Watch: D.C.'s All-Male Gay Production of 'Grease'
LAst month I mentioned that the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, D.C. was staging an all-male production of Grease.
Writes MetroWeekly: "GMCW is the only gay men's chorus in the country that produces fully-staged Broadway productions, and they mostly stuck to the original script, set in a high school in the late-1950s and featuring the hits Greased Lightning and Summer Nights. The twist, however, was that this Rydell High School is comprised of all-gay students. Seems like 1959 was a year ahead of its time after all."
Check out their video report, AFTER THE JUMP...
This is especially sweet, because the last time the show came through town I finally saw it live, and thought, "What a relentlessly heterosexist show." And, of course, the movie is aggressively straight as well (despite being directed by Randall Kleiser). Its good girl/bad girl poles and portrayal of 50's mores might be accurate (or wish-fulfillment), but still. Thus, seeing these clips of the gay version is delicious.
Posted by: Dback | Apr 1, 2010 9:17:21 AM
The movie and at least the original version of the show have an absolutely horrible homophobic bit relative to the character Eugene. I was about 13 when the movie came out and that shit hurt me badly - seriously. This was in the context of a story and setting that was, as dback mentions, relentlessly, endlessly, heterosexual. And the movie, at least, ends with Sandy taking up smoking. Lovely. So, I don't share some people's apparent affection for this piece o crap. It's not even "so bad it's good"; it's just pointless, thoughtless junk in my view.
Posted by: ugh | Apr 1, 2010 9:24:29 AM
is Danny a hook-up ho or something in this version?
Posted by: steve | Apr 1, 2010 9:25:04 AM
Heterosexist? Please. The original piece is not about us. Get over it. As for the GMC of Washington D.C., they consistently do great work and should be applauded. I did notice one rather strange thing in the video clip, it appears the chorus' older members have disappeared, or were not at that particular taping. Anyone who has been to a GMCDC show knows they make up a significantly healthy part of the contingent.
Posted by: Mercutio | Apr 1, 2010 9:32:34 AM
Not having watched the clip, I don't know if the answer to my question is embedded or not, but I have to know: how do you change the "Greased Lightning" lyric "it's a real pussy wagon" into something workable for an all-gay refashioning of the story?
Posted by: A | Apr 1, 2010 9:37:52 AM
That looks like so much fun. Wish they were playing in Boston...
Posted by: Ryan | Apr 1, 2010 9:49:54 AM
It was OK, but would have been a lot more fun if the guys were playing guys and not girls. I don't know why they didn't make it truly gay and not just guys playing girls.
Posted by: Tom | Apr 1, 2010 10:09:03 AM
Good for the guys in GMCW!! Congrats!
Posted by: AGMC Member | Apr 1, 2010 10:47:27 AM
Tom - that's "Danny" (R) and "Sandy" (L) in that photo. Sandy doesn't look like a girl to me.
Posted by: Red Seven | Apr 1, 2010 10:58:36 AM
Salt Lake Men's Choir produced a fully staged production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat several years ago. I know of other Gay Men's Choruses that have done similar projects.
Posted by: Dennis | Apr 1, 2010 11:13:00 AM
As a member of the cast, let me make a couple comments...
Because we licensed the show, we were required to stick to the script. I'm sure if we had adjusted it to be more Gay, it would have been an even better production. But we did what we had to do under the terms of our contract.
Yes, other Gay Mens Choruses do occassional broadway style productions, but GMCW is the only one that stages them on a consistent basis.
As per the age range of the GMCW. Yes, we have a wide range of ages in the chorus. The past few years, though, our recruiting has been bringing in younger members. (Personally, I think events like Grease has a huge impact on that...) That said, this year, we staged two "concerts" simultaneously that pulled our members in opposite directions. One, obviously was the production of Grease. The other was a classical concert that was held about a month prior. Members had to pick one or the other and how the demographics fell is just how they fell. And don't let the video fool you... the camera was very forgiving to a lot of us! =)
Posted by: Patrick | Apr 1, 2010 12:51:34 PM
This looks great and congratulations GMCW but, MetroWeekly, referring to it as a "fully staged Broadway production" is factually inaccurate.
Posted by: Don | Apr 1, 2010 1:00:54 PM
How is "fully staged Broadway production" factually inaccurate? True, we were not literally "on Boradway" but it was a Broadway musical, and it was fully staged with sets, costumes, choreography, lights and sound. This was by far NOT a concert or semi-staged version.
Also, we did have guys playing guys. The only drag character was Ms. Lynch. Yes, some characters were the Pink Ladies, but they were still played as guys. Kinda femme guys, but guys just the same.
Posted by: Eric | Apr 1, 2010 1:14:15 PM
I hate grease like poison. Whatever the adaptation...like poison! Ptooey!
Annnnnd we know the age of every poster above me, for the most part.
Posted by: TANK | Apr 1, 2010 3:17:10 PM
I LOVED Grease when it came out as a movie -- I was 9 and totally in love with Kenickie. Heterosexist? Maybe, but I thought the scenes of male bonding and tight black outfits AWESOME. Saw it 10 times in the theater.
This vid was cute -- I wondered the same thing about them playing girls, but I understand the legal issue. Well done!
Posted by: drifterbob | Apr 1, 2010 9:59:39 PM
I thought their Wizard of Oz production was much better than this. Still it was enjoyable. However for spectacular gay productions that rivaled Hollywood , Las Vegas or Broadway the "ShowStopper" series produced by the DC drag group The Washington Academies was the standard to judge all others by. Sadly those productions are no longer offered.
Posted by: Lanie Kazan | Apr 2, 2010 2:56:22 AM