Broadway Pride Playlist

Celebrating Pride? Mama needs her show tunes! Enjoy this playlist of songs from LGBTQ-themed musicals, curated by the programming staff at The Library for the Performing Arts.

Falsettos

Music by William Finn. Book by James Lapine and William Finn.

Two 1 Act Musicals (March of the Falsettos/Falsettoland) staged as a two act musical about a gay, jewish man named Marvin, his ex wife Trina, their son Jason, Marvin’s on and off lover Whizzer, the family psychiatrist turned stepdad Mendel, and the lesbian couple Charlotte and Cordelia, who live next door in the second act. The first act, “March”, takes place in the late 1970s and deals with Marvin trying to maintain a family dynamic with his ex-wife and son, while having a separate homelife with his romantic partner. Tension also builds as the family psychiatrist becomes romantically involved with Trina. The second act, Falsettoland, takes place in the 1980s as the blended family prepares for the bar mitzvah of their son Jason, who can’t decide if he even wants to have it or not. When Whizzer is diagnosed with AIDS and sent to the hospital, everyone comes together to show what family really means.

The show is a sequel to the one act In Trousers, in which Marvin questions and ultimately comes to terms with his sexuality. Falsettos premiered on Broadway in 1992 and was revived in 2016. Both productions received critical acclaim, including Tony Award and Drama Desk nominations.

Check out this oral history with Falsettos writer William Finn.

The Color Purple

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Bray, Brenda Russell, and Allee Willis. Book by Marsha Norman.

Based on the 1982 book by Alice Walker, this 2005 musical was produced by Oprah Winfrey, who starred in Steven Spielberg's 1985 film version. The musical tells the story of a young black woman named Celie who faces many hardships, including spousal and parental abuse, losing her sister, and poverty. As an adult, Celie meets and falls in love with a singer named Shug and the two build a relationship of love and trust, while Celie raises herself from poverty and attempts to reunite with her long lost sister.

After the show ran for 3 years on Broadway and several national tours, it was revived in 2015 and received critical praise, especially for star Cynthia Erivo, and received several awards including the Tony for Best Musical Revival and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.

Check out Alice Walker’s The Color Purple.

La Cage aux Folles

Music and Lyrics by Jerry Herman, Book by Harvey Fierstein

Georges, owner of the drag night club La Cage aux Folles in St. Tropez, lives with his star drag performer and life partner of 20 years, Albin, above the nightclub. Georges son Jean-Michel has fallen for the daughter of a conservative politician, who wants to shut down all drag clubs. In order to impress his son’s fiance and her family, Georges and Albin pretend to be heterosexuals, until fate forces Albin to dress as Jean-Michel’s mother. Chaos ensues and in the end, love wins.

This musical, based on the french play by Jean Poiret, proudly showcases the ability of two loving people to raise a child and shows how to be proud of who you really are. The show opened in 1983 and closed in 1987. During the run, many members of the chorus were tragically lost in the AIDS epidemic. Both the original production and its two Broadway revivals have won their respective Best Musical and Best Revival at the Tony Awards.

Cabaret

Music by John Kander, Lyrics by Fred Ebb, Book by Joe Masteroff

Based on a novel by Christopher Isherwood and a play by John Van Druten, the famous msucial Cabaret is set during the Great Depression in Berlin, Germany. The musical numbers at the Kit Kat Club mirror points in the story as American author Cliff Bradshaw and British singer Sally Bowles form a friendship and romance as they make their living before the Nazi Party comes to power. Meanwhile friends go down dark paths, and an elderly couple face opposition to their union.

While Cliff’s bisexuality is made more apparent in the film version and the 1998 revival, the Emcee character is coded gay, made more obvious in the 1998 revival as his final scene shows him in a concentration camp uniform with a pink triangle (used to denote homosexuals).

The original production opened in 1966 and closed in 1969, having won 8 Tony Awards. And the 1972 film version, directed by Bob Fosse, won 8 Oscars and was nominated for Best Picture.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Trask, Book by John Cameron Mitchell.

Originally premiered off Broadway in 1998, made its Broadway debut in 2014. Hedwig is a german, glam rock, post op trans rockstar who tells the story of how her surgery was botched, and how she came to know Tommy Gnosis, the rockstar who’s tour she has been following. The show is presented as a rock concert, where Hedwig presents her story in song and monologue. She deals with the problems caused by her failed sex change surgery, including her “Angry Inch” and how her philosophy on love has changed her life.

The show won the 2014 Tony Award for Best Revival, even though this was the first broadway based production, having only played off broadway a decade and a half earlier.

Qualified researchers the Theater on Film and Tape original production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

Fun Home

Music by Jeanine Tesori, Lyrics and Book by Lisa Kron.

Based on the graphic memoir by Alison Bechdel, this one act musical follows the life of Bechdel and her father, who runs a funeral home. The author character struggles with her own sexual identity, while examining and coming to terms with her father’s closeted life and eventual suicide. The audience sees Alison as a child, a college student, and a struggling adult comic book artist. The show opened at the Public Theater in 2013 before moving to Broadway in 2015. It won Best Musical at the 2015 Tony Awards, and was the first time that a female writing duo won for Best Music and Lyrics. “Ring of Keys” became an anthem for those seeking to understand their gender identity and “Changing My Major” is a coming out song for the ages. The show was also nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Check out Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home.

A Chorus Line

Music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban, book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante.

Opening in 1975, this show was based on real conversations with dancers during a broadway audition. As the director decides their fate, the auditioners discuss their home life, their dreams, their sexual identities, and how they manage to maintain careers. But at the end of the day, only a select few manage to make it to the cast list for the show.

The show went on to make history for its portrayals of race, gender, and sex in the world of Broadway theater. It won nine Tony Awards (including Best Musical), the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and was formerly the Longest Running Production on Broadway at 6,137 performances when it closed in 1990 (now holding sixth place).

Kiss of the Spider Woman

Music by John Kander, Lyrics by Fred Ebb, Book by Terrence McNally

Two prisoners in an Argentinian prison, one a window dresser and the other a revolutionary, are forced to share a cell. Despite their differences, they grow a bond that becomes intimate while trying to survive the tortures of the prison. Luis, the window dresser, uses fantasies of the movies he saw as a kid to help him cope, while also acting as a spy for the government to ensure an early freedom.

Based on the novel by Manuel Puig, the show initially opened in London  in 1992 before moving to Broadway in 1993. It won 7 Tony Awards, including for stars Chita Rivera, Brent Carver, and Anthony Crivello.

Playlist researched, compiled and written by Andrew Weinstein (Programs page) and Evan Leslie (Artistic producers, LPA)