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Matt Crowley's "The Boys in the Band"
According to the Brockett text, “The Boys in the Band” was “the first play on Broadway specifically about gay men” (Brockett 253). This play is believed to have been a starting point where homosexuality was becoming acceptable in plays. This is a HUGE deal. Though, “all of its characters were still treated as doomed or irrevocably unhappy” (Brockett 254). -
Stonewall Riots
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Gay Theatre Companies
In this time frame gay theatre companies started opening in big cities in the United States. Some of these cities included Boston, New York and Los Angeles according to G&LR. Brockett also states, “These theatres played an important role in promoting a sense of identity and addressing the concerns and interests of those within the gay, lesbian and bisexual communities” (Brockett 254). -
Gay Theatre Alliance
In 1978 a gay theatre alliance was formed in order to link all of the gay theatre companies to one another. As written in the Brockett text, “Café Cinno and La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club produced some of the most well-known plays dealing with LGBTQ issues” (Brockett 254). These companies helped other companies stand strong knowing they had other’s backing them up. -
AIDS Crisis
The AIDS epidemic brought forth a lot of new plays surrounding the impact that this epidemic was having on the Gay community. Play Bill states that, “ As Is, William M. Hoffman's drama brought AIDS to the commercial theatre.” Some other titles that arose during this period were “Rent,” “Angels in America,” and “Jeffrey.” -
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Women One World Café
The WOW Café was founded in 1980 and still remains one of the most well-known theatres. This theatre is “devoted to the concerns of women, particularly lesbians” (Brockett 254). According to their website, “Any woman and/or trans person is welcome to get involved in any aspect of making theatre.” The WOW Café just recently celebrated their 40 year anniversary! -
“Torch Song Trilogy”
Written in 1981 by Harvey Fierstein, “Torch Song Trilogy” “won mainstream acceptance” (Brockett 254). More recently, Fierstein play Edna Turnblad in “Hairspray.” This is another example of a man playing the toll of a woman. Though in today’s society it isn’t nearly as odd as it was in the past. It shows that Fierstein is still doing what he believes in today. The image included depicts a character that is perceived to be a man, wearing makeup. -
GLAAD
GLAAD stands for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Brockett states that, GLAAD “was formed to combat defamatory media coverage and representations of gays and lesbians stemming from the onset of the AIDS epidemic” (254). Their goal was to stop the bad stigma and false information that was being broadcasted during a time that was already hard enough on the LGBTQ community. -
Charles Ludlam's Dies
Charles Ludlam was one of the most inspirational people at the start of the Gay/ Lesbian Theatre era. Ludlam was the founder of the Ridiculous Theatrical Company, within this company he wrote all of the plays and acted in them. In the textbook it states that amongst these roles that he acted "most of them female" (Brockett 254). This helped shed light onto the start of Gay Theatre. Written in New York Times, Ludlam "died of pneumonia" at age 44, he also suffered from AIDS. -
Tony Kushner’s Arise
Tony Kushner was a playwright who advocated for the LGBTQ community. In the 1990s Kushner, “became the most praised American playwright of the 1990s for his “Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. This play consisted of two parts and both parts won Tony Awards. These plays are still widely known today. -
"Millineum Approaches"
Part one of Tony Kushner's "Angels in America." -
"Perestroika"
The second part of Tony Kushner's "Angels in America.” -
Jonathan Larson’s “Rent.”
“Rent” is a musical that involves rock music. This play depicts the AIDS epidemic in a brighter, more up beat sense with the musical idea. The plays writer, Jonathan Larson, passed away the day that the play was supposed to premiere. According to Play Bill, Larson passed away “as his groundbreaking musical “Rent” had just finished its dress rehearsal.”