Hey, everybody.
Happy Pride.
It's your favorite lesbian aunt, Beth Malone.
Now, these are Iconic LGBTQ Moments
In Theater You Should Know.
This year for Pride I've teamed up with Eric Ulloa and Roberto Araujo
the team here at Playbill and three other LGBTQ Broadway
stars to empower and uplift you each week of Pride 2022.
Each week
We're coming to you a little mini lesson about our glorious queer
theatrical history so let's learn a little something.
As we learned last week, the latter part of the 1960s finally saw the arrival
of the openly gay character in an openly gay play.
We could talk about issues that faced us.
We could take on agendas that were important to us.
And then on June 28th, 1969, it all blew open.
The Stonewall riots.
In response to yet another police raid of the Stonewall Inn, the gay and trans
patrons had finally had it, and they fought back in riots that lasted for days.
These riots shifted the needle forward, demanding equal rights
for LGBTQ Americans it was only a matter of time before that
Finally, free pride filled energy
hit the stage with the Broadway musical.
The Winter of 1969
saw Katharine Hepburn hit the stage with her only stage
musical Coco, based on Coco Chanel's comeback.
In the early 1950s, the musical explored her life and legacy.
And most notable was the character of Sebastian Baye,
played by Rene Rene Auberjonois many claiming this to be the first time
we saw an openly gay character in a Broadway musical,
though the character of Sebastian fell into the trope of nasty gay villain
hours on the one that won for his performance in the musical
the very next year, another Hollywood favorite decided to try her pipes
at musical theater. In 1970.
Lauren Bacall starred in the Broadway hit Applause,
a musical based on the short story, The Wisdom of Eve
Yes it was also sort of based on the film favorite All About Eve
and yes Betty Davis’ Margo Channing is the epitome of drag.
But this is history we're sharing today.
And according to history, it was all based on this short story.
But in the new musical version, we got even gayer.
Not only was there an entire number set in the gay bar in Greenwich Village,
but Lee Roy Reems played the beloved character of Duane Fox.
Duane was the charming openly gay hairdresser
to Bacall’s Margo Channing. As audiences grew more and more open
minded, openly gay characters continued to flourish with the Broadway musical.
1973 saw Tommy Tune take home the Tony Award
for his performance as David and the Michael Bennett led tuner Seesaw.
And soon after Bennett’s A Chorus Line, some multiple gay characters
singing in a Broadway musical with Sammy Williams
playing the character of Paul and giving us
the most complexity and humanity we'd seen in an openly gay character yet.
The sky was the limit.
Openly gay characters could now sing about anything, well, white
gay male character, but perhaps the stage
was being set for more. Who knows?
Maybe there could be a musical about a lesbian cartoonist
reflecting on her relationship with her closeted father.
And we were ready for not only commercial success with our stories,
but to take home some historic Tony Awards.
Absolutely.
But that'll be next week.
Right.
OK, so here's where I leave you this week,
and I'll tell you to keep going, keep Googling, keep researching.
Type in these topics.
I gave you an appetizer, but there's a whole feast out there.
We'll be back next week with a new host and a new topic to remind you of the powerful
history of our gorgeous, diverse community.
Happy Pride Family!