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1973 Off-Broadway Musical: THE FAGGOT

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#1

1973 Off-Broadway Musical: THE FAGGOT

Posted: 7/23/07 at 12:56am

I was looking through Footlight Records' rare LP section online and came across a cast recording for an Off-Broadway musical from 1973 titled, THE FAGGOT. It ran at the Truck and Warehouse Theater on East 4th Street from June 18th to September 25th, 1973. Music and Lyrics are by Al Carmines, who also directed the piece. Choreography was by David Vaughan.

According to IOBDB, the show is described as, "Vignettes of homosexual lives and attitudes in songs and sketches. Previously produced off off Broadway at Judson Poets Theater."

I'm curious as to whether anyone here either saw the show back then, has heard any of the music, or has any further history about the production.

1973 Off-Broadway Musical: THE FAGGOT
THE FAGGOT
"Winning a Tony this year is like winning Best Attendance in third grade: no one will care but the winner and their mom."
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#4

re: 1973 Off-Broadway Musical: THE FAGGOT

Posted: 7/23/07 at 2:34am

From what I heard, it was a show that tried to be so controversial, it flopped!
A little known fact is that in the original screenplay, Pan's Labyrinth was Pan's FLAByrinth. Hmmmmmmm...glad they changed it.
#5

re: 1973 Off-Broadway Musical: THE FAGGOT

Posted: 7/23/07 at 6:42am

Okay, dating myself here, but *yes*, I saw it. (I used to have the t-shirt as well, which was *really* brave for the early 70s!). I dont remember much, save that it tried so hard to be a gay equivalent of HAIR.
http://docandraider.com
#7

re: 1973 Off-Broadway Musical: THE FAGGOT

Posted: 7/23/07 at 7:31am

Totally just won the playbill off eBay, and would like to actually hear it (however I am pissed at Footlight and the way they have handled their closing and pricing and the bitchy letter)
http://www.youtube.com/huskcharmer
#8

re: 1973 Off-Broadway Musical: THE FAGGOT

Posted: 7/23/07 at 7:44am

It didn't flop. It ran off Broadway for a respectable time and was recorded.

That was a big deal for gay theater back then--there wasn't any!

I was 17, out as a "bisexual" but I already knew that wasn't really true.

Of all people, my bitchy Aunt Sally took me to see it--she worked part-time in a hair salon in Scarsdale for a gay Italian hairdresser who sold marijuana on the side and took her to a discotheque. So she KNEW gay.

She took me as a way of telling me she was "cool." And she was.

I remember there was a great scene in it between Oscar Wilde and Bosie and another between Gertrude Stein and Alice.
#9

re: 1973 Off-Broadway Musical: THE FAGGOT

Posted: 7/23/07 at 8:40am

I had loved IN CIRCLES and PROMENADE so much that I was looking forward to the show but I thought it was mostly garbage: I still don't know why there was a number for Catherine the Great about the horse she loved. I felt the Oscar Wilde number suffered from Carmines' inability to write a well or wittily as Wilde, but the Alice Toklas-Gertrude Stein duet was quite lovely, with none of the convoluted language that one considers the style of Ms Stein.

I found it a major disappointment.
#10

re: 1973 Off-Broadway Musical: THE FAGGOT

Posted: 1/1/14 at 4:27am

I saw this and loved it. As it was explained in the show's prologue the term "faggot" was being used not only as slang for gay but to describe anyone that dared to live outside of Society's perceived norm. Thus the Catherine the Great scene made sense. The scene with Marilyn child was a hoot. A straight woman who opened a gay bar named after her abusive longshoreman father, singing a torch song parody!
#11

re: 1973 Off-Broadway Musical: THE FAGGOT

Posted: 1/1/14 at 5:35am

My goodness PalJoey,you had your own 'gay' Aunty Mame-lucky you.Who needs Broadway when people like yourself have such wonderful true life tales to tell.
#12

re: 1973 Off-Broadway Musical: THE FAGGOT

Posted: 1/1/14 at 4:26pm

Pal Joey needs to write a book about his theatre experiences...or at the very least write a very long blog. Ponder that thought. from RC in Austin Texas
"Noel [Coward] and I were in Paris once. Adjoining rooms, of course. One night, I felt mischievous, so I knocked on Noel's door, and he asked, 'Who is it?' I lowered my voice and said 'Hotel detective. Have you got a gentleman in your room?' He answered, 'Just a minute, I'll ask him.'" (Beatrice Lillie)
#14

re: 1973 Off-Broadway Musical: THE FAGGOT

Posted: 1/1/14 at 7:38pm

I too was disappointed and I was a huge Al Carmines fan, still am.
ARTc3 formerly ARTc. Actually been a poster since 2004. My name isn't Art. Drop the "3" and say the signature and you'll understand.
#15

re: 1973 Off-Broadway Musical: THE FAGGOT

Posted: 1/1/14 at 10:11pm

I saw it too, was already on my second husband (I was 24) and I thought it was just great. I was a big Al Carmines fan, and as someone mentioned, there wasn't that much gay theatre at the time, so this seemed special. In the early 90s, when I had my own theatre company in New York, we considered doing a revival of it. When we read it again, we were surprised at how apologetic and negative it was about homosexuality, and how dated it had become. Thankfully, the world had moved on, and THE FAGGOT was only a product of its time.
#16

re: 1973 Off-Broadway Musical: THE FAGGOT

Posted: 1/1/14 at 10:34pm

Your post reminded me early gay theater, and as such struck a chord. Thank you. Off and Off-Off-Broadway had their fair share of gay themed shows. Not too much later than, The Faggot, the Glines forms and soon Meridian and The Shandol Theater are formed. The performances were of varying degree of professionalism and the production values were often pretty low, but there was a real gay "experimental" theater movement. I remember it well.
ARTc3 formerly ARTc. Actually been a poster since 2004. My name isn't Art. Drop the "3" and say the signature and you'll understand.
#17

re: 1973 Off-Broadway Musical: THE FAGGOT

Posted: 1/1/14 at 10:45pm

I think we finally have a viable candidate for next Christmas's live broadcast.
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#21

re: 1973 Off-Broadway Musical: THE FAGGOT

Posted: 1/3/14 at 3:19pm

i saw it at 18 and can't remember anything about it except that it was ho hum.
That can't be good. Love Al Carmine's music though..Promenade rocks.
#24

re: 1973 Off-Broadway Musical: THE FAGGOT

Posted: 1/5/14 at 6:10pm

I've often wondered about the gay Off-Broadway theatre of the '70s. Sometimes I'll pull out my "Theatre World"s from that era to look at how many shows that had all, or predominantly, male casts would have a shirtless picture of one of the performers in their "Theatre World" listings. And I'm not complaining.
"A coherent existance after so many years of muddle" - Desiree' Armfelt, A Little Night Music "Life keeps happening everyday, Say Yes" - 70, Girls, 70 "Life is what you do while you're waiting to die" - Zorba
#25

re: 1973 Off-Broadway Musical: THE FAGGOT

Posted: 1/5/14 at 6:47pm

sondheimboy2 There were lots of Off and Off-Off Broadway gay themed plays in the 70s. There were even a few really good ones. I remember Boy Meets Boy very fondly, as I do, Stray Dog Story. I worked for The Glines and later directed at The Shandol Theater. It really was sort of a golden age.

ARTc3 formerly ARTc. Actually been a poster since 2004. My name isn't Art. Drop the "3" and say the signature and you'll understand.

Updated On: 1/5/14 at 06:47 PM

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