A Fine Tune

The global success of the show led to Moore helming the 2005 Broadway revival of Steel Magnolias, Shrek, and even a 2008 Carnegie Hall concert performance of Jerry Springer — The Opera. It’s no wonder that Moore responded to the source material for the musical Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City, which he directed in a short but acclaimed run in San Francisco in 2011. He plans to stage the show on Broadway within the next two years. But for now Moore is content to keep in tune with Pitch Perfect. It’s a triumphant roll that will undoubtedly continue with the October release of the film, which bears favorable comparison to other gay-adored outsider-themed comedies such as Heathers, Bring It On, and Mean Girls. Based on a novel by gay writer Mickey Rapkin, the new film certainly continues the outsiders theme apparent in Moore’s previous work.

While not exceedingly political — Moore jokes that he’ll never be found kissing in front of Chick-fil-A — the director says he doesn’t necessarily feel a responsibility to tell specifically gay stories, but he does respond strongly to material that features LGBT characters. For example, Pitch Perfect’s female a cappella group includes a lesbian who is initially mistaken for a man. “You’ve got 10 girls, one of them’s got to be a lesbian, you know,” he offers with a chuckle. “There’s some funny running jokes about her, but I believe that we should be able to make fun of ourselves and everybody should be made fun of. That’s comedy to me, no one’s above reproach.”

Watch a clip from Pitch Perfect below.