It's a gay spring onstage in New York City, but what else is new? Gay-themed theater is a Big Apple staple ( true in Chicago and Los Angeles as well ) , meaning there always are several LGBT choices off-Broadway and often on Broadway itself. The winter-spring season has provided at least a half-dozen gay titlessorry, there aren't any lesbian-themed choiceson-and-off Broadway in works known and new. In time, several of the new pieces may find their way to Chicago for local productions.
New Yorkers have observed that we've arrived at the post-AIDS generation of gay plays, noting that the current productions do NOT deal with HIV-related storylines or subject matter. Four of the shows are set in time periods that predate AIDS, suggesting that if there's an overall umbrella it's earlier gay history. Indeed, one of the plays is, itself, an important part of gay history.
That would be Mart Crowley's The Boys in the Band, which enjoyed a site-specific off-Broadway revival by the Transport Group Theatre, staged in a Chelsea penthouse apartment ( closed March 28 ) to generally strong reviews. The "real" setting helped shore up the play's authenticity and appeal, given that many now consider it both dated and an apology for being gay. But when first produced in 1968, before Stonewall, The Boys in the Band was a powerful revelation of gay life for a hitherto-unexposed mainstream audiencea legendary "first" in American theater treating gay life with a semblance of accuracy and sympathetically.
The most interesting of the new gay history plays is John Marans' The Temperamentals, in an open run at New World Stages. Set in Los Angeles in 1950-1953, it's about the creation of the pioneering homophile organization, The Mattachine Society, by Harry Hay and Rudi Gernreich, a truly unlikely political and personal pairing. Hay was a radical activist and Gernreich, a refugee from Vienna, was a fashion designer later to gain notoriety for his design of a topless bathing suit for women. FYI: In the early 1950s, "temperamental" was a code work for homosexual. With the praise heaped upon this show ( originally produced in 2009 at a smaller Off-Broadway venue ) , and with Thomas Jay Ryan and Michael Urie ( the cutie-pie from Ugly Betty ) as the stars, a transfer to Broadway could happen.
A third period piece is The Pride, a British import by Alexi Kaye Campbell produced by the MCC Theater. It intertwines a tale of repressed homo-erotic desire in 1958 London with the openly gay atmosphere of 2008. The gimmick is that the three principal characters in each story have the same names and are played by the same actors, even though they are different sets of people. The cast of the show ( which closed March 28 ) was headed by the delicious Hugh Dancy and the delectable Ben Whishaw, and Joe Mantello directed this U.S. premiere. However, a negative review from Ben Brantley in the New York Times means a Broadway transfer is unlikely. Brantley said the play was heartfelt but "seriously sentimental," and often seemed to present debating points rather than believable human beings.
The final new work under the history umbrella is the often-joyful musical Yank!, which closes an extended run at the York Theatre on April 4. Trust me, you haven't heard the last of this one. Many of us in Chicago have been privileged to know gay veterans of World War II and hear their amazing first-hand stories of love among the troupes 65 years ago. With book and lyrics by David Zellnick and music by his brother Joseph Zellnick, Yank! is about a World War II gay love affair, and it swings on big-band-influenced tight harmony tunes and soaring love ballads. The lovers survive the war, but peacetime offers no happy ending in this traditional book-and-number show that's as honest as it is entertaining. The Zellnicks spice the show with plenty of high comedy, too, thanks to a small platoon of "Nancy Nurse" supporting players. If talk of bigger things for this show doesn't pan out, About Face Theatre and Porchlight Music Theatre should join forces for a Chicago co-production.
Among recent gay-themed Off-Broadway shows, only one so far has transferred to Broadway, and that's Naked Angels Theatre's production of Next Fall, by Geoffrey Nauffts. It's at the intimate Helen Hayes Theatre for an open run, with Elton John and David Furnish as the top-billed producers. It's a contemporary story of lovers, the younger of whom is devoutly Christian and not out to his devout parents. When he's in a life-threatening accident, his lover, his parents and two old friends connect in the hospital waiting room. New York critics have made much more of Next Fall than I would. Despite a gifted cast and a smart production, Nauffts' play seems assembled from things we've seen before: "de-gaying" the apartment before Dad visits, coming-out conflict, Christian guilt trip, older/younger lovers, fag-hag girlfriend and comic zingers to leaven the play's fundamental solemnity ( which, itself, is perfectly fine ) . Nauffts puts too much on the plate. There's no particular reason for the age difference between the lovers, no real purpose for the presence of the extra friends and even the lovers' names are obvious ( Old Testament Adam and New Testament Luke, the Christian ) . Nauffts' writing is glib ( in the good sense ) and intelligent but simply not especially original. At the final curtain, the central conflict over Christian philosophy is not resolved, and the right-wing father emerges as the most loving character ( and believably so ) . Next Fall is a play that many regional theaters might like: six characters, accessible writing, not overtly sexual and respectful of Christian doctrine.
If these choices aren't gay enough for you, you can catch the off-Broadway remount of Avenue Q, or the Broadway productions of All About Me and La Cages aux Folles. The former stars Dame Edna and Michael Feinstein and is co-authored by Edna, Feinstein and Christopher Durang ( at Henry Miller's Theatre ) . The latter stars Kelsey Grammer and Douglas Hodge at the Longacre Theatre ( previews April 6, opens April 18 ) .