When The Boys in the Band premiered off Broadway in 1968 and then was made into a movie two years later, it was the first time many people had seen gay culture depicted in popular entertainment. Some credited Mart Crowley’s play with pushing the gay rights movement forward, even acting as an inspiration for the historic Stonewall riots.
Revived on Broadway for its 50th anniversary, The Boys in the Band is about a group of friends who’ve gathered for a birthday party that eventually gets out of hand. The openly gay cast included Jim Parsons and Andrew Rannells, who appeared in a new film version in 2020. Now, Dallas’ Uptown Players is closing its season with a production of the groundbreaking drama.
One of the most startling aspects of the play is its frankness. Michael, in whose Upper East Side apartment the party for his frenemy Harold takes place, is an alcoholic who’s still publicly closeted. As he drinks over the course of the night, he grows increasingly hostile.
Oppressed and fearful to varying degrees, he and the other characters tear into one another, often over their relationship to the straight world and the resulting feelings of self-hatred. The unexpected arrival of Michael’s married college roommate, Alan, becomes the trigger for a twisted phone game in which the participants must call someone they love and tell them so.
Dennis Canright, who’s directing The Boys in the Band at Uptown Players, first read it as a college freshman at the suggestion of a friend. “It’s been one of my all-time favorites since,” he said in a phone interview.
I talked to the Fort Worth native about his approach to the show and how he prepared the cast for a play from such a different time. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Who were your gay role models when you first encountered The Boys in the Band?
Growing up in the ‘60s and ‘70s and coming from a conservative Southern Baptist family with a minister for a father, the only gay things we saw were comedians like Charles Nelson Reilly, Paul Lynde and Rip Taylor, and Liberace, gay men who had achieved a form of celebrity status. They were respected within their profession. It was known that they were gay, but no one openly talked about it, right? I remember my father saying, “Don’t ever do this. They’re funny, but this is wrong.” So reading a play about gay men being themselves and not the object of ridicule was something different. When they asked me if I would like to direct, I jumped at the chance.
The characters do ridicule one another.
I’ve had a lot of people approach me who were excited we were doing it. But they say, “It’s such an angry gay play.” Well, it doesn’t have to be. I’ve approached it a little differently than what has been done in the past. I mean, yeah, they’re still catty, they’re mean to each other. But we’ve explored their relationships before the party, their histories, so that the actors could bring that into their performances.
What was the atmosphere in America towards gay men from the 1950s to 1968, the year after the Summer of Love and the year before the Stonewall riots, a very pivotal point in gay history? You have to know what these men went through from their teenage years into college and afterwards. You need to explore not only the history, you need to explore the music. You need to explore the fashion. We also spent a lot of time talking about books, plays, movies and TV shows that explore this time period.
Tell me about the characters.
Michael [Clayton Younkin] probably went to college on a full scholarship. He talks about his struggles with money and living beyond his means, and his relationship with Donald [Caddo Lindsey], who he met in college and was from the same background. Then there’s his college roommate Alan [Seth Paden], who Michael possibly considers the great unrequited love of his life. After college, he met Harold [Ryan Maffei], who was everything Michael wanted to be but was afraid to be, which was an out, proud, gay man. Emory [Ethan Mullins] is an interior designer. Larry [Nick Marchetti] is a celebrated photographer. Hank [Ian Mead Moore] is Larry’s lover.
Is The Boys in the Band a period piece? Is it still relevant in a world where gay marriage is legal?
Several friends of mine who are out, proud, gay men still try to pass as straight at their jobs and within their families. It’s only when they’re with their gay friends that they’ll make offhand remarks like, “She’s such a queen.” I hate to say this, but among some mostly older gay men there is jealousy that the younger generation didn’t have to go through what we went through.
This is 1968, and this party is illegal activity in New York City. Emory has a line when the doorbell rings out of nowhere. He says, “Three feet apart.” Because at that point if a group of gay men were getting together and somebody didn’t like it, they’d call the police. It could be two or three men having lunch together that didn’t throw off the right vibe. You could be arrested. Anytime there was a group of gay men getting together, there was that thought.
This time period of the late ‘60s, we saw the tides turn. There are strides being made across the globe, for women’s rights, gay rights, Black lives, Hispanic lives. This is a real point in history. But if we’re not careful, we could go back. It’s a cautionary tale. It’s a historical piece. But it’s also a story about a group of friends that can say and do horrible things to each other but remain friends.
Details
Aug. 16-25 at the Kalita Humphreys Theater, 3636 Turtle Creek Blvd. $40-$60. uptownplayers.org.
