interview with CLAY CANE

1. Are you excited about the production of your play Sex, God & Heels?
I'm extremely excited. We've been rehearsing since the first week of January so to finally be on stage in front of a real audience will be great. I think people are going to really dig it -- laugh their asses off and maybe get a lite-lite tear in the eye.

2. I'd like to know what inspired you to write the play and when did it hit you that it needed to be produced?
I took a playwriting class last semester and had these plays developed. Each play had a theme of God and I've always been interested in ideas of religion and spirituality, which is something I constantly explore on my blog – more than celebrities. It's funny, some people think all I do is talk about celebrities, but the majority of my entries are on sex, God and race! Anyway, after the semester ended I looked at the plays, took some elements from my blog and watched several John Waters film and had this collection of work. I had some writers read over it and I really felt that I had interesting, provocative stories to tell with social commentary. I have some great friends who are working actors -- they read the scripts and we all committed. Now on Friday, March 17th we're really ready to give it to you all! From hookers to preachers -- it's going to be hot!

3. Tell me about your relationship with God.
My relationship with God exists in art, music and writing. When I hear the voice of Janis Joplin, I feel closer to God. When I read James Baldwin, I see the words of God ... those experiences let me know God exists for me.

4. You’re also pretty versed on the ball scene -- tell me what to expect from your upcoming novel Ball-Shaped World?
I think people can expect something different, uninhibited and real -- as my literary agent said, "There’s nothing like this book out there now." When it does come out I think people will be moved. Also, and I can't stress this enough -- Ball-Shaped World is a fictionalized account of the black/Latino ballroom scene -- NOT a historical account. I have been going to balls since 1996, but I didn’t write a non-fiction book, breaking down the history of the scene. I don't write about any ballroom legends, or names, there are no photos or timelines – I’m writing about ONE person's experience in the ballroom scene in a novel. I wanted to discuss the emotionality of in the scene that goes beyond being a “ballroom diva." Ball-Shaped World is a story told through the eyes of an 18 year-old so it isn't the same for everyone, but for this particular character he experienced rejection from family, religion and his community -- the result is him looking elsewhere for acceptance even though he's still young, insecure and searching for love. At the end of the day, anyone who has ever felt like they weren't accepted can relate to this book -- whether it s a girl from Idaho who gets involved in the Goth scene, or a young man from Los Angeles who gets involved in color gangs – it’s the universal experience of wanting to be loved.

5. I know that you are a musician -- should we expect musical performances from this play?
Not anything from me, but there will be singing from all of the cast members and music to transition from one play to the next

6. What has been your greatest accomplishment to date?
Probably just still being here.... I'm from the gutter of poverty. People who grew up with adversity aren't "suppose" to make it ... we're suppose to give up. I think of the crossroads in my life and how I always believed that I wanted to do more, so I’m still here. That's a great accomplishment considering all the people I know who are strung out, dead, or died, but still have a heartbeat. When it comes to my professional life -- I still have so much more work to do and I don't feel like I’ve really done anything, but created a blog and interviewed some celebrities. Sure, I have worked hard as hell, but until Ball-Shaped World is published I won't feel like I've even scrapped the proverbial surface of what I should be doing. I damn sure ain't satisfied yet.

Be sure to check out Clay Cane's play - "Sex, God & Heels" THIS FRIDAY, MARCH 17th!