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| re: Mark Evans | |
| Posted by: reed23 08:08 pm EDT 05/14/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Mark Evans - wisebear 11:00 am EDT 05/14/18 | |
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| I'm happy that this wildly gay stereotype performance delighted you "as a gay man." My reaction had nothing to do with my being gay, although I know "internalized homophobia is a popular, unanswerable catch-phrase. Why is an effeminate man "so offensive" to me? Actually, androgyny is my "type" – but enough about me. The stereotype is offensive to me when I feel it's theatrically inappropriate or gratuitous. I was appalled by the over-the-top gay thing going on in the latest ON THE TOWN, and I've always thought it interesting that extravagant gay stereotypes are still considered hilarious and acceptable, unlike other minority stereotypes that are not. "Playing a type that doesn't exist in real life?" Well, there we find a difference of opinion as to whether ME AND MY GIRL has anything to do with "real life." "Do you think gay men came out in the show's time setting?" Mostly not, of course; but you're assuming this character is actually and specifically gay and in the closet, and I like ME AND MY GIRL free of that assumption and extraneous baggage. I'm not sure I'd put this portrayal in the category of "in the closet" to begin with, which begs your question. "Girly choreography" – those moves got a big laugh, sure enough (see above: wild "gay" stereotype is still considered acceptable and hilarious.) But I don't find my "girly" term for it offensive and outdated at all – two adjectives I would direct towards the choreography itself in that moment. "Mince-shaming" – got me there! I do not subscribe to about 75% of the Political Correctness Executive Board's agenda, particularly concerning the stage. I'm very old-fashioned. I don't want to see an obese person playing a thin person; I don't want to see an 80-year-old playing a 25-year-old. And I don't want to see a wildly gay portrayal of a character I don't believe is supposed to be wildly gay. And if that means I'm a "fat-shamer" and an ageist and a sexist, well, I accept the condemnations with (gay) pride. |
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| re: Mark Evans | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 09:15 pm EDT 05/14/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Mark Evans - reed23 08:08 pm EDT 05/14/18 | |
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| I was appalled by the over-the-top gay thing going on in the latest ON THE TOWN Where? I don't remember seeing anything I'd classify that way. |
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| On The Town | |
| Posted by: reed23 09:29 am EDT 05/15/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Mark Evans - Chromolume 09:15 pm EDT 05/14/18 | |
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| Two instances come to mind: After a brilliant, rich, perfect rendition of "I Feel Like I'm Not Out Of Bed Yet," the outstanding actor/singer Philip Boykin returned to the stage after "New York, New York" and played the "Miss Turnstiles" announcer as an extravagantly gay stereotype. Later when Gabey was looking for Ivy at Carnegie Hall, doors opened to reveal one or two gay stereotypical canoodling couples, ho-ho-ho. Then again, I felt the whole production was rendered as a cartoon, top-to-bottom, completely at odds with the powerful and frequently serious score and story implications. My father saw the original and loved it; I saw all three Broadway revivals, and only the first one (Bernadette Peters, Phyllis Newman, Ron Hussmann, Marilyn Cooper et al., directed and choreographed by Ron Field) was true to the show, alternately hilarious and powerful. | |
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