#boys in the band

[drawingwithlight]

Robert La Tourneaux who played Cowboy in The Boys in the Band (1969)

photographed by Jack Mitchell

[shamelessly-obsessed]

I FINALLY have the Andrew Runnels version for y’all

At first I had Blair instead of Kevin and so to make up for the swap here’s some Blair fanart (I’m like obsessed with the portrait of him Sksksksksk)

[alebanana]

GUESS WHO I MET MY FIRST DAY ON NYC!!$&!!!!!

[queer-media-tourney]

[numnum-num]

Scene from "Boys in the Band" (1970), directed by William Friedkin from a screenplay by Mart Crowley

[queerasfact]

In 1968 the play The Boys in the Band was one of the first prominent pieces of American media to not just feature, but centre the stories of queer men.

It was initially difficult for write Mart Crowley to find a cast for the play, with Laurence Luckinbill (who would play Hank) warned that taking the role would end his career. But the production was such a success that it was adapted into a film in 1970. Now post-Stonewall, however, the lack of political angle to the film fell flat, and it wasn't a bit success.

The play was revived eventually for a Broadway production in 2018, with a cast of openly gay actors including Star Trek’s Zachary Quinto and Big Bang Theory’s Jim Parsons. The success of the revival led to a Netflix film adaptation with the same cast.

The Netflix version brought the story back into the public eye in an time when there are perhaps enough queer stories that there is perhaps more room for a small-scale, deeply personal story that offers a snapshot of another time, and drew from Crowley’s own life.

Learn more

[Images: 1970 and 2020 Boys in the Band posters]

[artistic-scribbles]

patrick stump should get a cat and name it catrick stump

[rantingaboutmusicals]

Andrew rannells is the definition of perfection,

Find me a photo where he isn't hot or slaying

Go ahead, I'll wait

[punk-chicken-radio]

ax trax of the week

lambrini girls - boys in the band

-ax

[mrmousetolliver]

"What I am, Michael, is a 32 year-old, ugly, pock marked Jew fairy, and if it takes me a little while to pull myself together, and if I smoke a little grass before I get up the nerve to show my face to the world, it's nobody's god-damned business but my own. And how are you this evening?"

Harold in The Boys In the Band

[sp4c3-c0wb0y]

I think Michael’s and Harold’s relationship to each other is very interesting in the way that they hate each other due to the fact that they are just so similar. Both having issues with their physical appearance constantly picking and fixing, trying to control their issues with themselves, for Michael it’s his hair and for Harold his face. Their relationship to me, is one that is the way it is due to their similarities. Michael and Harold mirror each other in many ways (I think this is shown in Michaels birthday gift to Harold, as well as the dialogue they have) and I think that fact is what causes Michael to loathe Harold so much. It just makes sense to me that Michael, a person who to some degree hates himself, hates the traits he mirrors with Harold. (Also it’s not just their insecurities on looks that they have in common. Michael and Harold both have careers in entertainment in common as well)But anyway that’s just what I think I might be totally wrong, I’m just a girl online with opinions on gay media.

[collinsportmaine]

Three actors from Dark Shadow also performed in ground breaking theater productions for their portrayal of gay life.

Joel Crothers - January 28, 1941 – November 6, 1985

Dark Shadows - 166 episodes as Joe Haskell & Nathan Forbes

In 1982, Crothers originated the role of Ed Reiss, the lover of Harvey Fierstein’s character Arnold. At the time, brothers was the best known actor in the cast due to his work in Dark Shadows and other soap opera, so he got top billing.

Keith Prentice - February 21, 1940 –September 27, 1992

Dark Shadows - 40 episodes as Morgan Collins

In 1968, Prentice was in the original cast of The Boys in the Band, as Larry, "extremely handsome" commercial artist who prefers multiple sex partners. He also appeared in the 1970 film directed by William Friedkin.

Christopher Bernau - June 2, 1940 – June 14, 1989

Dark Shadows - 23 episodes as Phillip Todd

When Prentice left the office-Broadway production of The Boys in the Band, Bernau replaced in in the role of Larry. He continued in the role until the show closed in 1970.

Sadly, all three actors died before their time due to AIDS.

[shamelessly-obsessed]

Quick Hank and Larry pen drawing I did and finished up digitally

[avengedbiologist]

Happy pride month have Donald from boys in the band!

[100gayicons]

Christopher Bernau was a New York based actor, primarily known for his for his work on the stage and television. Shortly after leaving college, he got cast in the New York Shakespeare Festival's production of Antony and Cleopatra in 1962. This led to him being cast in the national tour of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf in 1964.

Another breakthrough for Bernau - he was cast as Larry in the groundbreaking “Boys in the Band” replacing actor Keith Prentice. While working on the show off-broadway, Bernau was cast in the daytime gothic soap opera “Dark Shadows” as Phillip Todd, a member of a mysterious cult.

In 1977, Bernau originated the role of “The Passion of Dracula” which ran for 718 performances off Broadway.

His best known role was the villain Alan Spaulding on the soap opera “Guiding Light” which be played for 106 episodes between 1977 and 1989.

Though the character of Spaulding was as a habitual womanizer, Bernau was out as gay in his personal life. But to the public, he maintained a straight facade, saying in a 1981 People Magazine interview:

“When I'm happily involved with a woman, I don't look around for someone else. I’m going out with two or three girls now. I've never been and at the moment am not looking to get married.”

Beanau died of a heart attack in 1989, as a result of complications from AIDS.