Lack of LGBT Protagonists — Page 2

Luminaire2 said

Imagine a show where a character was gay, or black, or First Nations, or Asian and it really didn’t matter to the story, it wasn’t a part of the story persay, it was just a part of who the person was?

Isn’t this exactly what’s going on at Frozen???

BroadwayStar4 said: "It's not just a feeling, but it's also pretty obvious that they're underrepresented. Straight people get to have countless ofshows with straight protagonists, meanwhile gay people only get a few here and there....and why? Just because they're minorities? So straight, white people should always be the protagonists just because they're the majority? Do you not see how problematic that is?"

OK, so as soon as Boys In The Band opens, will that balance the scales? It is hard to quantify feelings and what is obvious.

My issue is the same as when we look at how many POC are nominated for Academy Awards, it is so far downstream from the inception and casting of things to nearly be irrelevant. So many things happen before those things (from the way scholarships and grants choose who gets to go to writing programs to the diversity of the people who invest in Broadway shows) that affect the shows we see and what we look like... that by the time it is on Broadway, the discussion is too late, since you're only looking at the final stage in a massive puzzle.

If you're not heading out of the confines of Broadway to see Charm at MCC or Hir at Playwrights Horizons, or countless other shows that are going out of their way to champion diversity on all fronts, then you shouldn't then expect to see those stories transfer to bigger, more expensive stages.

The upcoming Head Over Heels has no shortage of LGBT+ protagonists.

Okay- let's count how many black characters- jewish characters- how many Asians, disabled, etc. Find it a very distasteful enterprise at best- gays have nothing to complain about compared to other minorities in the theater- some years there are a lot of gay productions- some years not. Let's not be like the color counters every Oscar season. Be patient- plenty of gay characters are always coming down the pike.

Updated On: 4/18/18 at 09:15 PM

It's almost like the last 5 years of Angels in America, Avenue Q, Mean Girls, The Color Purple, Come From Away, Falsettos, Fun House, Cabaret, Hedwig, Kinky Boots, Spring Awakening, Torch Song (about to start it's 2nd run) and pretty soon Boys in the Band never existed...

Updated On: 4/18/18 at 09:42 PM

Impossible2 said: "It's almost like the last 5 years ofAngels in America,Avenue Q, Mean Girls, The Color Purple, Come From Away, Falsettos, Fun House, Cabaret, Hedwig, Kinky Boots, Spring Awakening, Torch Song (about to start it's 2nd run)and pretty soon Boys in the Bandnever existed..."



Or extending the time line- The Nance,Take Me Out, RENT,Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Breaking the Code, The Laramie Project, Buyer and Cellar..



One sl correction- it's FUN Home not FUN House.

I would say Elsa in FROZEN is pretty asexual. At least in terms of being a leading character who has no romantic interest.



But again, I don’t think it is a commercial producer’s job to “represent”. It is a commercial producers first job to repay their investors. Just as it is for any corporation. Perhaps a more interesting thesis would be on the moral obligation of commercial producers and how that sits in a shelf with the issues of financing commercial productions.

Updated On: 4/18/18 at 10:39 PM

HEDWIG was on a Broadway because it had a major bankable star attached to it. FUN HOME was the rare thing- an artistic Off Broadway musical that managed to transfer to a small Broadway theatre where it played a year and BARELY made back its money.

Both were relative anomolies. Are you trying to argue that because these shows didn’t lose millions other producers should be inspired to gamble similarly?

Some producers are willing to take the risk. And they are to be praised.

By you aren’t thinking about the way most commercial theatre is put together and financed or again the goal which is to make money for the investors.

There are several good books on the subject that would be very informative for you to read if you pursue this thesis.

Updated On: 4/18/18 at 10:51 PM

sabrelady, why are you so snarky and rude. Seriously, what is your problem?

You proposed a thesis (complaint) a Lack of LGBT Protagonists and sited examples to prove your case. Some of us ( myself included) have quoted examples rebutting your theme and you dismiss them -"I've never heard of them", as if that was the only criteria for proving your case and you call me out as "snarky and rude"? Unless I agree with you I have "a problem"? (Like that would pass for "snarky and rude on THIS site!)

Quid erat demonstratum.

Interesting thread.

I'm sure many of you read Jesse Green's long piece about the history of gay plays.

A Brief History of Gay Theater, in Three Acts

Here's a quote from it:

Can it be that “Angels” — the play that proclaims “The great work begins!” — is actually the end of the line? After 25 years without a similarly thundering new entry into the canon, it may be time to recognize that the spotlight is moving on. ..., many of the best young gay male playwrights — Stephen Karam, Jordan Harrison, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins — no longer write about gay people anyway, or write about them only peripherally.

QueenAlice, I agree with you that Elsa could quite logically be read as asexual - it is certainly a possibility that is consistent with everything we see about her. It is not explicitly mentioned, though, and by that method (of guessing something consistent with behaviour), many lead characters in many shows could be bisexual or asexual (and in the latter case often either biromantic, heteroromantic, or homoromantic as well, since sex scenes rarely take place on stage). I am not arguing against your point at all - i think it is fine to interpret or "code" character's sexual and romantic orientations on a best-guess basis if one is looking for representation that they can identify with. And in the case of an asexual character who is also aromantic, it would only come up if it is a relevant story point, whereas often people infer a sexual orientation for any character portrayed as having a romantic relationship onstage, so any orientation other than asexual is more likely to be inferred from the nature of relationships shown onstage..

haterobics said: "If you have a limited knowledge of the subject you are discussing, and come to a place where people have more knowledge, and then dismiss those plays because you don't know them... it sort of seems like we're just here to validate your theory, which has a lot of flaws."

I asked for thoughts, not a list of plays and musicals that completely misses the point that I'm making. Yes, there are shows with gay characters, but that's not the point. The point is that most of them are not protagonists. The point is that most shows with gay protagonists are from the 60s, 80s, or 90s. The point is that there's a lack of LGBT protagonists, therefore less options to choose from. And I hear ya, producers are too cowardly because they care more about money and less about the art. Broadway is commercial and a business. But see, that's not a good excuse. At least not to me. There's no excuse to just ignore diversity and continue to make protagonists that are white and straight. And it's sick and disgusting that some of you seem to be fine with that.

Updated On: 4/19/18 at 12:02 AM