29
Sep/20

NETFLIX’S THE BOYS IN THE BAND LIVE DISCUSSION AND Q&A

29
Sep/20

Who: Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer, Joe Mantello, David Canfield
What: Live virtual discussion about The Boys in the Band
Where: 92Y online
When: Friday, October 2, free, 7:00
Why: In the spring of 2018, Mart Crowley’s 1968 play, The Boys in the Band, finally made its Broadway debut; at the time, I called it “a raucous fiftieth-anniversary adaptation lavishly directed by Joe Mantello. . . . All these years later, it is evident that Crowley, who wrote a sequel, The Men from the Boys, in 2002, captured more than just a moment in time; he was embracing individuality as well as the very zeitgeist of homosexuality, even as the party devolves amid the onslaught of personal demons coming to the fore. Crowley also touches on racism and anti-Semitism in addition to homophobia.” The show starred a cast of out actors playing gay men at a birthday party: Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer, Robin De Jesús, Andrew Rannells, Tuc Watkins, Michael Benjamin Washington, Brian Hutchison, and Charlie Carver. The production has now been made into a movie produced by Ryan Murphy that will debut on Netflix on September 30 with the full, original Broadway cast. On October 2 at 7:30, the 92nd St. Y will host a free, live discussion with Parsons (Michael), Quinto (Harold), Bomer (Donald), and Mantello, moderated by EW’s David Canfield, that will explore this illuminating and controversial exploration of gay culture in New York City. Sadly, Crowley, who cowrote the screenplay with Ned Martel, passed away on March 7 at the age of eighty-four.