Cameron Hobbs doesn’t have to dig too deep to find a Pride-related message in the touring production of Moulin Rouge.
“Our whole message of the show is ‘Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love,'” says Hobbs, a member of the Moulin Rouge ensemble. “That is exactly what I think Pride month is.”
A graduate of Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio, Hobbs is returning to Ohio stages with the 10-time Tony Award winning production. He recently wrapped two weeks at the Aronoff Center in Cincinnati, and will be at Cleveland’s Playhouse Square through July 2.
The Buckeye Flame caught up with Hobbs to chat about Ohio college life, the experience of touring through less than LGBTQ+-friendly states and how the glitz, grandeur and glory of Moulin Rouge is just perfect for June.
Growing up in Indiana, was little Cameron Hobbs putting on shows for the whole neighborhood?
Cameron Hobbs: <laughs> Not too much. When I was growing up, my two brothers and I played a lot of sports. So it was a lot of weekends spent traveling with a basketball or a baseball team.
I was also a competitive cheerleader. But once I got into middle and high school, that’s where I truly started to hone in on my love for theatre.
I didn’t just read “love for theatre” online. I read “Broadway superfan.”
<laughs> Does it say that somewhere online? But yes, I have always loved theater. I think it was a healthy balance of theatre love and sports.
When we play games here on the road with Moulin Rouge, and there is some sorts of sports-related game, everyone is like, “Why are you so good at this?”
Was there a Broadway show that spoke to the soul of who you were growing up?
That is such a good question. I remember being in middle school and all the cool kids who did theater were all going to see the national tour of Aida that was coming through Indiana.
I remember begging my mom to please take me to go see it. We sat in the back row of the theatre because that’s all we could afford. She bought me the cd and I wore that thing out. I would listen to it the moment I woke up and then in those moments I was going to sleep.
My first professional job was the Something Rotten national tour and Adam Pascal played Shakespeare. It was so bizarre to be working with him as I had grown up with his voice, in Aida and obviously in Rent. One day Aida came on my iPod when we were traveling and he was sitting across from me. I’m listening to Adam Pascal on my iPod and staring right at him. It was all very bizarre.
You chose to go to college in Ohio. Why Otterbein?
I really struggled with what I was going to do when I went to college. I actually had a full-ride competitive cheerleading scholarship to another school. I obviously loved theatre, but it’s a very competitive career field. My mom would ask, “Are you going to be able to make a living?”
But I visited Otterbein a couple of times to see some shows. I loved the town, I loved the people and I loved the program. It was a small class with individual attention, so it felt like home.
Talk to me about the theatre as a home for LGBTQ+ people.
When I was young, I was doing a show at the Derby Dinner Playhouse in Clarksville, Indiana and I remember hearing an older man talk about dating a guy, spending the night with him, waking up and making breakfast for him. I remember asking my mom, “Is he talking about another man.” And she said, “Yes, he is.”
I just knew at that moment, “Oh my gosh, I hope I can grow up one day to be like them and have that kind of a life with a man.”
But I knew outside out of theater that it was wrong, that being gay was not widely accepted in small-town Indiana. The only place where I could feel like me and find other people like me for certain was with theatre.
You are traveling through Ohio during Pride Month. But it’s also a state that doesn’t have any legal protections for the LGBTQ+ community. What is it like performing here in a state that can be so problematic for our community?
It’s definitely something we think about and talk about backstage. Sadly we’re only in these places for a few weeks, so we don’t really get to experience the life that people here live, or the hate that they experience or the discrimination that they feel.
Our company has so many members of the LGBTQ community. So when we go to new cities, we do talk about what local bars or LGBTQ-owned businesses we can support. Unfortunately with our schedule, we can’t do all of the things we want to do. But it is an open conversation we have when we go to a new city.
Last question: just how gay is Moulin Rouge?
<laughs> I had this realization the other day. Our whole message of the show is “Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love.” is exactly what I think Pride month is.
I just got chills even talking about it right now. Yes, these are the themes for everyone in the audience. But specifically for this month, what a beautiful message to give out to the world, especially to the LGBTQ+ community. “Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love” That is the perfect message. 🔥
Ignite Action
- Moulin Rouge runs until July 2 at the KeyBank State Theatre in Cleveland’s Playhouse Square. Get your tickets here.
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