"Prior to Hadestown, I played The Magical Negro. I have no regrets about that. But all the while...and this is going to sound corny, but it's true. All the while I was saying, 'Why doesn't someone cast me for my mind? For my intellect? Am I really just another pretty face?' And it came together in Hadestown."

André De Shields talks about the five decades he's spent working on Broadway, being a long-term survivor of HIV, and arriving in New York City during the sexual revolution of the 1970s.

LGBTQ&A features interviews with the most interesting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer people in the world. LGBTQ&A is hosted by Jeffrey Masters. A condensed transcript of each week's interview is posted on The Advocate's website. Follow us on Twitter: @lgbtqpod