Something For The Boys: Musical Theater And Gay Culture

Why do gay men love musical comedy? That is a question that has plagued humankind through the ages or at least ever since Riff lost his heart to Tony in "West Side Story" and Ethel Merman proved that you don't have to be a drag queen to find love With a high C. In this book John Clum gives us a guided tour through the history of the musical comedy in the U.S. and England and examines why gay men find it so attractive. Along the way he shines a spotlighht on the allure of the diva; the lives of Noel Coward. Cole Porter, and Lorenz Hart: the homophobia of Rogers and Hammerstein: the mixed musical messages of Stephen Sondheim: and the first brassy notes of the overture to "Gypsy".