Six Questions for Dr. Bradley Jones, Appearing at Don’t Tell Mama at 7 PM on Wednesday, October 31, in a Benefit for the American Songbook Association

On Halloween Dr. Bradley Jones will perform a special encore of his show, Dr. Bradley’s Fabulous Functional Narcissism as a benefit for the American Songbook Association, playing on October 31, 2018 at 7 pm at Don’t Tell Mama.

Dr. Bradley’s Fabulous Functional Narcissism…The Psychoanalytic Odyssey of a Once Glorified Chorus Boy regales with wit the true tales of his Jones’ childhood as a budding theater queen, nearly ten years on Broadway in A Chorus Line, backstage life and excessive drug use, living through the AIDS pandemic and making his decision to pursue a new career. The show features mainly the music of Jones’ milieu: Broadway standards, including the songs of Stephen Sondheim, Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart, Harold Arlen, Ray Heindorf, Brian Yorkey and more. (Tickets for this special event are $50, with all of the proceeds going to support the ASA. Cash only. Reservations are absolutely required for this performance. For online reservations click here, or call 212-757-0788.)  

NiteLife Exchange (NLE) asked Dr. Bradley (DBJ) six questions about turning points in his life:

1. NLE: At what moment in your formative years did you thoroughly realize you wanted to be a performer?

DBJ: So many of the answers to your questions can be found in Dr. Bradley’s Fabulous Functional Narcissism. The piece hinges on the irrevocable change in my 6 year old “self” after I saw the Broadway musical Oliver! way back in 1963. I immediately became fixated on the assassination of the little boy who played Oliver!, and the fact that if he were not there I could take over the role and give the quintessential performance of that iconic workhouse brat. (It was 1963, and most unfortunately EVERYBODY was talking about “assassination.”) It was my first encounter with Mother Show Biz and she left me in a perpetual state of desperate longing—along with massive envy, and reactive 6 year old aggression. The theme of Dr. Bradley’s focuses how one might recover from such problematic early psychological building blocks. It’s both hilarious and very poignant. 

2. NLE: What was the high point in your life on stage—the place where you could say, “I have arrived!”?

DBJ: There were moments in my life when I was younger when I might have imagined one “arrives,” probably during my young A Chorus Line years. At this juncture, life is too fluid, emergent, and chaotic to imagine such stasis. My life has had many marvelous moments. At 35 I found myself the graduation speaker of my class at Fordham University, I had a psychoanalytic paper published, and I received my doctorate in psychoanalysis. I am also feeling so alive performing again. THIS is a very good time in my life.   

3. NLE: In deciding to change careers, was there an epiphany? An “aha! moment”?

DBJ: As I explain in Dr. Bradley’s, my body did for me what I could not do for myself. I couldn’t leave my long tenure at ACL because of fear, and so my knee blew out on me for a second time. Providence! I was a 32 year old gay man, playing a gay character in a musical about dancers. And my knees were shot. I had to think of something fast. From years of being in therapy, I had an inkling I wanted to work in “the helping profession.” But not for altruist reasons. I will leave it there. If you are interested in finding our more about what motivated me to become a therapist please come see the show at Don’t Tell Mama’s on Halloween. BOO!

4. NLE: At what point did you know that a career in mental health was absolutely right for you?

DBJ: I’m not sure I have ever known it was “absolutely” right. I have a very ambivalent relationship with most things. I do like being an analyst, and I love to see the people I work with get better. But it’s a very intense existence, and somedays I would rather…. Now, there you go again. I was going to reveal something you will find out if you come see the show. I can say, much of Dr. Bradley’s is highly irreverent and makes delicious fun of therapy. 

5. NLE: Have you had any instances where there’s been especial payback about being Dr. Bradley?

DBJ: The perks I might get from being “Dr. Bradley” are internal. After leaving show business, I went after a number of hard tasks, and I did a good job in finishing them up. They were “esteem-able” acts. My doctorate was one of them. Shifting self esteem is one of the hardest tasks my patients have to encounter, and it is for me as well. I think working hard to understand (the dynamic) and reorganize the crappy narratives (the cognitive) in our heads, and to do things that make us feel good (the behavioral) are useful routes to feeling more hopeful. (I apologize for anything that sounds simplistic. There is nothing simplistic about change.) My internal “Dr. Bradley” is very proud of himself. And to be sure, I use the moniker “Dr. Bradley” as a cabaret persona. I try not to take it all too seriously.

      6. NLE: About your decision to revisit performing—was that something you knew you had to do or did you debate it with yourself first?

DBJ: It came about in my personal treatment. I was bitching to my analyst about how much I missed performing, when he finally said: “What in hell is going on the you don’t get back on the horse?” Then a friend asked me to guest for him in his new show, and I tore it up. I started singing lessons again, and then my best gal pal KT Sullivan said: “Its time dear.” So with a little help, Dr. Bradley’s Fabulous Functional Narcissism was born. So more to your question, I debated it, and debated it, and debated it, and then went and did it anyway. I have VERY smart feet, and I couldn’t be more honestly thrilled to make audiences feel things again. It is an honor.