About Me
***From an interview with Anderson Cooper that I imagined***
Q. Timothy, thanks for sitting down with me today.
A. Anderson! Great to see you again. You haven’t aged a day!
Q. Thanks, I sold my soul to the devil for eternal youth.
A. That explains it!
Q. Where did you grow up?
A. Southern Oregon. Very rural. My neighbors were cows.
Q. What was your experience growing up gay in rural America?
A. Mixed. Don’t get me wrong, I love Oregon and my family is very supportive. But my church community was not. I spent years repressing my sexuality, trying to change parts of myself that I had been conditioned to hate.
Q. I’m so sorry.
A. Thanks, but I’m ok now. I’ve had years of real therapy now. Plus, I’m writing a very cool musical about my experience.
Q. When did you move to New York?
A. 2013. I moved here to attend NYU Law.
Q. You’re a lawyer? I thought I was interviewing an accomplished musical theatre writer.
A. You are! But I was also a lawyer for several years. It was an incredible experience, truly. I gained confidence, it helped improve my writing immeasurably, and I got to work on some incredible cases, including a pro bono lawsuit against conversion therapy providers which found them liable for consumer fraud.
Q. That must have been a really cathartic experience.
A. Have I mentioned I’m writing a musical about it?
Q. What made you leave the law?
A. Turning 30 during a global pandemic. Everything shut down, and I was stuck in my apartment with a piano and a ukulele. I started writing music again, and researching writing programs, and before I knew it, I was accepted to the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at NYU Tisch.
Q. So you went back to NYU for a second time?
A. Sure did! GMTWP Cycle 33, Class of 2024.
Q. Let’s talk about your writing. How would you summarize your work?
A. My work focuses on telling character-driven stories that use comedy to address complex social issues in an honest, dramatic way. As a queer writer, I look to tell stories relating to my community, as well as other traditionally marginalized or underrepresented groups. In addition to being drawn from my own personal experience, my writing is also rooted in detailed research on the subject matter – for instance, my show You Are Not Gay draws from not only my own experience with conversion therapy and suing conversion therapists, but also extensive research into the court transcripts and the history of conversion therapy and other so-called “treatments” for homosexuality.
Q. What about your solo songwriting?
A. My solo songwriting is primarily comedic and parodic in nature, again drawing heavily from my personal experiences. A lot of it focuses on the confusing and hilarious (at least in retrospect) experience of exploring queer identity and relationships as a young adult, which queer children aren’t prepared for in the same way that straight children are.
Q. That’s all the time we have. Thank you for sitting down with me. Always a pleasure.
A. Of course! I’ll see you at The Eagle this weekend?
Q. What’s The Eagle?
A. …sure, Anderson.
