Gay Theater Composers

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 10:17pm

I'm trying to organize an evening of music by gay theater composers for an AIDS benefit at my school for the fall.

So far, I've got these fella's:

-Stephen Sondheim
-Michael John LaChiusa
-Elton John
-Ricky Ian Gordon
-William Finn

I'm not entirely sure if Andrew Lippa is and I feel like I'm missing some. Your help would be appreciated!

Thanks!

[jv92]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 10:19pm

Lorenz Hart was a lyricist but he was gay.
Cole Porter was married and was gay or biesexual.
Bernstein was apperantly gay.
Actually, for more on this, there's a Famous American Gays thread on the board.

[LaCageAuxFollesFan2]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 10:22pm

Um...Jerry Herman. Look no further than La Cage Aux Folles for your theme of the evening.

[AuditioningWaitress]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 10:28pm

-Jeff Blumenkrantz
-Michael Rupert
-Marc Shaiman

[gustof777]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 10:29pm

Damon Intrabartolo

[apdarcey]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 10:40pm

robert lopez

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 10:40pm

Stephen Flaherty. Andrew Lippa is gay

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 10:42pm

No such thing.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 10:43pm

My favorite composer, Andrew Lloyd Webber, can't fool anyone with his wife and kids!

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 10:44pm

I think also A.R. Rahman is gay. Not sure though. Kander and Ebb were gay too.

[Scottie310]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 10:49pm

I think the question is-who are the straight ones?

[Kevinoes]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 11:09pm

Why do we need to know who is gay, exactly?

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 11:42pm

Robert Lopez is not gay (or if he is, he's fooling a lot of people). Jeff Marx, however, is gay.

Others whom you can add to the concert without, I think, offending them or anyone else include John Kander, Marc Blitzstein, Wright and Forrest, and among lyricists, David Zippel, John Latouche, and Kenward Elmslie.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 11:42pm

Kevinoes - if you took the time to read my post, you'd understand why I'm asking. It's not out of curiosity.

My only problem with using Bernstein and Porter is that I'd prefer to take a more prideful approach instead of using material by those who were more closeted and secretive about their sexuality.

How on earth did I forget Jerry Herman? Duh. And would actually love to use Blumenkrantz's gorgeous "I Won't Mind" at some point in the evening. Thanks for mentioning him!

I had no idea about John Kander. It'll be nice to have some of his stuff in there.

Updated On: 5/22/06 at 11:42 PM

Posted: 5/22/06 at 11:53pm

kevinoes, we need to know because it's part of what we are and knowing that we are a visible, productive, proud force is important. We need to know because not knowing is lonely...we need to know because we need to see people like us and help everyone of us realize we are not alone...we need to know.

we need to know!
Updated On: 5/22/06 at 11:53 PM

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 11:54pm

I think is going to sound ignorant, but why do AIDS benefits always have to showcase the gay community? I understand that AIDS is a big epdiemic in the gay coummunity, but I just find it odd that the benefits are so exclusive.

[beav]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 11:55pm

Nobody home...thanks for clarifying that about Robert Lopez. He's not gay. He's married and he and his wife I believe are writing the Finding Nemo stuff together for a Disney theme park show. You should "out" somebody at all, let alone if you aren't sure of their orientation.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 11:55pm

RentBoy, we're actually having another benefit to represent AIDS all over with ALL AIDS-related material. We have a very large gay male population at my school, so we thought it would be nice to have a separate concert honoring gay male musical theater composers.

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 11:56pm

I don't think Cole Porter was entirely closeted.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 11:56pm

Yeah, I guess you're right, Jazzy...

Updated On: 5/22/06 at 11:56 PM

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 11:56pm

Oh okay. Just noticed that. Same with the Broadway Bares benefits.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 5/22/06 at 11:57pm

I know what you mean, though. I'm just doing this for a specific reason.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 5/23/06 at 12:00am

Gotcha. Hope ya weren't offended, didn't mean to.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 5/23/06 at 12:02am

Nope, I heard where you were coming from.

Thanks guys for the help!

Time to sign off and catch some z's.

Night!

Posted: 5/23/06 at 12:03am

"When touring, singer Cole Porter had nine
pounds of fudge sent to him each month."

-GoodEats on The Food Network