IF “GAY THEATER” is fed as beg by, for, and about uncloseted gay people, then 2014 arguably marks the 50th anniversary of the genre’s existence.
Contents:
- OP-ED: WHY GAY MEN LOVE THE THEATER
- 1964: THE BIRTH OF GAY THEATER
- A BRIEF HISTORY OF GAY THEATER, THREE ACTS
OP-ED: WHY GAY MEN LOVE THE THEATER
The Bijou Theatre was advertised as “The Olst Theatre the US showg the very ft Gay Films sce 1969”. It was opened by Sean O'Connor on July 14, 1971 screeng avant gar/unrground movi shown om 16mm prts but gradually went over to screeng gay porn wh a year. Jerry Douglas's Tubstrip, a risque edy set a gay bathhoe, was a popular sensatn when produced onstage 1973-1974, the era of gay liberatn and the sexual revolutn.
The play, often dismissed by mastream crics but hailed as "funny, sexy, and important" by the gay prs, ran for 140 performanc off-Broadway, then toured to eight ci over ne months, and returned to Broadway starrg the legendary adult film star Casey Donovan the lead role.
Dpe s unprecented succs and acclaim, the play was not officially published until wh the but publitn of the script of the play, this edn clus a foreword by Jordan Schildcrout tled "Tubstrip and The Erotic Theatre of Gay Liberatn", which exam the signifince of the play as one of a wave of erotic gay plays (most of them fotten or lost) that emerged between 1969 and 1974. He went on to have a major reer gay male pornography, directg numero award-wng films between 1989 and 2007, such as More of a Man, Flh & Blood, Dream Team, and Schildcrout is Associate Profsor of Theatre & Performance at SUNY Purchase.
1964: THE BIRTH OF GAY THEATER
Lee Barton, reviewg the play for The Advote, lled "funny, sexy, and important, " but wonred whether mastream crics uld "tolerate anythg gay that is so open and healthy.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF GAY THEATER, THREE ACTS
Some crics regard the tour as "homosexploatn, " but the Philalphia Enquirer lled "somethg of an event the history of gay liberatn...
One San Francis review praised Tubstrip as an exemplar of gay liberatn, remarkg, "When is the last time you walked out of a play or film about gays and felt good? After we left, we wonred if they were gay, or jt lonely to the pot of beg different as to who they were touchg and by whom they were beg touched. Every profsn has an "old boys work, " but Broadway is one of the only profsns Ameri where most of the "old boys" are gay.