A gay musical
A Strange Loop, the Pulitzer-Winning Musical About a Gay Theatre Usher
Design & LivingFeature
Following a hugely victorious Broadway run, A Strange Loop has now arrived in London. Here, playwright Michael R Jackson talks about the inspirations behind the show
TextNick Levine
Michael R Jackson knows exactly how to barter A Strange Loop, his award-winning musical that is coming to London obeying a hugely victorious Broadway run. “I always describe it as a musical about a little fat Black male lover musical theatre scribe named Usher who works as an usher on Broadway,” Jackson begins. “And he’s writing a musical about a young fat Dark gay musical theatre writer named Usher who works as an usher on Broadway. Who is writing a musical about a fresh Black gay musical theatre writer named Usher who works as an usher on Broadway …” Deep breath. “Ad infinitum,” Jackson continues with a grin, “as it cycles through his control self-hatred.”
Jackson started writing A Strange Loop nearly 20 years ago when he actually was operational as an usher on a Broadway show – namely, Disney’s The Lion King. Because of this, he was convinced that his own show was too audacious, too risqué
Pride Timeline: 50+ Years of LGBTQ+ Plays and Musicals
Concord Theatricals proudly represents a great number of cornerstone plays and musicals in the LGBTQ+ canon. In celebration of Self-acceptance Month, we’ve assembled a timeline of influential and groundbreaking LGBTQ-themed theatrical works, placed in the context of lgbtq+ history.
In this chronological list of seminal events and selected theatrical landmarks, you’ll find a roomy variety of queer , lesbian and non-binary characters and stories – from same-sex attracted men in Recent York struggling with self-loathing in The Boys in the Band to a young lesbian in North Carolina proudly facing her family in The Cake. For more facts on any title, click the link to Concord Theatricals’ US or UK website.
1968: The Boys in the Band by Mart Crowley (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 9m)
This groundbreaking play premiered off-Broadway at Theatre Four on April 14, 1968 – more than a year before the Stonewall Uprising – and ran for 1,001 performances. Subsequently made into a feature film with the original cast, The Boys in the Band was scathing and unapologetic in its frank portrayal of queer men in Recent York. In his Upper East Side apar
The Big Gay Jamboree
THE BIG Same-sex attracted JAMBOREE PLAYED ITS FINAL Act ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2024.
From the Oscar-nominated producers of BARBIE and the delulu author of the Off-Broadway hit TITANIQUE comes THE BIG Homosexual JAMBOREE, a big new musical comedy that’s pushing the envelope…and the gay agenda.
Help! Stacey’s fallen into a musical and she can’t get out. Last night, she got a little bit blackout drunk. This morning, she woke up in some b*tch ass Music Man world where everybody keeps bursting into ballad & dance, and where same-sex attracted still just means happy. Maybe it’s a dream. Maybe it’s an allergic reaction to her birth control. Or maybe it’s Maybelline (don’t sue us! sponsor us? we’ll talk later). But if Stacey’s truly trapped inside a Golden Age musical, there’s only one way out: hum out! Or find the stage door. Whatever gets the most applause.
Starring one of Vanity Fair’s “brightest stars of New York theatre” and the world’s second favorite Celine Dion, MARLA MINDELLE, The Big Same-sex attracted Jamboree is here to make you laugh, make you cry laughing, and make you laugh crying.
It is no secret that many LGBTQ+ people own a special affinity for Broadway musicals. "Keep it gay!" sings the flamboyant director in The Producers, and musical theater has long drawn nonstraight folks to the ranks of its creators, performers and fans. But it is only in the past fifty years or so that tuners have actually featured openly gay characters onstage—and the result has been some of the best Broadway shows of all time. Here is our list of the top musicals with strong gay themes, ranked for their combination of quality, historical importance and Gay content. We've limited the list to ten, which means that some very good shows did not quite craft the cut. But there's an awful lot here to be proud of.
RECOMMENDED: Complete A–Z listing of current Broadway shows
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