Jake Brasch and Nadja Leonhard-Hooper, the creative force behind HOLE!, joined Harvey Morton for a candid conversation about their boundary-pushing musical comedy. Following sold-out runs in Edinburgh and New York, HOLE! is now playing at Soho Theatre in London until 1 August before heading to the Edinburgh Fringe from 5 August.
Harvey Morton: What inspired you both to create HOLE!? Was there a moment or idea that sparked this mad, incredible show?
Jake: We started writing musicals together a couple of years back, exploring this form of impossible musicals performed solely by two people. I’m at the piano, Nadja’s at the foley tables, and we play all the characters. The idea of all seven billion people singing in unison gives you a sense of the scale we aim for. Specifically, the seed of HOLE! came from two separate things in our lives that merged.
Nadja: Our first show was about women, fish, and elder liberation. Then we wanted to write about men, especially straight men. Are they okay? The answer felt like a resounding no. Jake was dealing with serious stuff personally.
Jake: I have evangelical family in Nebraska disowning their gay children. I was furious, thinking about prisoners of the patriarchy.
Nadja: Meanwhile, I was thinking about why alien abduction stories always involve anal probing. What’s the seed of that? Those two things came together and became HOLE!.
Harvey Morton: You describe HOLE! as naughty but heartwarmingly sincere. How did you find that balance in writing and performing?
Nadja: Honestly, we stumbled on it by accident. Our only goal was to make each other laugh so hard we’d wet our pants. Then we realized we had something heartfelt. Our mothers agreed, and so have many others.
Jake: There’s something about shock gay comedy intersecting with the purest love story that bridges the gap between young queer people feeling unwelcome and their parents. Families have come to what seems like an inappropriate family show and been surprised.
Nadja: If you’re listening, bring your mom to HOLE!
Harvey Morton: People have compared HOLE! to The Book of Mormon and The Mighty Boosh. How do you see your show fitting into that lineage of bold, boundary-pushing theatre?
Nadja: I can’t speak to that. This is the only musical I’ve ever seen.
Jake: I’m an encyclopaedia of musical theatre knowledge, but Nadja’s experience is limited. We are structure nuts though. We follow classic musical beats, Welcome to the World, I Want, Journey, All Is Lost moment. The joke is that it’s rigorous despite being so outlandish.
Harvey Morton: How is it telling such a big story with just two performers?
Jake: I feel lucky to make crazy stuff with my best friend. Neither of us really write musicals, but this project is a shared brain. It’s an immense challenge, we sing almost 80 minutes straight.
Nadja: It’s shocking sometimes, no one else is coming to help us. But it’s the greatest pleasure of my life to do this show in larger venues with my best friend.
Jake: Part of the show is watching us try. Sometimes mistakes happen live, and the audience loves it. It’s incredibly live, flopping like a fish.
Harvey Morton: How have London audiences responded so far?
Nadja: Thrilling. London audiences are very smart and story-focused.
Jake: Yeah, famously smart people here.
Harvey Morton: Without giving too much away, what do you hope audiences take away from the journey in HOLE!?
Jake: It’s about the power of love and kindness in a broken, complex world.
Nadja: Also, prostate health. Everyone’s got holes, and we should explore more holes.
Jake: Every man must be penetrated. It’s part of our ethos.
Harvey Morton: What’s next for American Sing-Song?
Jake: We’ve written a third musical, two and a half hours long, with an hour and 45 minutes of our best work. It’s gay and amazing, with time travel.
Nadja: But first, HOLE! at Soho Theatre for two weeks, then Edinburgh Fringe from 5 August, and New York in December at Playwrights Horizons.
HOLE! plays at Soho Theatre in London until Saturday 1 August and then at the Edinburgh Fringe from 5 August through 30 August. Don’t miss this outrageous, heartfelt musical comedy that’s been winning audiences across continents.
For tickets and more information, visit Soho Theatre and Edinburgh Fringe.