• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Travel
  • Sports
  • Law/Justice
  • Celebrities
  • Republicans
  • Madonna
  • Books
  • Men
  • Trans Rights
  • Royals
  • Monkeypox
  • Sophia Bush’s girlfriend ‘proud’ the actress has opened up about coming out as queer
  • Mel B declares she’ll ‘always be open’ when it comes to her sexuality!
  • Megan Thee Stallion being sued for ‘forcing cameraman watch her having lesbian sex!’

Black, Gay, and Striving to be Heard in ‘Choir Boy’ on Broadway: REVIEW

Naveen Kumar January 9, 2019 Leave a Comment

A new play above 42nd Street that allows young Black men the rich, messy humanity of any other character, rather casting them as unseen statistics or putting them on trial, is rare enough to merit celebration. Choir Boy, which opened tonight marking the Broadway debut of Moonlight screenwriter Tarell Alvin McCraney, is nothing short of a rapture.

We're at the Charles R. Drew Prep School for Boys, a breeding ground for Black excellence where the headmaster (Tony winner Chuck Cooper) tells students “keep your minds clear and your hands in prayer.” The school's renowned choir is singing at graduation when a taunt from inside its ranks startles the lead soloist: “This faggot ass Nigga,” scoffs Bobby (J. Quinton Johnson) at the overtly effeminate Pharus (Jeremy Pope).

From here, McCraney unfurls an ensemble coming-of-age story that's insightful and generous with every boy in the choir as we follow them through the next year. An all-male, all-Black boarding school offers an insular and combustible setting inside the Friedman Theatre for the play to examine how these boys become men. In their intimately observed stories, and through soulful, rousing music interludes, McCraney illustrates the specific cultural forces that shape the conventions of Black masculinity — and the struggles of navigating around them.

Pharus is no shrinking violet in the face of bullying or any other context; his eloquence and sass are the source of much of the play's vigorous humor. He's the smartest, most talented kid in the room most of the time, and he knows what he deserves. It's a refreshing characterization for a queer character in his shoes, and an impossibly winning one in Pope's hands. “Would you rather be feared or respected, Headmaster?” he asks in their meeting after the incident, articulating the fork in the road as he sees it.

Bobby's hatefulness isn't excused, but placed in the context of a character whose callousness masks vulnerability. His frustration at being policed for picking on Pharus stems from knowing he has a whole life of being policed ahead of him. “My daddy say they used to let you get away with a lil bit because they know how hard it is to be a black man out there,” Bobby says. “Now, everything got to be watched, gotta be careful, gotta be cordial.” His shirking of respectability politics is easy enough to understand.

That the two boys actually mirror each other in their essential desire to be who they are without compromise or consequence is one mark of the play's formal brilliance. Another is its embrace of familiar conventions of school-day drama that may have bordered on cliche in less skilled hands, like PAs from the headmaster between scenes, and a rumpled white teacher (Austin Pendleton) who gets thrown in to discipline and inspire, stirring echoes of Dangerous Minds and Dead Poets Society.

Mostly, it's just a pleasure to spend time at Drew, getting to know the school's inhabitants as they get to know themselves (it struck me several times that Choir Boy has all the ingredients for an addicting serial drama). Manhattan Theatre Club's production, directed by Trip Cullman and first staged off-Broadway in 2013, generates momentum and affection in equal measure, such that semesters fly by and suddenly it's lights up and time for real life. Fortunately, we live in one where a play like Choir Boy is on Broadway.

Recent theatre features…
Towleroad's Top 10 Plays and Musicals of 2018
The Most Interesting Part of Broadway's ‘To Kill a Mockingbird' Already Happened Off Stage: REVIEW
‘Clueless, the Musical' Can't Capture the Movie's Bite Off-Broadway: REVIEW
Bryan Cranston Headlines a Bold but Bloodless ‘Network' on Broadway: REVIEW
Broadway's ‘The Cher Show' Is a Feast for Fans and an Assertion of Legacy: REVIEW
Feel-Good New Musical ‘The Prom' Wears a Big Heart on Its Puffy Sleeve – REVIEW
Broadway's ‘American Son' Starring Kerry Washington Is the Most Vacuous Kind of Race Play: REVIEW

Follow Naveen Kumar on Twitter: @Mr_NaveenKumar

(photos: matthew murphy)

Topics: Music, Society, Theater, towleroad More Posts About: Entertainment, Naveen Kumar, New York, Review

Related Posts
  • Federal judge dismisses Disney’s lawsuit against DeSantis
  • HRC Fires President Alphonso David Over Alleged Connections to Cuomo Sexual Harassment Scandal; David Promises Legal Action
  • The “Inner Circle” That Kept Andrew Cuomo Governor Faces Scrutiny: HRC Investigates Leader’s Involvement; Roberta Kaplan Resigns From ‘Time’s Up’
  • Mel B declares she’ll ‘always be open’ when it comes to her sexuality!

    Mel B declares she’ll ‘always be open’ when it comes to her sexuality!

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Mel B will “always be open” when it comes to her sexuality. The Spice Girls singer, 48, who reunited with her bandmates including the group's ex-singer Victoria Beckham for the fashion …Read More »
  • Megan Thee Stallion being sued for ‘forcing cameraman watch her having lesbian sex!’

    Megan Thee Stallion being sued for ‘forcing cameraman watch her having lesbian sex!’

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Megan Thee Stallion is being sued for allegedly creating a hostile work environment and forcing her cameraman to watch her having lesbian sex. The 29-year-old ‘Savage' rapper faces the salacious claims …Read More »
  • Mean Girls star Jonathan Bennett recalls the moment his life ‘changed forever’

    Mean Girls star Jonathan Bennett recalls the moment his life ‘changed forever’

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Jonathan Bennett's life was “changed forever” by his role in ‘Mean Girls'. The 42-year-old actor starred as heartthrob Aaron Samuels in the 2004 cult classic – which followed Lindsay Lohan, Rachel …Read More »
  • Sir Elton John sent Lance Bass gift basket to celebrate coming out

    Sir Elton John sent Lance Bass gift basket to celebrate coming out

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Sir Elton John sent Lance Bass a gift basket after he came out as gay. The 44-year-old NSYNC star revealed the legendary singer showed his support when Lance decided to reveal …Read More »
Previous Post: « Chris Evans, Stormy Daniels, New ‘Captain Marvel’ Trailer, and More: HOT LINKS
Next Post: Where Abortion Fights Will Play Out In 2019 »

Primary Sidebar

Most Recent

  • Sophia Bush’s girlfriend ‘proud’ the actress has opened up about coming out as queer

    Sophia Bush’s girlfriend ‘proud’ the actress has opened up about coming out as queer

  • Mel B declares she’ll ‘always be open’ when it comes to her sexuality!

    Mel B declares she’ll ‘always be open’ when it comes to her sexuality!

  • Megan Thee Stallion being sued for ‘forcing cameraman watch her having lesbian sex!’

    Megan Thee Stallion being sued for ‘forcing cameraman watch her having lesbian sex!’

  • Mean Girls star Jonathan Bennett recalls the moment his life ‘changed forever’

    Mean Girls star Jonathan Bennett recalls the moment his life ‘changed forever’

  • Sir Elton John sent Lance Bass gift basket to celebrate coming out

    Sir Elton John sent Lance Bass gift basket to celebrate coming out

  • Relationship status influences heterosexual women’s sexual prejudice towards lesbians

    Relationship status influences heterosexual women’s sexual prejudice towards lesbians

  • JoJo Siwa had a challenge transitioning to new grown-up image

    JoJo Siwa had a challenge transitioning to new grown-up image

  • Liz Hurley defends lesbian sex scene in new movie that was directed by her son

    Liz Hurley defends lesbian sex scene in new movie that was directed by her son

Partner Links

  • Wall Street Journal Calls For GOP Senate Revolt Against Putin
    The Wall Street op-ed board, ridiculed for years for its flights […]
  • Happy 35th birthday Chris Colfer!
    The post Happy 35th birthday Chris Colfer! first appeared on Greg […]
  • Tuesday News Round-Up: Ricky Martin; Patti LuPone; Cynthia Nixon; Jason Collins; Jennifer Lopez & more!
    Ricky Martin Flaunts Physique Ahead of Two-Night Las Vegas Concert Instinct […]
  • OMG, WATCH: Bai Ling celebrates Memorial Day
    View this post on Instagram A post shared by Bai Ling […]
  • OMG, WATCH: The trailer for ‘Scene Queen Montreal’ documentary hosted by Canadian drag + nightlife legend Cotton Venus is here
    View this post on Instagram A post shared by Michael Venus […]

Most Commented

Social

Twitter @tlrd | Facebook | Instagram @tlrd

About

  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy
[towleroadmr] [towleroadtn]

Footer

Ptown Hacks 2018

Read

  • Travel
  • Film
  • Law – LGBT Rights
  • Columns
  • Specials

About

  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 · Log in

×
×