The Normal Heart: One of TV's Bt Portrayals of Gay Romance, Ever

The Broadway revival of Larry Kramer’s 1985 play “The Normal Heart” draws varied reactns om gay people too young to remember the era which is set. * the normal heart gay scene *

AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTLife Lsons ‘Normal Heart’ Johnson/The New York TimJune 23, 2011IAN SMITH was born and raised the 1980s Bangor, Me., a world away om the young gay men of New York Cy of that era who were among the first to die of plitns om AIDS. Smh, 29, is gay himself, and Manhattan he has heard stori about some of those men om their iends and lovers who survived.

But nothg prepared him for the shock he felt recently seeg “The Normal Heart, ” the Broadway drama about the early years of AIDS, which won the Tony Award for bt play revival this fear and terror of the gay characters onstage, Mr. In hop of sharg a slice of gay history that many teachers and textbooks do not impart, the producers of “The Normal Heart” have been sharply disuntg tickets to $30 for people unr 30 on Thursday nights, and they are now planng a Uned Stat tour of the productn as well as a n Roth, the lead producer, said she cid to try to brg “The Normal Heart” to Broadway durg a nversatn last fall wh the actor David Hy Pierce, who had attend a staged readg of the play. ” VioPatrick Healy, theater reporter for The New York Tim, heads to the Tony Award-wng revival of "The Normal Heart" to see if the play is relevant to younger gay people play, which ns through July 10, centers on Ned Weeks (a stand- for Mr.

Kramer) and his attempts to rally other gay men and the New York Cy ernment to take actn agast AIDS. Among the many divisive arguments the work is that gay men should stop havg sex — or at least stop beg sexually promiscuo — until the disease is isolated, and that gay inty is stctively wrapped up sexual activy and narcissism rather than self-acceptance and platonic fellowship wh other gay people. “My hope, then and now, is that people would go away believg that beg gay is much, much more than what’s between our legs, ” Mr.

* the normal heart gay scene *

Patrick Sullivan, a 21-year-old gay stunt at Cooper Unn who also bought one of the “30 Unr 30” tickets, said the bat over gay inty were the most provotive parts of the play for him. “So much of what gay people talk about is related to the act of sex rather than to love or iendship, ” Mr.

I mean, I get absorbed sometim how hard I have as a gay person, but then you see this play, and you see how far we’ve e. So many gay people are still aaid to tell their fai that they are H. It’s more socially acceptable to be gay now than was the time of the play, but some gay people still don’t feel they’re worthy of acceptance if they have H.

A few young gay men said that they sometim had sex whout g ndoms, sayg that felt better that way, or that they lacked ndoms when sex prented self and they did not want to kill the mood. ” Wise/The New York Tim“I feel this liftyle beg safe, there’s only so much you n do, ” said Shawn McIntyre, a gay 19-year-old om Queens.

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