After more than 35 years of interviewing entertainers, I have learned that some of the best conversations happen when an interview feels less like work and more like catching up with an old friend. That was certainly the case when I recently spoke with Shenston Grant, a man who spent nearly two decades behind the scenes of some of Broadway’s biggest national tours and lived to tell the tales. And believe me, he has plenty of stories!
What I wasn’t expecting was just how much our lives had crossed paths without either of us knowing it. As we talked, I discovered that Grant had traveled in some of the same circles as my lesbian aunts and had even attended theatrical productions at my high school in Beaverton, Oregon, including one in which I actually performed. Talk about a small world! Suddenly, this wasn’t just an interview about Broadway. It was a trip down memory lane, complete with mutual connections, theatrical nostalgia, and a few delightful surprises.
Grant’s new memoir, Remember… I’ve Seen You Naked: A Backstage Memoir, takes readers behind the curtain and into a world where the glamour of Broadway meets the chaos of quick changes, wardrobe malfunctions, backstage gossip, and larger-than-life personalities. It’s the kind of book that reminds us that sometimes the most entertaining performances happen when the audience isn’t watching.
His impressive résumé reads like a Broadway lover’s dream. Grant worked on national tours of The Phantom of the Opera, Rent, Dreamgirls, Cinderella, Jekyll & Hyde, Footloose, My Fair Lady, Grease, State Fair, Beauty and the Beast, Little Women, and The Light in the Piazza. While audiences were enjoying the magic onstage, Grant was among the people making sure the wigs stayed in place, the makeup looked flawless, and the stars made their entrances looking fabulous.
Of course, anyone who has spent time backstage knows that things don’t always go according to plan. And after nearly twenty years on the road, Grant has witnessed enough backstage drama to fill several seasons of a reality show. His memoir embraces those wonderfully unpredictable moments, from impossible quick changes and travel disasters to the friendships, heartbreaks, and chosen families that develop when performers spend months living and working together.
But perhaps one of the most fascinating chapters of Grant’s career involves the legendary Eartha Kitt.
By 2000, Grant was working as Kitt’s personal makeup artist, putting him in close proximity to one of entertainment’s most iconic and unforgettable personalities. Kitt, whose distinctive voice, seductive purr, and larger-than-life presence made her a legend, was never someone who faded quietly into the background. From her unforgettable portrayal of Catwoman to her signature rendition of “Santa Baby,” Kitt knew how to command attention.
And Grant had a front-row seat to the woman behind that legendary persona.
For someone who has spent a career interviewing entertainers, the opportunity to hear about Eartha Kitt from someone who actually worked with her is particularly fascinating. After all, there’s the Eartha Kitt the public knew, and then there’s the woman who sat in the makeup chair before stepping into the spotlight. Those are the kinds of intimate backstage perspectives that make Grant’s memoir so appealing.
Another connection that immediately caught my attention was Portland drag legend Dr. Poison Waters, who wrote the foreword to Grant’s book. Poison has been a beloved fixture in the Pacific Northwest entertainment community for decades, and her involvement gives the memoir an additional connection to the region’s rich LGBTQ+ theatrical history.
It was through this connection that my conversation with Grant became even more personal. We found ourselves discussing familiar people, places, and experiences, including the circles my aunts had been part of years earlier. It felt as though we were comparing notes from the same theatrical family reunion.
Long before Grant was working with Broadway stars, he was developing his talents in the Pacific Northwest.
In 1989, he served as associate director and choreographer for Kent High School’s production of Mame, an appropriately glamorous beginning for someone who would eventually spend much of his career surrounded by theatrical divas. He later studied theater at Green River Community College and performed with the Green River Music Company, including a six-week tour of England entertaining American Air Force personnel.
He graduated from the Art Institute of Seattle in 1994, earning the Crystal Scissors Award for best student design. The honor reflected the creative eye that would eventually serve him well in the demanding world of professional theater.
His early career also included entertaining aboard the Spirit of Puget Sound and working with Evergreen Theater Company at Seattle Center. For Grant, the Pacific Northwest wasn’t simply a place to study or launch a career. It was part of the foundation of his artistic identity.
Seattle would continue to play an important role in his professional life as he returned with numerous national touring productions, including State Fair, Victor/Victoria, Jekyll & Hyde, Cinderella, The Phantom of the Opera, Rent, Little Women, The Light in the Piazza, Grease, and Dreamgirls.
One particularly notable achievement came when Grant served as associate hair designer for the national tour of Lincoln Center Theater’s acclaimed production of The Light in the Piazza, directed by Bartlett Sher. It was another opportunity to demonstrate that the people behind the curtain are every bit as essential to a production’s success as the performers taking their bows.
Throughout our conversation, what stood out wasn’t simply the impressive list of productions or famous personalities. It was the sense of community that runs through Grant’s theatrical journey.
Anyone who has worked in theater understands that it becomes a family, sometimes a wonderfully dysfunctional one. You share dressing rooms, hotel rooms, buses, triumphs, disappointments, and occasionally things you wish you could unsee. But those experiences create bonds that can last a lifetime.
For LGBTQ+ performers and theater professionals, those relationships have often provided something even more meaningful: a chosen family and a place where being different wasn’t simply accepted but celebrated.
That spirit runs throughout Remember… I’ve Seen You Naked. Behind the humor and delicious backstage revelations is a story about finding belonging, building a career through creativity and perseverance, and discovering that the people you meet along the way can become just as important as the productions themselves.
The memoir has already earned praise from Tony Award winner Kelli O’Hara, who described it in one perfectly appropriate word: “Hilarious!”
And really, with a title like Remember… I’ve Seen You Naked, how could it not be?
What makes Grant’s story especially appealing is that he represents an entire community of theater professionals whose contributions often go unrecognized. Audiences remember the stars, the songs, and the standing ovations, but rarely the people responsible for transforming those stars into the characters they portray.
Grant was there for the magic, the mishaps, and everything in between. Now he’s opening the dressing room door and inviting readers inside.
By the time our conversation ended, I felt as though I had reconnected with someone I had known for years. Between our Pacific Northwest connections, shared theatrical history, and the unexpected discovery that he had crossed paths with my own family and high school experiences, it seemed almost impossible that we hadn’t met sooner.
Perhaps that’s the real magic of theater. The curtain may come down, the sets may be packed away, and the tours may end, but the connections remain.
And in Shenston Grant’s case, so do the stories.
Remember… I’ve Seen You Naked: A Backstage Memoir offers readers a candid, funny, and sometimes outrageous glimpse into the world behind Broadway’s curtain. From Eartha Kitt to national tours, backstage friendships to theatrical disasters, Grant reminds us that the show behind the show can be just as entertaining as the one onstage.
And after talking with him, I have a feeling there are still a few stories that didn’t make it into the book. Perhaps those will have to wait until our next conversation!
Book is available at remembernaked.com/ and anywhere books are sold.
