Michael R. Jackson
Photograph: Joey Stocks
Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright, @thelivingmichaeljackson
I've always been a bit of a loner so I've not necessarily been as connected to the LGBTQ+ community during these pandemic days as I could be but I do have a group of friends who keep me company in a Sondheimian way, which is to say lots of deep talks, long (socially distanced) walks, telephone (and zoom) calls where we gossip about people or watch the mysterious Denise Richards together on Bravo's Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. I've always been a fan of the '80s sitcom Designing Women so that was easy to fall back into but I did not know Carly Simon's spectacular 1985 album Spoiled Girl, which has been on heavy rotation ever since I purchased it and has served as useful fodder and musical inspiration for my next musical White Girl In Danger being developed at the Vineyard Theatre.