Episode Details

"Beau The Musical" is a rock-concert musical redefining queer coming-of-age stories through country music. Host Patrick Pacheco welcomes writer Douglas Lyons and star Matt Rodin to explore this groundbreaking Off-Broadway production.

Set between Nashville and Memphis, "Beau" follows 27-year-old Ace Baker as he discovers his estranged grandfather Beau is alive—and that they share far more than a family line. Presented as a memory play in concert form with actor-musicians onstage, the show bridges two generations of queer experience.

THE QUEER BABY OF RENT AND ONCE

Douglas Lyons on the show's inspiration: "I want to create something that has the energy of 'Rent' and what that did for our musical theater generation... and then the brilliance of the actor musicianship of 'Once.' That was the goal, and Beau became the product."

QUEER PIONEERS IN MUSIC

The show honors Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Big Mama Thornton—erased queer voices who shaped rock, country, and R&B. Beau names his guitar "Rosetta" after Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the queer Black woman considered the godmother of rock and roll.

Matt Rodin: "I've learned so much about the roots of really all popular music, and how it all really does trace back to primarily Black culture... Country came from there, and R&B obviously came from there. But pop music and rock music, if you really trace the lineage, it all goes back to that."

INTERGENERATIONAL HEALING

Douglas: "Beau represents queer men of a certain age who could not be out and proud, who went to their graves with a secret of their true identity. And Ace represents the kids that are growing up on TikTok now that have a lot more autonomy and ownership of who they are."

RARE QUEER LOVE SONGS

The musical features "It Couldn't Be," a duet between Ace and his first love Ferris. Matt: "In an industry that prides itself on being full of queer pride, there isn't a lot of these, especially queer duets... to really get a beautiful rock and roll duet between these two men, people are moved by it every night in a way that I did not expect."

COUNTRY MUSIC & QUEERNESS

Why this Southern musical setting creates powerful resonance. Matt: "Country music is inherently storytelling. That is what makes country music... it was always meant to be queer country music, but now it feels like we finally are getting to embrace that."

FAMILY COMPLEXITY

The show portrays realistic family dynamics including Ace's mother Raven navigating her own father's queerness and her son's identity. Douglas: "The show puts onstage relationships and dynamics that you don't often see in musicals. You don't see these people of the Earth."

Matt shares his personal connection: "So much of this show has informed who I am, because I was given permission by Douglas and all the various directors that we've had over the years to bring myself to this role."

THEATER AS SANCTUARY

Douglas: "Theater can be a place for people to go and say, I see myself, I do belong, and Beau is that show."

Matt: "This is a show that is ultimately a story of queer joy and queer redemption... you give people permission and hopefully the push to step into their whole selves, unabashedly and unafraid."

ABOUT THE SHOW:

Featuring Matt Rodin as Ace Baker, Jeb Brown ("Dead Outlaw") as Beau, Amelia Cormack as Raven, and Max Sangerman as Ferris. Directed and choreographed by Josh Rhodes, with music by Ethan D. Pakchar.

Currently running Off-Broadway at The Distillery at St. Luke's Theatre, extended through January 4, 2026.

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