Stories from a man who fails to meet media expectations of what it means to be gay:
white, frivolous, over sexed yet sexless, shrill, single, stylish, a clown, unimportant, et al.

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The only reason I�m mentioning this is cause the hubby bought the DVD version of a recent PBS documentary about the history of Broadway Musicals, and we�ve worked our way through it over the past couple of weeks. More knowledgeable folks have already commented on the series and have pointed out all of it�s short comings and slights, but well, this isn�t a real review of the program, it�s merely quick impressions of stuff I got from watching the program so now you don�t have to.

Broadway musicals, a history:

-First there was vaudeville, but forget vaudeville, because there were also musical revues and that�s really the first, even though it isn�t.

-Then there were minstrel shows, even though it was actually all concurrent, and anyway minstrel shows are awkward to discuss, what with the white folks in black face acting the fool, then later black folks in black face acting like white folks in black face acting the fool; except maybe they were actually making a comment on white folks expectations of stereotypes, but that�s too a difficult subject to cover so let�s ignore it.

-Then there were many famous producers and actors I don�t remember the names of, and it was the twenties and all was wonderful, even though there still wasn�t such a thing as a Broadway Musical, at least not the way modern audiences would recognize it.

-Then there was Porgy and Bess and nothing was ever the same again.

-Then there was the great depression and nothing was ever the same again.

-Then there were the talkies and nothing was ever the same again.

-Then everyone was poor, and things were terrible, and many fled to Hollywood, which became successful by stealing all of broadways wonderful stories and talent. Boo! Except that decades later movies would be turned into Broadway stage shows, so YAY!

-Then there was the new deal, which put actors to work, except that some wanted to promote pro union work and the government said no. Boo! to the government.

-Then actors and everyone else unionized. Yay! Except maybe it was actually not Yay! because there was still racism, so um�Boo!

-Then there was WWII, which was the �good war,� so the army drafted soldiers to wear dresses and entertain the troops in drag, and we won the war! YAY!

-Then there a whole bunch of shows that were book musicals and were so famous that they will be produced forever and ever and all was wonderful again.

-Then Julie Andrews came to America. YAY!

-Then came television, which became successful by stealing all of broadways wonderful stories and talent. Boo! Except that this exposure made Broadway even more popular, so YAY!

-Then came the sixties, and there were hippies and nudity on stage and actors danced among the audience of the Ed Sullivan show.

-Then it was the seventies and people got to make shows about murder, revenge, and the vacuous empty lives of the upper class instead of dancing, singing, happy cowboys.

-Then came Soundheim, and he is god. But godhood don�t make money.

-Then came Andrew Lloyd Webber and he is not god, but he is British and the British know that if you give audiences dancing, singing cats and helicopters you will make lots and lots of money.

-Then a famous man died, but not from AIDS, then another famous man died, but not from AIDS, and another one died, but not from AIDS, cause it�s not the eighties yet.

-Then it was the eighties and now Harvey Firestien can talk about AIDS and mention that some of the men involved in Broadway happen to be �that way,� and all was not good anymore.

-Then came Disney and the mouse roared and all was well in Broadway again, except that no one can afford the ticket prices.

-Then came nine-eleven and all was not well, and Broadway is now all about escapist, peppy, and familiar musical comedies revivals, because in America it is exactly like it was after WWII, and nothing at all like the Vietnam war era with an unpopular war and civil rights issues, and shows were allowed to deal with real world issues.

-Then there was Wicked which cost so much money to make that Hollywood moguls needed to foot the bill.

-And now it is �NOW,� and there is no more to learn except for whatever may be in the DVD extra features that we haven�t watched and probably won�t for a while.

Despite my flippant attitude, it was an interesting series, although not without flaws. Personally I�d have liked at least a mention of The Wiz, or Dreamgirls, or Ragtime, or Titanic, but whatever.

More later,
nico

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