and at English National Opera in Philip Glass’s Akhnaten, what does the opera world think of this new show?
Akhnaten has been one of the most incredible experiences of my life, and it all began at the English National Opera. It is such a ritualistic experience to perform it, and I think that translates to the audience. People have come to see it over and over; some people tell me they have been over ten times. I am thrilled to be bringing it back for a third run this spring, and I would say that it has found an audience both in first-time young culture vultures who enjoy the production as much as the music by Philip Glass, but it also gives great reward to the opera aficionados who come in saying that they don’t like modern opera, and then they wind up coming back to see it again. It doesn’t hurt that I won a Grammy this year for the show – it is truly one that has changed my life.
Do you think queer artists are more creative, more willing to think out of the box?
I think every artist is an individual and there is no way to generalise about queer artists or lump them all into one group or trope. I love the queer perspective, the queer experience, and queer art, and I am proud to be making it. I’m not sure I’ve ever been a part of making something more queer than this show.
What is Viv’s greatest attribute and fault?
Viv’s greatest attribute is that they have a seemingly endless number of great attributes, all of which make you want to be around them constantly. Unfortunately, their biggest fault is that they have so many great attributes that you can never live up to their greatness.
What is next for you? Are you booked up years in advance with opera projects?
I am booked years into the future, but I always make room for projects I want to do, and things I want to create. I am excited to be returning to London this spring with Akhnaten at the English National Opera, and I have many other concerts and operas this season (on my website at www.anthonyrothcostanzo.com) that I am looking forward to.
Only An Octave Apart is at Wilton’s Music Hall, Graces Alley, London E1 8JB from 28th September to 22nd October. Book tickets at http://www.wiltons.org.uk/
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