Producer extraordinaire Neil Meron talks to Greg In Hollywood about stars coming out

By producing such films as Chicago and Hairspray, Neil Meron and partner Craig Zadan are largely responsible for Hollywood making movie musicals again.

They also produced the great 1993 TV movie version of Gypsy starring Bette Midler, last year’s remake of Footloose and are producers of the new show I’m most enthused about: NBC’s Smash which is about the making of a Broadway musical.

They know a little something about that too having produced last year’s Promises, Promises on Broadway starring Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth and the current hit How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

It was great to chat with Neil the other day after the Smash presentation at the TV Critics Press Tour.

I wanted to get his reaction to Kristy McNichol coming out and he said some very thoughtful things to say.

We then got into a wider discussion about gay performers and the decision about whether to be out professionally. He has known many a closeted performer and understands the factors each must weigh.

‘It is such a deeply personal thing and there are so many factors that go into it,’ he said. ‘It’s hard to coerce somebody – everybody needs to find their time and when they find that time, God bless them, it’s great.’

While there are plenty of casting agents – including gay ones – who discriminate against out performers, Meron and Zadan are two openly gay producers who welcome them.

“With us, there are jobs because we don’t discriminate,” he said. “As a matter of fact, years ago, if there was an out actor, we would go out of our way to cast that actor. I remember we did this movie after [Frasier cast member] Dan Butler came out, we wanted to hire him. It wasn’t the fact that he was gay, it’s that he was a great actor who happened to be gay. And it was great.”

It’s nice to have gay men with Neil’s clout helping to make the world a better place.