Good Stuff West of Broadway
The play encompasses the earliest part of the gay movement prior to Stonewall, with the founding of the Mattachine Society in 1950 in L.A. by Harry Hay, who had come out as a "tempermental" (code for homosexual) at Stamford in 1931, along with his lover, fashion designer Rudi Gernreich (identified at the time only as "R"), Dale Jennings, Bob Hull and Chuck Rowland, the five characters on stage in the play. The Tempermentals follows Mr. Hay and friends from 1950 through his being called before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1955 because of his earlier membership in the Communist Party.
Rudi Gernreich, who was Austrian, and whose topless swimsuit rocked the fashion world (and is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art), and who appeared as himself in an episode of the TV series Batman, was played by out actor Michael Urie, known for his role on the recently ended ABC series Ugly Betty in which he played a gay character Marc St. James. After the performance there was a discussion on stage with Michael Urie and another 30-ish actor, Cheyenne Jackson, both gay, and moderated by Frank DeCaro of Sirius/XM radio (also gay).
I am unfamiliar with Cheyenne Jackson's work on 30 Rock and other TV shows and the film United 93 in which he played the hero, Mark Bingham, who was also gay, and had never watched Ugly Betty. Cheyenne's partner, Monty, was in the audience. Michael said he was "recently involved." During the discussion, Michael said how much he liked the writing on Ugly Betty. On the show his character mentored a young (originally 11), show-tune loving, is-he-or-isn't-he kid, Justin (Marc Indelicato) on screen over the 4 years. In the next-to-last episode, at a wedding, Justin (now 15) stepped onto the dance floor with his boyfriend, Austin (Ryan McGinnis). Nothing was said. Michael liked the way the series handled Justin's coming out.
They also discussed the recent Newsweek article in which a columnist, Ramin Setoodeh, said that gay guys, like Sean Hayes (Will & Grace, Promises, Promises), and Jonathan Groff (Glee, Spring Awakening) could not convincingly play straight guys on screen or on stage. Kristin Chenoweth, a avowed Christian, who has costarred with both Mr. Hayes and Mr. Groff, had written a scathing rebuttal in which she outed Mr. Setoodeh and called his column "homophobic." Those on stage also expressed their outrage and agreed it was an exercise in self-loathing. A New York Times entry sums up the Setoodeh situation: http://j.mp/amQnai.
[May 11, 2010: Comments made by Michael and Cheyenne during this interview can be found here: http://j.mp/bkfIsN]
Most of the audience stayed for the discussion. It certainly added to the evening.
