On a rainy Tuesday afternoon, I meet up with Jasper Grant, artistic director of B-Side Productions for a chat at Amy’s Bakery in Hell’s Kitchen. Although it is gloomy outside, sitting at a small café table with Jasper is like being surrounded with sunlight. Warm, charming and exuberant about life and art, Jasper is a theater maverick and he fills me in on several new artistic adventures he has embarked upon including B-Side Productions.

What is B-Side Productions and why did you create this production company?

I wanted to form a company of artists in service to other artists and create opportunities – you know everyone is deserving of an opportunity – opportunities for writers, actors, singers, dancers and composers. Originally B-Side started out as something educational; people getting together to sing and read through a show, explore the history of the show, get to know a composer and lyricist’s work on a deeper level. And then so many people wanted to be involved, that it seemed there was a need to take this to the next level. I formed a company, a team of associate artists plus a managing director, and worked on creating core values for B-Side, including paying actors for their work. I think this is so important. Last season, we had three sold out shows and involved the writers of the shows, like Michael John LaChiusa when we did Little Fish. I love making connections between people.

Was there a single catalyst for creating B-Side?

As a matter of fact there was. I am a musical director and coach, playing the piano for hours at a time and a few years ago I started to get this incredibly debilitating neck and shoulder pain. I couldn’t play the piano. It was kind of a wakeup call, and I started to think what else I could do with my life. So one evening I was drinking wine with a friend, trying to figure this situation out, when they said to me perhaps it is time you used your words instead of your fingers. Which totally resonated with me, since as a coach I really focus on the lyrics and I have a love for the power of words. Plus I knew I wanted to be of service. And B-Side was born! Now I only play the piano for three hours a day.

You have a production coming up. Tell me a little about it. And why did you choose this particular show?

We are finishing up our second season with A Man of No Importance, music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and book by Terrence McNally. It’s the story of Alfie Byrne, a bus driver in 1964 Dublin, whose heart holds secrets he can't share with anyone but his imagined confidante, Oscar Wilde. When he attempts to put on an amateur production of Wilde's Salome in the local church hall, he confronts the forces of bigotry and shame over a love "that dare not speak its name."

Wow, so incredibly relevant and topical, considering Ireland just voted to legalize gay marriage.

Yes, it just happened to be relevant, but we actually picked it for one of our associate artists, Kilty Reidy, and had done a staged reading of it last fall. But I love the synchronicity of it all. It feels like we are supporting the world. “Love Who You Love”, that’s the title of the opening song in A Man of No Importance.

What qualifies for a B-Side show? What other B-Side shows can audiences look forward to seeing in the next year or so?

Well, our core values have evolved over the past year. B-Side is an organization created in order to foster, renew and reinvent theatre. Not only do we want to bring attention to and produce neglected works, but this year it became clear that we want B-Side to also be involved in developing new work. We are just about to announce the winner of our first new American Musical Award! And are you ready for this? We had sixty-five entries for the award. Sixty-five! This award gives the recipient an opportunity to further develop their musical theater piece under the guidance of myself and a dramaturg for four months, culminating in a three week workshop with professional actors.

Kind of like a mini O’Neill Musical Theater Conference.

Yes. I’m so excited. We want to be in service to the writer/composer. I wish I could tell who the winner is, but we haven’t announced it yet! B-Side also has a commission for the AIDS Name Project and our fall show is…I can’t tell you, because we’re waiting to hear about the rights, but it is perfect for B-Side!

You are a man of tantalizing secrets! As Artistic Director of B-Side, what are the best things and the most challenging things you’ve faced so far?

I think the best thing by far is writing the email that says, “You’ve been cast!” Giving someone a job gives me great joy! Challenges, well coming from being musical director and making all the decisions I’ve been learning how to communicate with the B-Side team and make decisions together. Another challenge is that whatever hat I’m wearing at the moment, to stay in that hat, don’t jump around. Oh and learn from my mistakes!

I thought for sure you’d say the most challenging thing was raising money.

Oddly enough, that hasn’t been the top challenge. I mean at the beginning of starting our Indiegogo campaign for this production, I was scared and didn’t know what was going to happen, but we’ve met our goal. And we have some generous funders for new work.

Congratulations! That’s no small feat! As an artistic director, where do you get your inspiration from?

I love plays. Prefer watching plays to musicals. And am inspired by actors taking risks and observing how theater is a bridge, bringing folks together.

Also, I have a passion for history, so historical moments or events or a period in history inspires me. You know, the younger members of the cast of A Man of No Importance don’t fully grasp what it was like to be a gay man in 1960s Dublin, they have lived their entire lives in a world where gay rights already existed. It has made for some fascinating conversations in rehearsal. I am also inspired just sitting in rehearsals, watching the process and not having to be in charge!

As a musician, what composers and genres of music influence you?

Well as you already know, I love Kurt Weill! And German music of the Romantic era, Brahms – I love Brahms. And Schubert. I am also very influenced by my upbringing in the Southern Baptist church, all those hymns. It’s a very distinctive sound. In terms of pop music, I really like singer/songwriter Brandi Carlile. And Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart are my absolute favorite musical theater composer/lyricist duo.

If you could have a long dinner with a musical theater composer and/or lyricist (living or dead), who would it be, what would you talk about and what would be on the dinner menu?

What great questions. Rodgers and Hart, of course! We’d definitely drink champagne and then have big steaks and potatoes at a fancy mob steak house like Peter Lugers. I would love to talk to them about their relationship as composer and lyricist and the struggles Richard Rodgers had dealing with Lorenz Hart’s alcoholism. You know, originally Rodgers and Hart were going to write Oklahoma! But Lorenz Hart’s disease had progressed to the point of him being very unreliable so Rodgers approached Oscar Hammerstein about the collaboration. Oh and I would love to talk to Lorenz Hart about the pain of being a closeted homosexual; it tortured him and surely contributed to his addiction to alcohol. In some way, Lorenz Hart not being able to be who he was is another reason why B-Side is producing A Man of No Importance.

A Man of No Importance plays June 23-27 at the June Havoc Theatre.