The Gays the thing On one of my lazy days a few months ago I happened to switch on the TV at the exact

moment when an amusing scene was in action on Will & Grace. During my formative years I was a semi-devout fan, but in my older age (albeit not much older) I distanced myself from the boring stereotypes it occasionally perpetuated. Yet I was taken by an incident in this particular episode. Our oddly paired couple were curious as to what music was being played in the apartment above. In an instant Will recognises the up-beat tune as Stephen Sondheims Side by Side by Side from the musical Company. Being a die-hard Sondheim fan and a connoisseur of pseudointellectual gay jokes I snorted in amusement (attractive, I know). And I can assume that my fellow daytime TV viewers, whether they are familiar with the musical or not, would have sniggered also. Its unimportant whether, like me, theyre a gay man with a passion for musicals or theyre a hetero who is amused by the stereotype, because whatever our sexuality or background in this modern era our culture makes us all acutely aware of the connection between homosexuality and musical theatre. Is it a fair assumption? Or a dated image? Even in Ugly Betty the rather flamboyant Justin, despite his sexuality never being explicated, has a penchant for musicals, which, amongst other personality traits, immediately led journalists in several leading US newspapers to question his sexual preferences. Disregarding whether this character maintains labels and prejudices, or cleverly reclaims an identity by embracing a dated stereotype, the association between gays and musicals is firmly established by all aspects of popular culture. But why? Many academics, critics, writers, famous gays, etc have attempted to explain the attraction; some producing more interesting theories than others (I never really understood the diva replacing the ideal dominant mother theory, but each to their own). My personal understanding, and experience, of musical theatre is a feeling of belonging as a confused youngster before fully coming to terms with my sexuality an experience, which for many, takes much longer than your first fumble with your fellow classmate and a successful attempt to go clubbing underage in Soho. Musicals provided (and still provide) an outlet for frustration, uncertainty and a platform for camp and glamour which the real world often did not and does not permit. Understandably shows such as Wicked, in which the protagonist is persecuted for being different, are successful due to their audiences mindsets, by this I include not just gay teens, but quirky, unusual and misunderstood teenage girls. Think of the misfits in Glee. These same individuals may grow up into musical theatre aficionados and may even go on to appreciate the more complex outsider syndrome in the musicals of Stephen Sondheim and more supposedly adult musicals, continually associating with these unusual heterosexual characters and their surroundings. It is in this we can understand the success of Sondheim and his placing on a pedestal by musical theatre lovers. And there are many other outsiders in musical theatre: there are Jews in Fiddler on the Roof, there are African-Americans in The Wiz (a reclaiming of the traditional white The Wizard of Oz) and there are even fatties in Hairspray. But few gays. They rarely feature as the beloved outsider: instead they are the individuals watching, producing, performing and writing these works; their energies focussed on creating tormented and struggling heterosexual characters, passing their own emotions through a straightjacket of normality. Gay creators of musical theatre rarely explore their own turf; instead they create these anguished others. Of course there are works

such as La Cage Aux Folles and the lesser known Zanna, Dont! but these works are few and far between. In straight theatre (no witticism intended) gay characters and gay plays are two to the penny and were surfacing long before homosexuals were even depicted in musicals. Authors such as Joe Orton and John Osborne challenged British audiences in the 1960s, whilst Martin Sherman wrote spectacular plays such as Bent which, along with contemporaries, is now firmly in the canon of 20th century theatrical and, later, cinematic works. Yes, we can argue that musical theatre is a more conservative and more expensive to produce (instrumentalists for bands/orchestras cost a fortune for example), therefore often producers will play safe and pander to the majority, but not every show needs a chorus line and seventy-six trombones. So many successful chamber musicals have been created, especially in recent years: Jason Robert Browns The Last Five Years or Jonathan Larsons tick tickBOOM! are perfect examples. Intriguingly enough even when costs are low and work is performed at fringe venues writers are still wary of portraying gay characters: Joe DiPietro author of Fucking Men which has recently been touring in this country also wrote the OffBroadway hit musical I Love You, Youre Perfect, Now Change a musical on the subject of love, relationships and all that gook. Yet in this musical, despite there being a huge scope for at least one gay depiction, there is no reference to any homosexual affair or relationship. Nonetheless there have been brilliant gay characters in musicals of which their sexuality is perfectly framed within a three dimensional persona, for example Paul in A Chorus Line or the characters in the works of William Finn. Yet musical works which embrace the homosexual milieu like the aforementioned Fucking Men or the infamous The Boys in the Band by Matt Crowley - opening around the time of the Stonewall Riots - rarely exist. La Cage Aux Folles although explicitly a very gay work, especially when daringly premiered during the AIDS epidemic of the 80s, still lacks punch: in the original production the artistic team were told not to make too much of the relationship between Georges and Albin, but to focus on the plot. Thank heavens that Terry Johnsons recent production at the Menier Chocolate Factory does not hold back, showing that revivals can be fresh, invigorating and also demonstrate that social change has definitely occured. Elsewhere Zanna, Dont! explicitly depicts a world where homosexuality, instead of heterosexuality, is the norm it succeeds artistically and has a very strong message, but has never really made it into the mainstream, despite its catchy tunes and colourful, exciting plot (its almost like a gay, modern version of Grease. Just actually worth seeing). Maybe capitalism should prevail and if these gay works cannot make it out of fringe venues then they should stay put and keep Off-Broadway and the festival scene alive. After all, most of the gay plays of recent years started in smaller venues before being projected into the big, wide world. But this should not give permission for authors to stop producing musicals with gay themes nor should it stop audiences exploring the subtext of supposedly hetero musicals. If the glitz and glamour of musicals such as Hello Dolly or Sweet Charity provide a closet or haven for a troubled gay teen then he should embrace the gay elements that he derives pleasure from. Characters such as Robert in Company and Annie in Annie, Get Your Gun, which so many gay men and women read as queer and share a strong affinity with, must continue to be discussed. Stephen Sondheim threw a hissy fit when in 1995 a gay and lesbian theatre group changed the sex of some of the characters in his Company in order to highlight a supposed gay subtext. Im not necessarily encouraging meddling with texts in order to produce an easy fix, but a good director can bring out nuances in

character that will appease and intrigue gay (and straight) audiences and give depth to an often shallow form. As audiences and as writers we should agree with Roland Barthes that the author is dead. Musical theatre is something close to the hearts of many of us for different reasons and, regardless of its tendency towards depicting straights over gays, we can derive a lot of pleasure from its existence on several levels. But we cannot allow the destruction of subtexts or the removal of queerness from the current scene. Directors must continue to revive old works in a new ways, instead of just recycling original productions, in order to bring a level of artistry and intelligence to the form in which these works are shown to be reacting to the changes in culture and society. Musical theatre can be more than just pure entertainment as those fans who have experienced it on a deeper level will tell you. Cheap, tacky and commercial ventures (I could name several) destroy the true heart of musicals creating fast food theatre for an increasingly mentally numbed audience. If you dont wish to be challenged by it then consider my discussion void; many will happily place musical theatre in the entertainment section of their minds leaving deeper thinking to loftier forms such as theatre and literature. That is all well and good, but given the cultural value that musical theatre has had for gay men over many decades this writer believes that there is more to it than sequins and a feather boa. And for you aspiring musical theatre writers out there: we need a new Lloyd Webber, but this time he needs to write some proper music and include some bum boys in his latest oeuvre.