Queer Representation

[@Secret_Troilus]

This video gets my brain thinking about indigenous representation within musical theater. I’m an indigenous actor studying Shakespeare and I’m wracking my brain for a musical that actually portrays indigenous people accurately.

[@StagedRight]

I think another queer episode is in the future...

[@amourah2003]

I love this so much! What a beautiful and important retrospective.

[@LuckyDipster2]

As much as The Producers is looked down upon now by some, I'm with the late, great Gary Beach when he said (as a gay man himself) that he was happy to play Roger DeBris as super flamboyant because the character was also in a loving relationship and seemed to be one of the happiest people in the story.

[@sabrinagabrielle4799]

I loved this 💜 I played Anybodys twice, 2013 and 2015… always loved the role, and loved playing masculine characters as well as feminine ones… took me until this year to finally come out as nonbinary and genderfluid 🌈😍 I hope that modern music theatre becomes more and more open to Queer stories as well as genderqueer performers ☺️💗

[@tarinblanding1584]

I’m non-binary too and one of my dream roles is May from the musical &Juliet May is a non-binary character

[@ashcharlton7883]

Ah honey, gay man in his 60s and this one made me cry! Excellent work, never apologise darling, you're doing the good work. Bless you.

[@StagedRight]

xo

[@WhenNerdsAttack]

I'm going through all your videos currently, and I just wanted to say that I'm really enjoying them. KZbin actually recommended me something good! Cause you're great, and definitely got a subscribe from me.

[@1957DLT]

Barbra Walters so earnestly asking Harvey "what's it like to be a homosexual" for national tv...hand-to-heart my jaw dropped.

[@anastapatsak]

I have to say, I lost it at "a dicka-Dick, a dicka-Dick" 😂😂😂

[@rosie72]

Thank you Kevin, for the education on so many shows I was totally unaware of and the stories behind the stories.

[@shannon2711]

Well done! Very thoughtful and well researched. I love learning something new everytime I watch an episode. ❤

[@PeterMaleitzke]

This is a wonderful exploration of this subject. I've spent much of my life in theater and musical theater in particular and I learned a lot. Thank you for this video.

[@ryankelly288]

Another fantastic video! well done Kevin, and thank you!

[@ryanjburda]

So wonderful! Such an important and informative presentation. Thank you!!!

[@thatautistictheatrekid]

As a gay teen wanting to go into professional theatre, thank you for making this. I have had thoughts about not being accepted, even quitting a job because of homophobic coworkers and management.

[@rosejustice]

I watched this on the day that Florida passed the ‘don’t say Gay’ bill. I needed this representation today as I live in that stupid state. 🏳️‍🌈❤️

[@StagedRight]

Ugh! I'm so sorry. So maddening watching that mad show done there! Please hang in.

[@rixx46]

You do a remarkable job of summarizing such a complicated issue with respect and insight. As a straight person who loves musicals - like NPH said in the best of his legendary Tony openings, Broadway is ‘not just for gays anymore (sodomy is not required) I found this both moving and informative. Another show worth mentioning is Victor/Victoria - its roots stretching from its origin as a German silent film to the great Oscar-winning movie musical to the not as great (saw it 🙄) Broadway remounting (…that’s what she said…) My wife and I loved both - but she did have explain why she laughed so hard at the joke, “there’s nothing more inconvenient than an old queen with a head cold” 😏 One of Cole Porter’s best subversive songs is “You’re the Top” particularly if sung by a man and not a Merman. I mean, “baby you’re the bottom, I’m the top”. HELLO? I love many aspects of TONY KUSHNER & Spielberg’s WSS update - from his insistence to use Latinx actors in all the Spanish-speaking roles to casting a Trans/non-binary person as “Anybodys”. This brought an unexplored depth to their character. But poor Chino - forever the Fredo of musical theatre…

[@guatog7185]

I’ve now watched a handful of your videos and love each one of them. I’m glad the Al Gore Rhythm finally suggested your channel!

[@StagedRight]

Al Gore Rhythm? Like a channel or a band suggested this or an end card at the end of a video? Do tell!

[@guatog7185]

@@StagedRight it’s what I how I refer to the algorithm as. A reference to when people said Al Gore said that he created the internet. Yes, I’m an old.

[@freashleakage1365]

If any of yall are confused about Elphaba being queer, she is. In the book by Gregory Maguire (the one the shows based off of) the women that delivered her where confused as to if she had a penis or not. Although she does identify as a woman, there are at least four times she or other characters consider otherwise. She also kissed Glinda and slept with her a couple times. Her dad was also bisexual.

[@barbraseville8984]

True, but this doesnt mean she is queer/trans/bi in the musical. So much was re-written and changed for Broadway.

[@rixx46]

Interesting. And I think the subtext is evident (and more family audience-friendly - a financial necessity) in the song “Popular “ - all about compromise - and the metaphor of being green - inescapably different from birth. BTW - the long awaited movie version is gonna SUCK. The casting alone has lost me. The avowed racist/pro-slavery Frank L Balm would spontaneously combust

[@neilagangitlog]

@@barbraseville8984 that doesn't mean she's straight/cis in the musical either. So much was not rewritten/changed for Broadway

[@rayfridley6649]

The closest musical that I saw many years ago Was "Where's Charley". The story is about male college students at Oxford in the late 19th century needed a chaperone for a dance. One of the students, a male, dresses like an old woman and takes the name of Charley's aunt.

[@wickedlyblonde1]

THIS DESERVES MORE VIEWS

[@tbam73]

Im assuming the huge laugh the homosexual question NPH' Bobby gets is because the audience is well aware NPH is gay, wink wink nod nod, his deadpan stare

[@kenharvey27]

Wonderful, as always!

[@kazza6078]

Loved hearing about this in detail, great video!

[@wolfpackjew]

The history of queer theater is at least as old as Shakespeare

[@hajhzu]

Wonderful video! Thanks a lot. But how could you forget BARE? 😬😘

[@StagedRight]

I loved BARE as a teenager. I got the promo CD when it was off-off-Broadway and was obsessed with the score. I did consider putting it in here. But I do feel it coming up in a future episode. Maybe not as a sole topic but definitely in another retrospect. Here’s hoping! Thanks for the kind words.

[@agnessofiacastrocarvalho774]

​@@StagedRight there's a CD of Bare? Is it a bootleg?

[@alexmg3648]

Thanks for reminding me why A Chorus Line is my favorite musical

[@Bunny-ch2ul]

I feel like it's somewhat unfair that Broadway so frequently gets criticized for not being progressive or inclusive enough. While the people working on Broadway are obviously pretty cosmopolitan, the audiences largely aren't. It's mostly tourists from Middle America (read: Flyover) who want to say they saw a Broadway show. That's why half the shows are revivals, based off of movies, or jukebox musicals. With few exceptions, Broadway increasingly feels like Flyover in the middle of the city, because that's who the audience is.

[@StagedRight]

DEFINITELY want to talk about this in the future...

[@stephenfindlaythedancingba8515]

This is so thoughtful, and well researched. Congratulations!

[@elinstar6034]

No, I cannot be having with the tragic gay storylines. I've not been at home to them since the 80s. Thank you.

[@davebowker1113]

Boy--this guy knows his stuff!! Peeling back layer after layer Like an onion Bravo!!!!!

[@kw3593]

Just discovered your channel, your videos are amazing!

[@garydiamond8124]

Interesting how from the history of theatre and musical theatre that a lot of the driving force where queer !!!! Happy days are here again

[@foxylover777]

Lempicka!! Pleaset talk about Lempicka.

[@gstone8255]

The Ironic things is Neil Patrick Harris is gay in real life.

[@somecanadiangirl1]

yeah I think the amount of laughter in that particular clip (6:11) mainly comes from the metatextual humour of it being known gay man Neil Patrick Harris

[@jimmyl324]

Excellent video.

[@lornekay8948]

Quite obviously you left out one of my favourite musicals Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Why is that?

[@rixx46]

I wonder what the “black face” equivalence is for a straight person playing cliche “gay” character? Pink Face?

[@tarinblanding1584]

I want to play May in &Juliet

[@jayviescas7703]

My poor, sweet, young thespian - you completely left out Bill Sollys 1975 off Broadway musical Boy Meets Boy. The complete book of the play was included William Hoffman's 1979 anthology Gay Plays.

[@StagedRight]

Who’s poor?

[@gstone8255]

As an Autistic person i took can relatable to some musical charather’s otherness😊

[@lorelihilgers1275]

❤

[@jackl.gansner6102]

So I understand what Rent did for queer representation but at the same time was Rent’s representation of queer people good? no, not really

[@StagedRight]

IMO: No, they're not the most sophisticated or nuanced depictions of queer people, but I think given the general reluctance of Broadway at that time of including sympathetic gay characters (I think "Falsettos" as a big outlier here), "Rent" deserves credit for busting the door open. I got to watch the NYTW fundraiser for "Rent"'s 25th Anniversary last month and it was so heartening to hear so many gay, lesbian, and trans artists speak about how the queer characters in "Rent" empowered them and showed positive representation. I hope somehow you get to see it. It was really wonderful!

[@BTURNER1961]

@@StagedRight The older you are, the more in awe you are of each individual breakthrough. What appears to be a an off balance 'babystep' to the impatient 20 year old, looks like size 11 logger boots for those of us who remember what the world looked like beforehand. By the way, this was an excellent overview on a topic that normally demands a three month college level class in a queer studies major Well done!

[@franklesser5655]

The word "queer" has bee ruined by homosexual advocates!

[@StagedRight]

Just wait for the next episode…