This Pride Sunday there鈥檚 a lot to be proud of in the Tyler Hanes-Van Hansis household. Hanes begins previews for the first Broadway revival of Cats July 14. The dance pro plays the hip-thrusting, Mick Jagger-style, tomcat Rum Tum Tugger, who is 鈥渁lways on the wrong side of every door.鈥� Hansis earned three Daytime Emmy nominations for his role as Luke Snyder鈥攐ne half of the first gay couple to be featured on a soap opera鈥攊n As the World Turns. He was nominated again this year for playing Thom in the incredibly addictive web series , which centers around two鈥攁nd sometimes three鈥攐n-again-off-again boyfriends living in Silver Lake.
Hanes and Hansis first met when they went to college together at Carnegie Mellon, but it wasn鈥檛 until they bumped into each other at the opening-night party of Legally Blonde in 2007 that Hanes finally stopped dodging Hansis鈥� conversation attempts. Nine years later, Hanes and Hansis live together with their two cats and continue to set some serious #relationshipgoals. As Thom鈥檚 boyfriend in EastSiders says, 鈥淲e have a cat. In gay terms that鈥檚 like 2.8 kids.鈥�
With Tyler about to open on Broadway as a lead role in the first revival of Cats and Van earning another Daytime Emmy nomination for starring in the successful web series EastSiders, I think you officially qualify as a power couple! Do you feel like one in this moment?
Tyler Hanes: I don鈥檛 know what that means, but we feel like a power couple in our apartment with our two cats.
Van Hansis: We lord over those cats. Those cats know who鈥檚 in charge.
TH: I don鈥檛 know what people think of us, but I know how we are, and our friends know how we are: We鈥檙e just idiots.
But there are ups and downs for each person in a relationship. It鈥檚 great when the ups happen at the same time, but it can be hard when one is up and the other is down.
TH: We have this analogy, and it鈥檚 called the flower and the gardener. In a relationship there鈥檚 the flower and then there鈥檚 the gardener. If it鈥檚 a bad relationship the roles never change.
VH: Like one person will always be the flower.
TH: But in a good relationship, the roles change. When one of us is being needy we鈥檒l say, 鈥淚鈥檓 just being a flower right now,鈥� and the other person is like, 鈥淥kay. I understand that I need to take care of you.鈥�
VH: Every relationship has its ups and downs and back and forths. There鈥檚 certain days when you don鈥檛 see each other, because you鈥檙e both off living your own life, and then you reconnect in the evening, when you鈥檙e going to bed. Those days can kind of suck sometimes, but as long as the connection stays, there鈥檚 something exciting about the fact that you鈥檙e both being fulfilled with what you want to be doing.
It鈥檚 an exciting time! So Van, what is your favorite part about Tyler being in Cats? (Aside from that sexy leotard!)
VH: I have been an unapologetic Cats lover from the get-go. I had that two-disc set, and I remember listening to it in the kitchen because for some reason that鈥檚 where the only CD player in my house was. My favorite part of Tyler being a part of [this revival] is the anticipation of getting to see him do a role that I know he鈥檚 just going to positively slay. [Rum Tum Tugger] is the type of character that Tyler loves to play. Also having been together for nine years now, I鈥檝e seen Tyler鈥檚 journey first hand. When he got to play Gabey in On the Town [at Papermill Playhouse and as a replacement on Broadway], that was a cumulation of the hard work that I鈥檝e seen him put into [his career] for as long as I鈥檝e known him, and for him to now move on to 颁补迟蝉鈥�I鈥檓 so proud of him. And I mean he鈥檒l look really good in the cat costume, but he鈥檚 still going to be dressed up as a giant cat with a lot of makeup on so鈥�
Well, it must have been interesting to watch him prepare for his Cats audition.
VH: He told me they had to prepare a little section where they had to act like a cat.
TH: Someone told me that we had to do five counts of eight as a cat.
VH: So I told him to sh*t in a litter box, or hack up a hairball.
TH: And that鈥檚 how I got the job.
VH: He can actually do a really good impression of one of our cats hacking up a hairball, but yeah seeing him prepare as a cat was really fun. I鈥檇 laugh, but then I鈥檇 be like, 鈥淎ctually you look like a cat.鈥�
It was probably helpful that you have two cats.
VH: The thing is, is that everyone鈥檚 talking about the cats being so sexy. Our cats are the least sexy things.
TH: They鈥檙e the sweetest, but they鈥檙e also disgusting.
VH: They鈥檙e loud. They鈥檙e needy. They鈥檙e always the flower. They鈥檙e never garden.
That鈥檚 so true. Cats do not garden! Tyler, what does it mean to be back rehearsing for a Broadway show this Pride?
TH: I鈥檓 always grateful for any opportunity to work and do what I love to do, and with this cast especially鈥攖hey really assembled a great group of personalities. This journey so far has been so much fun. We just have a really good time in rehearsals, and we just happen to be putting on this great show. So to be in this show on Broadway, at this time, and at this point in my life, where I have so much pride鈥擨 am so proud of who I am, and I鈥檓 so proud of my relationship, and I鈥檓 so proud of Van鈥攊t means something so much more to me than it ever did before. I feel like I have so much to celebrate, whereas when I was younger I don鈥檛 think I understood what that meant, or how it came to this, or who came before us. Now I do, and with the recent events that happened in Orlando it means more to me now than it ever has. It鈥檚 great that I get to celebrate it with this cast and this show on Broadway.
What was it like to wake up with each other on Tony Sunday and see what had happened in Orlando?
TH: Every time something like this happens it shocks me a little bit, but this hit closer to home because this could have been us.
VH: We were the target.
TH: And in such a severe way. I was stunned because I鈥檓 with my partner, waking up with him and so grateful that we have each other and that we鈥檙e here, but out in the world there鈥檚 this chaos and tragedy. It鈥檚 just like, 鈥淲hat the hell?鈥�
Do you have anything special planned for what will certainly be a very proud Pride Sunday?
VH: We haven鈥檛 discussed what we鈥檙e doing for Pride yet, but I think it鈥檚 really important to stay out there and keep fighting and to not let something like this terrible tragedy stop the celebration and the ownership of how far we鈥檝e all come. It鈥檚 very telling that even though gay marriage passed across the country and things have changed so much for the positive, there鈥檚 still this underlying homophobia. You鈥檝e got to stay angry, and you鈥檝e got to stay vigilant. You have to ask for more than just moments of silence and prayers at times like this.
