J. Sylvan, Beloved Creator of Beloved King
2021
Earth is a sphere of rock, dirt, and water. It is a breathing entity that harbors life for each being upon it. This world has been used by its inhabitants to create endlessly from its dust. Sprouted seeds of thought have led to grand concepts such as conflict, love, religion, and art. Drawings in ancient caves bleed the same emotions we use today to express ourselves, proving an ongoing narrative of shared existence. This concept of Earthly balance lives within J. Sylvan, from the plants taking over their home to their spectacular biblical fanfiction.
The greenery present throughout each room is a symbol of the growing life brimming in Sylvan’s household. A home of two creators, each whose love for the other is as radiant as the sun, living in a time that has halted work for artists. This is the opposite of reality under their roof, however. Although removed from the stage, the motivation to push forth their meaningful stories to others keeps an endless stream of electrified expression surging.
Sylvan’s presence is captivating, even during a Zoom interview on a weekday afternoon, but it is difficult to meet such a person for the first time through the limited digital realm, away from the liveliness of stage performance. Sylvan is inextricably bound to communities. Since the start of their life in Massachusetts years ago, their instinct to create drew them to poetry slams, stage productions, and countless other artistic creations. Human connection has been the result of many of their works, but they say a lifelong connection to “something” — whether that be God or not — has been the motivation behind their art.
This is evident in their most recent project “Beloved King,” a musical that chronicles the story of biblical characters David and Jonathan and emphasizes their love story. Planned originally to be performed at Oberon, the American Repertory Theater's second stage, “Beloved King,” like all theater performances, has been suspended for the past year. Through COVID-19, Sylvan has encountered various hardships when adapting their work for this unfamiliar way of life but has displayed overwhelming perseverance in the face of adversity. Their musical lives on as Sylvan faithfully works to create new ways to present their musical while waiting for theater doors to open once again.
As a soon-to-be Reverend of the Unitarian Universalist church and a 2020 graduate of Harvard Divinity School, the value of religion in Sylvan’s life seems obvious, yet peculiar in comparison to their theatrical history. When discussing topics of spirituality and religion and art, Sylvan merges their existence, explaining that the topics are virtually one entity in their life and have been so since childhood.“We were Christmas-Easter Catholics,” they explained. “I didn’t even know what God or any of that stuff was. Sometimes I’d go to church and be excited because I liked the spirituality of it. But it was really art, like listening to music or reading a good book. That was my way in, and making art and experiencing art was how I experienced the divine as a kid and [how] I still do.”
Sylvan cited their draw to the Unitarian Universalist church to be rooted in the religious ambiguity of their young adult life, showing that spirituality can exist outside the realms of structured religion. “It seemed to be a good place for the spiritual but not religious,” they stated. “I was like OK, one day I’ll be that kind of minister.”
When asked about the contrast between their religion and theatrics, they excitedly identified the presence of art in religious environments, including the Bible and psalms, and the exuberant performance of church services. They also cited the long line of artistic religious professionals and saints like Hildegard Von Bingen and Saint John of the Cross. Sylvan brought attention to the 17th-century French opera “David et Jonathas,” created by religious composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier, to prove that they weren’t even the first religious professional to create a musical version of David and Jonathan’s story.
For context, the story of David and Jonathan displayed in “Beloved King” shows David’s rise to fame following his slaying of the giant Goliath, which leads him to encounter Prince Jonathan and King Saul. The Bible states an instant bond is formed between David and Jonathan, exemplified when the prince strips his clothing and armor to give to David. The story and musical display how David’s relationships and new life with royalty guide his path with God.Not long before they created “Beloved King,” Sylvan questioned if the presence of art could continue in their future as they entered Divinity School. They explained the move was a natural step into their next phase of life, but they were also coming out of a period in which the art they produced was unsustainable to their well-being. They said, “It was 20 hours a day and still not enough, and [I was] just scraping by.” The intrinsic pull to create remained within Sylvan, however, and the experience of Divinity School only hastened the need to touch audiences in artistic forms. “Beloved King” started as Sylan’s thesis project. Unusual was to be expected — their creative mind took full advantage of Harvard’s open guidelines for theses. “I decided I wanted to do something [that was] gay Bible fan fiction,” Sylvan explained. “Then I got interested in the story of David. I thought he and Jonathan were sort of [a] widely known and accepted gay story in the Bible, and that story is very rich.”Sylvan was further inspired by the presentation of David’s relationship with God in the book “Jacob’s Wound” by Theodore Jennings, Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” and the David and Jonathan strip scenes in the Bible. They came to a “eureka” moment, thinking, “It’s gonna be a musical in the style of Leonard Cohen. It’s gonna be gay and [the story of] David and Jonathan. There’s gonna be burlesque in it, and it’s gonna be great.”
For context, the story of David and Jonathan displayed in “Beloved King” shows David’s rise to fame following his slaying of the giant Goliath, which leads him to encounter Prince Jonathan and King Saul. The Bible states an instant bond is formed between David and Jonathan, exemplified when the prince strips his clothing and armor to give to David. The story and musical display how David’s relationships and new life with royalty guide his path with God.Not long before they created “Beloved King,” Sylvan questioned if the presence of art could continue in their future as they entered Divinity School. They explained the move was a natural step into their next phase of life, but they were also coming out of a period in which the art they produced was unsustainable to their well-being. They said, “It was 20 hours a day and still not enough, and [I was] just scraping by.” The intrinsic pull to create remained within Sylvan, however, and the experience of Divinity School only hastened the need to touch audiences in artistic forms. “Beloved King” started as Sylan’s thesis project. Unusual was to be expected — their creative mind took full advantage of Harvard’s open guidelines for theses. “I decided I wanted to do something [that was] gay Bible fan fiction,” Sylvan explained. “Then I got interested in the story of David. I thought he and Jonathan were sort of [a] widely known and accepted gay story in the Bible, and that story is very rich.”Sylvan was further inspired by the presentation of David’s relationship with God in the book “Jacob’s Wound” by Theodore Jennings, Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” and the David and Jonathan strip scenes in the Bible. They came to a “eureka” moment, thinking, “It’s gonna be a musical in the style of Leonard Cohen. It’s gonna be gay and [the story of] David and Jonathan. There’s gonna be burlesque in it, and it’s gonna be great.”
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Sylvan explained, “I had worked so hard on this [project]. I had never worked as hard on anything in my life.” They described having to break through their introversion, “doing things I didn’t want to do,” such as contacting the necessary people to help the development of their project. Additionally, they faced the challenge of executing what they viewed as an extremely important story correctly: “It’s such a weighted text and it’s been used so much over history to harm people. I took it very seriously. . . I wanted to be as confident as I could be that I was being intentional.” “Beloved King” was a Goliath made great by the imagination of its creator. Enormous as the musical was, Sylvan’s enthusiasm triumphed as they created music, wrote, and produced their original work over two years.
“It was more than just figuring things out as they went along,” explained Sue Buzzard, Sylvan’s wife and musical director of “Beloved King,” “It was growing and learning and being patient with themselves when they were trying to figure things out and throughout all that, no matter what type of worry or discouragement they were having, they kept at it.”
By March 2020, the years of effort and fervent eagerness of all involved were finally set to come to fruition for two sold-out performances. The anticipation quickly morphed into abject fear though, as the unexpected threat of a global pandemic descended rapidly on the world.
Sylvan recalled, “I was like, ‘Why is everyone overreacting to this so much?’ and then one day I read all this stuff and was like ‘Oh my god why is everybody underreacting to this?’” As they watched news headlines darkly morph each day, they felt like they were witnessing, “The crumbling of everything I’ve worked towards.” Sylvan knew the tough decision that needed to be made. In an especially painful coincidence, Sylvan and Oberon called each other at the same time, and agreed upon the sorrowful news: “Beloved King” could not go on.
A recorded dress rehearsal of “Beloved King” was preserved, but the theaters went dark. “It was very hard for J., and they kind of shut down,” said Buzzard.
Still, while COVID-19 upended the originally planned course for “Beloved King,” the diversion was not its death. The show must go on, and as Buzzard said, “The world needs this [story] right now.” In her opinion, “Beloved King” is not simply a musical of stripping Bible characters, but an assessment of human devotion, love, and sacrifice. It has the ability to educate and unite all people. Presently, Sylvan has taken this period of quiet to thoughtfully reassess their story following a “long grieving process,” to reshape and improve upon the first version of “Beloved King” and continue developing it for its future life.
There is still momentum to “Beloved King.” This fall, an EP of six “Beloved King” songs, funded by a 2020 Live Arts Boston grant, will be released. The grant was planned to be used for a full run of the show, but Sylvan explained, “Since that wasn’t possible I [thought], ‘What can I do this year that will be for the benefit of the show? I’m not really into Zoom theater . . . [I was] confident that we could pull off a high-quality album. I was not confident that we could pull off a high-quality online version of this.”
It’s still Sylvan’s full intention for “Beloved King” to be on a stage one day, “Even when it seems hopeless. . . this story still needs to get out there, it needs to be told.” They hope their musical will resonate with audiences and inspire people to reproduce the show beyond them, “I’m just gonna try to have faith that eventually it will find the people it needs to find if I keep working at it.”
Reflecting now, considering the present and future, Sylvan imagines endless possibilities of other biblical theatrics, including a “Beloved King” sequel and a queer Jesus musical. Sylvan will continue to contribute to the ongoing narrative of humanity, producing art that echoes the past and lays the path for tomorrow. Nodding, they affirm, “It’s clear that I just keep making art and now I’m feeling like I can do it more healthily. I think I’m a lifer.”