You better believe Jane Lynch can sing, and even if you donât, âI think by the time you buy the ticket and come to the show, you hope I can sing! Youâve got your fingers crossed,â the âGleeâ alum says of her touring act âSee Jane Sing.â
Lynch is best known as iconic cheer coach Sue Sylvester, who tormented McKinley High for six seasons of Foxâs musical-dramedy behemoth âGlee.â But on the show, the 55-year-old Emmy winner was better known for her tyrannical outbursts and hair taunts (poor Mr. Schuester) than she was for breaking into song.
Now, Lynch is making up for lost time as she headlines âSee Jane Sing,â the entertainerâs touring cabaret that merges comedy with music.
What was your introduction to cabaret?
Well, letâs see, Iâve been in theater for a long time. I go see people perform, whether itâs at a hole in the wall or itâs a chick with a guitar. I usually donât like big rock concerts â I donât seek those out â so the combination of doing a comedy show with music has always been something I loved.
So your introduction to cabaret was not Lizaâs âCabaret?â
Oh, that â well, thatâs a whole different thing. That was almost like a live sex show in Nazi Germany! Itâs funny, I think we call (this show) a cabaret and itâs kind of stuck with the show because we did it at 54 Below (in New York). Itâs where one person stands there with their band and people come to eat and listen, so when I say cabaret, itâs a live performance comedy concert. (Laughs)
Were you a funny kid?
Yeah, I was a funny kid and that was one thing I always knew I had. You know how youâre insecure as a kid? I was like, âWell, I know Iâm funny.â
So you used that to your advantage?
Yeah, I guess so. You know, sometimes I felt like I was just trying to survive, as I think a lot of kids feel, having the big gay secret and all that stuff. I feel like when youâre a kid â for a lot of kids anyway â itâs about trying to survive and stay under the radar of humiliation so people donât sniff you out.
Assuming youâre taking a bus on tour, what kind of music do you listen to on the road?
Oh no, weâre not on a bus, man. Dude, we are flying. We do this first class â thatâs why Iâm not making any money on this tour! We fly. I said, âIâm not gonna do it if I have to sit in a bus,â so we fly and we all fly together, although Kate and I do fly first class and I make a joke about it in the show â another reason why Iâm not making any money on this tour. But we all fly together and we hang out. We all eat together, laugh together, so Iâm not listening to music or anything. Iâm not a listener to music â I donât listen to it very much. But Kate does, and Kate and I have very much the same taste.
Looking back on âGlee:â If a show like âGleeâ had been on when you were a young gay person, how might your life have been different?
Ahh, it wouldâve showed me that I wasnât alone, and oh, just to know that youâre not alone. I really thought I had a mental disease that I was never gonna be able to get over, that I was cursed with it, that it was my fault.
Catholic guilt?
Yes, yeah! And I donât know where I got this, because my parents werenât Catholic in that way. We went to church but they werenât like, âThis is bad; this is good.â They just werenât that way.
I get it. They werenât devout.
Exactly. So, I donât know where I got that it was so horrible, maybe just by the fact that it was whispered about, if it was spoken about at all. And I didnât see one person in my trajectory of life that had it! (Laughs) I was completely alone in it, so for me to have a âGlee,â and Iâm sure I speak perhaps for you and a lot of other gay people growing up n the â70s and the â80s, a âGleeâ wouldâve been so wonderful â oh, how great that wouldâve been.
Has there ever been a role you regretted not taking?
I canât even think of one. Iâm so in the moment, man. I donât think about that stuff. I canât even remember turning something down and I canât even remember â I donât remember most things. (Laughs)