The playwright and actor details his latest celebrity biomusical.
The pandemic meant that Raftery had an unexpected extra year to work on the production, which allowed him to dive deeper into research. He visited the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, visited Warhol’s grave site and met with Blake Gopnik, the author of mammoth 2020 biography “Warhol.”
But Raftery maintains that the show resonates beyond Warholian fandom; it also speaks to contemporary internet culture and the pitfalls of social media. “I think people are really going to connect with it because the show is all about fame. And what people are willing to do to be famous — how much we all want to be famous,” he says.
“The relationship with Edie Sedgwick ended badly, and the relationship with Jean-Michel Basquiat ended badly. So from a dramatic standpoint, that’s great,” he says. The show features a flashback from the early days of Basquiat and Warhol’s friendship, with a musical duet, “Paint With Me,” set to the tune of Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande’s pop hit “Rain On Me.”