2024 Rewind: EDGE Interview: Claybourne Elder Wants to Be Bad

This piece is part of EDGE's 2024 Rewind series. We're reaching into our archives and sharing some of our favorite stories from the past year.

Editor's note: introduction by managing editor Robert Nesti.

If you watch "The Gilded Age" or were fortunate enough to see "Company" on Broadway, you likely know Claybourne Elder. On the lavish HBO drama, he plays John Adams IV, a relation of the second president of the United States who is having an affair with the reckless scion of an Old Money family. He is often seen hunched in a chair holding a cigarette in a late 19th century version of a gay bar. In "Company" he was far more animated, playing Andy – the himbo Bobbie beds in a hilarious second act scene. "Claybourne Elder, daft and deadpan," wrote Variety in their rave of the gender-turned revival.

Elder also made headlines while in "Company" when he returned an act of kindness that was crucial to him becoming an actor. It was at a performance of "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" some 17 years ago that Elder attended on one of his first trips to New York. He was in standing room. When the show ended, a stranger approached him to compliment him on his enthusiasm for the show and handed him $200 with the stipulation Elder see "Sweeney Todd" that night with Patti Lupone.

"I was deciding whether or not I wanted to move to New York," he told People Magazine. "I grew up in Utah, and I was thinking New York is this big, scary city. Having this stranger do this thing is one of the reasons that led me to think like, 'It's going to be okay, and I should move to New York.' "

Jump to 2021. Elder is playing a goofy New York transplant in the hit revival of Stephen Sondheim's "Company" and seeks out his generous patron and give him tickets to see him on Broadway with Patti LuPone. He asked friends on social media ""If you know this guy - let me know. I would love to thank him." It turns out the degrees of separation weren't many and Elder was able to catch up with Mark Howell on a video call along with the friend who knew them both.

"[Claybourne] just started telling the story and said, 'We went to see 'Putnam County Spelling Bee.'' And as soon as he said that, I just said, 'No way,' " Howell told People. "Because I knew exactly who he was."

This led to Elder to start an initiative called "City of Strangers" to provide free tickets to Broadway shows for artists who might not have the means. They have given away over 1,400 tickets and have gained unexpected attention nationally being featured on CBS This Morning and This American Life.

He got his start playing "Hollis Bessemer" in "Road Show," Stephen Sondheim's last musical in its off-Broadway production directed by John Doyle in 2008. Since then he has played major Sondheim roles, including Georges in "Sunday in the Park with George" whom he understudied on Broadway after having played the role in the concert performances in October 2016 at New York City Center.

This week the handsome, buff Elder takes to the stage in his New Orleans debut in his autobiographical show "I Want to be Bad" as part of the Broadway @ NOCCA series, produced by Mark Cortale. He performs on Thursday, April 18th at 7:00pm in NOCCA's Lupin Hall. He will be accompanied by Rodney Bush at the piano. This performance will benefit the NOCCA (the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts) Foundation.

Claybourne has been touring the show since January. The New Orleans date follows the show's recent run in Salt Lake City, which Tyler Hinton from Broadway World wrote: "Claybourne Elder's burnished vocals, gentle manner, and sharp humor combine to create a distinctive experience that feels close to home for Broadway fans in Utah. It's very funny, artistically fulfilling, and emotionally uplifting."

On May 4 he brings the show to the Buck County Playhouse in New Hope, Pennsylvania for two shows. (For ticket information, follow this link. And this summer he joins the talented line-up Cortale is bringing to Provincetown's Town Hall with his "Summer 2024 @ Town Hall series. He brings "I Want to be Bad" to the venue on July 7. For more on this date and the series, follow this link.

EDGE spoke to Elder about growing up conservative in Utah, his wanting to be bad, his ticket giveaway org, and life in "The Gilded Age."