| re: ACL | |
| Posted by: Revned 07:31 pm EDT 06/30/21 | |
| In reply to: re: ACL - JereNYC 03:41 pm EDT 06/30/21 | |
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| "Are we meant to assume that all the other men and some of the women, at least, are gay, do you think? I'm not so sure. Maybe, but it ultimately doesn't matter since sexuality doesn't play into any of the other characters' stories." Though it's true that only Greg and Paul refer directly to being gay, I would argue that Bobby is always strongly assumed to be gay. His detailing of his "strangeness" and eccentricities as a kid could even be viewed as stereotyping (hated sports, picked on in school, produced "musicales" and enjoyed furniture arrangement, etc.) and most actors cast in the role have played him as clearly gay. Like Al, Don is married and assumed to be straight. Mark and Richie have lines in the Montage that suggest they were into girls (at least as teenagers), though these lines are hard to hear in the ensemble. Mark also seems titillated by his neighbor on the line, the sexy Val. Richie can seem gay or straight depending on how cast. I once saw a dinner theatre production with a white Richie; the line "And I'm Black" was changed to "And I'm straight"! The one who offers the fewest clues is Mike, though an actor can have fun deciding how to play the humorous exchange with Zach over how he might really have felt about being called "Twinkle-Toes." And when the girl dancers on each side of him (Maggie and Connie) respond "You are" to his statement that he thought he was a "sex maniac," this can imply that he's been perceived as flirting with them. Michael Bennett has been criticized for presenting Zach (his self-portrait?) as exclusively straight even though he himself wasn't, though some have interpreted the moment when he comforts Paul at the end of the latter's monologue as suggesting a gay affinity. It does seem somewhat odd in retrospect that the women reveal so little about their sexuality. We know Cassie and Kristine are straight, and Bebe had crushes on a succession of male celebrities, but in a show about opening up one would think more of them would have addressed their sexual or romantic experiences. Perhaps this is a function of the fact that, although many of the stories were taken from the dancers own lives, the official writing team was all male. |
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