NEW GAY STAGE: The Business

 
(Thomas Jay Ryan and Michael Urie in The Temperamentals)
 
For more on Next Magaizne's New Gay Stage
NEW GAY STAGE: The Curators
NEW GAY STAGE: The Artists
 
It’s 2010, and gay themes in theater are not exactly shocking to New York’s ticket-holding community. (Thank goodness for that.) In fact, never before have so many auspicious productions relating to gay life occupied our theaters. While we’ve come a long way from the days when it was rare and racy to have openly gay characters at all, we’ve got to wonder: are the artists behind these shows going as far as they can in accurately portraying gay life? Or does pressure remain to dumb things down, camp it up and censor our truth to fill the seats?
 
“I think audiences these days really expect a truthful exploration of gay characters and issues, and can feel a little red flag go up when something seems softened or simplified,” says Scott Elliott, artistic director of the New Group and director of the current musical The Kid. That show—based on sex columnist Dan Savage’s book, The Kid: What Happened After My Boyfriend and I Decided to Get Pregnant—focuses on gay adoption, and is one several hotly anticipated shows exploring contentious LGBT issues. Others, such as Next Fall, Letters to the End of the World and Brazil Nuts, explore the human side of politically charged subjects such as religion, AIDS in Africa and immigration. 
 
“Gays have always been a huge segment of the theater-going population, so there is certainly money to be made in producing gay plays,” says Ron Lasko, owner of Spin Cycle Publicity, which represents the current and forthcoming LGBT-themed shows Post Modern Living, A Night at the Tombs and the Golden Girls musical Thank You For Being a Friend, as well as drag theater company Shim Mamsir. “But they have to be good to succeed,” says Lasko. “Just having gay characters in a play isn’t enough. We can see that for free on TV. Hot, half-naked actors [aren’t] enough either. We can see go-go boys for free in bars. We want interesting stories that aren’t being told other places.”
 
But we also want stories of real people; we want our history told, and Lasko thinks this is where the gay theater world is headed. “The future of gay theater will inevitably move more toward historical dramas and bio plays. Revivals will also start cropping up with more regularity. I can’t wait to see a revival of Emily Mann’s 1986 Harvey Milk drama, Execution of Justice,” he says.
 
One such historical piece, the widely praised and deftly produced Off-Broadway show The Temperamentals, tells the story of Communist Harry Hay and Viennese refugee Rudi Gernreich, who fell in love while building the first U.S. gay rights organization a decade or so before the Stonewall riots. “It’s a little-known piece of gay history,” says the show’s director, Jonathan Silverstein. “There were so many forebearers in the gay rights’ movement to Stonewall, such as Harry Hay. At the heart of the story is a complicated love story, involving two complex people, and their characters are truly fleshed out. That’s a joy to direct,” says Silverstein.
 
Penned by Jon Marans, The Temperamentals has been lauded for its quick wit and intelligent portrayal of a tender gay relationship set inside a political powder keg. “The play is truly entertaining in that there’s camp, politics [and] love,” says Marans. “It’s about gay men, and there’s a little of all those things that live inside all of us. There is, of course, room for camp and stereotypes in theater—‘theater’ being such a broad category, and there is room for virtually anything. But what makes ‘camp’ interesting is when there’s something new added, and it has a purpose.”
 
So there is fertile ground still to be explored in gay theater and the good news is audiences are ready for it—maybe even more than we realize. Jeff Whitty, Tony Award-winning writer of Avenue Q and the forthcoming musical adaptations of Bring It On and Tales of the City, considers theater audiences to be significantly more evolved than the average American media consumer. “I’ve never considered whether the trajectory of the shows I write would be affected by the presence of gay characters or themes,” he says. “Both of my upcoming musicals feature transgender characters in prominent roles. Theater has always been ahead of the times, unrestricted by the Hays Code and cowardly executives. I’m proud to be a part of such a progressive institution.”
 
This greater freedom to do what we want in theater makes the invitation to push the boundaries even more important for gay artists to embrace. In the opinion of uncompromising performer Justin Bond, it’s very simple. “If artists have the talent and self-confidence and intelligence necessary to be successful, they can do anything,” Bond says. “Remember, most straight plays are equally, if not more, stupid than the gay ones.”    N


New Group’s The Kid plays Theatre Row’s The Acorn (410 W 42nd St, 212-279-4200) through May 29. The Temperamentals plays New World Stages (340 W 50th St, 646-871-1730) through May 9. Visit TheNewGroup.org, SpinCycleNYC.com and TheTemperamentals.com for more info.