Watch This: The Boys in the Band

(Photo Credits: Screengrab from The Boys in the Band on Broadway YouTube)

The curtains for The Boys in the Band is drawing to a close so we want to take this time to look back at the play written by Mart Crowley in 1968, a year before the Stonewall riots. Some of you recommended its 1970 film version in this article by the way. But for those who haven’t heard of it yet and are curious about it, you may watch the revival for the 50^th anniversary of the play on Broadway (you have until Saturday, August 11). You may grab tickets here.

The Boys in the Band follows the story of nine gay men as they celebrate their friend Harold’s 30^th birthday at Michael’s NYC apartment and tada, he gets “Cowboy” as one of his birthday presents. As aforementioned, the year was 1968 so we get to see a glimpse of the lives of gay men during this time. The 2018 production stars Matt Bomer (Donald), Zachary Quinto (Harold), Jim Parsons (Michael), Andrew Rannells (Larry), Robin De Jesus (Emory), Brian Hutchison (Alan), Charlie Carver (Cowboy), Michael Benjamin Washington (Bernard), and Tuc Watkins (Hank).

. . The cast of the @boysbandbway wearing @theaidsmemorialtshirt in aid of @housingworks, fighting to end AIDS and homelessness. . The 50th anniversary production of @boysbandbway at the Booth Theatre, NYC, until August 11, 2018. . Pictured: . @tucwatkins  @therealjimparsons  @mattbomer  @michaelbwashington  @robinofjesus  @brianhutchison3  @zacharyquinto  @andrewrannells  @charliecarver . @theaidsmemorialtshirt purchase link in bio 👆🏽 Or visit @adamsnest in Provincetown Worldwide Shipping . #whatisrememberedlives #theaidsmemorial #boysintheband

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Despite the initial hardships that the original play faced, it is said that it was “nearly impossible to find actors willing to play gay characters,” The Boys in the Band went on to become a success.

According to broadwayworld.com, when the original play ran Off-Broadway, it drew crowds the likes of Jackie Kennedy, Marlene Dietrich, Groucho Marx, and Rudolf Nureyev to name a few. The initial plan of five performances grew to over a thousand and the original cast went on to perform in London and they even made that 1970 film version which was directed by William Friedkin.

The Boys in the Band earned great reviews. It was called a “true theatrical game-changer” because the play, being one of the first works that focuses on gay life, literally and we quote, “helped spark a revolution by putting gay men’s lives onstage—unapologetically and without judgement—in a world that was not yet willing to fully accept them.”

The original cast included Kenneth Nelson (Michael), Leonard Frey (Harold), Cliff Gorman (Emory), Laurence Luckinbill (Hank), Frederick Combs (Donald), Keith Prentice (Larry), Robert La Tourneaux (Cowboy Tex), Reuben Greene (Bernard), and Peter White (Alan McCarthy). Reportedly, five of the cast—as well as the play’s director, Robert Moore and producer, Richard Barr—all died during the AIDS crisis. We are therefore ending this article by leaving some of these men’s stories which The AIDS Memorial posted on their Instagram account as a tribute.

. . Leonard Frey (September 4, 1938 – August 24, 1988) was an actor who died of AIDS in Manhattan. He was 49 years old. . Frey, born in Brooklyn, attended James Madison High School. Headed toward a career as a painter, he change vocations, switching from @thecooperunion to the @neighborhoodplayhouse. . Frey made his New York debut in the Off Broadway musical Little Mary Sunshine. He won a Vernon Rice Award for ‘The Coach with Six Insides.’ However, Frey was to make his breakthrough as Harold in Mart Crowley’s 1968 Off Broadway play ‘The Boys in the Band’ and also the 1970 film version directed by William Friedkin. . Harold: “What I am, Michael, is a 32-year-old, ugly, pockmarked Jew fairy—and if it takes me a while to pull myself together and if I smoke a little grass before I can get up the nerve to show this face to the world, it’s nobody’s goddamn business but my own. And how are you this evening? . Frey played Motel the tailor in movie of Fiddler on the Roof (1971) and received an Oscar nomination as best supporting actor. . Frey performed a variety of roles for the Repertory Theater @lincolncenter. He appeared in plays at @yale Repertory Theater and starred on Broadway. He also acted in films and on TV throughout the 1970s and 1980s, but he never again attained the level of critical success he enjoyed in ‘Fiddler on the Roof.’ . #whatisrememberedlives #theaidsmemorial #aidsmemorial #neverforget #endaids . ⏺ The 50th anniversary production of @boysbandbway returned to the New York stage at the Booth Theatre on May 31 until August 11, 2018. @zacharyquinto stars as Harold.

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. . Kenneth Nelson (March 24, 1930 – October 7, 1993) was an American actor who died of AIDS in London. He was 63 years old. . Born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, Nelson was educated in Texas and made his Broadway debut in 1951. However, Nelson is best known for playing the lead role of Michael, the gay, Catholic, recovering alcoholic in Mart Crowley’s 1968 off Broadway play ‘The Boys in the Band’ and also the 1970 film version directed by William Friedkin. . Michael: “Well, one thing you can say for masturbation…you certainly don’t have to look your best.” . Nelson spent the later part of his career in small roles on TV and in movies such as Clive Barker’s Hellraiser (1987) and Nightbreed (1990). In 1971, he settled permanently in England, London, where he appeared in West End productions of Showboat, Annie and 42nd Street. He also created country gardens. . It was said that during Nelson’s last days that he never lost his enthusiasm, still sharing gossip and theatre memories with those whom he called his ‘close ones’, almost literally to the end, when he was cared for by his sister Naomi Burns, as he had been throughout his last two months. . #whatisrememberedlives #theaidsmemorial #aidsmemorial #neverforget #endaids . ⏺ The 50th anniversary production of @boysbandbway returned to the New York stage at the Booth Theatre on May 31 until August 11, 2018. @therealjimparsons stars as Michael.

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. . Frederick Combs (October 11, 1935 – September 19, 1992) was a film, theater and TV actor, playwright and director. He died in Los Angeles of AIDS at the age of 56. . Combs is best known for his role as Donald in Mart Crowley’s 1968 off Broadway play ‘The Boys in the Band’ and also the 1970 film version directed by William Friedkin. . Donald: “Are you calling me a screaming queen or a tired fairy?” . Combs, born in Virginia Beach Virginia, trained at the @bartertheatre, Abingdon. He made his Broadway debut in 1961. Combs also appeared in several productions of the @publictheaterny and was a writer in residence at the Edward F. Albee Playwriting Foundation. In 1973, he produced his first play at @mcctheater NYC. He also had several of his one-act plays produced. In 1979, Combs founded the Actor’s Lab Los Angeles, where he taught privately and conducted classes. . #whatisrememberedlives #theaidsmemorial #aidsmemorial #neverforget #endaids . ⏺ The 50th anniversary production of @boysbandbway returned to the New York stage at the Booth Theatre on May 31 until August 11, 2018. @mattbomer stars as Donald.

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. . Keith Prentice (February 21, 1940 – September 27, 1992) was an TV, film and stage actor who died of AIDS in Kettering, Ohio. He was 52 years old. . Prentice is best known for his role as Larry in Mart Crowley’s 1968 off Broadway play ‘The Boys in the Band’ and also the 1970 film version directed by William Friedkin. . Larry : “I’m old-fashioned—I like ’em all, but I like ’em one at a time.” . Indeed, of the original cast of 9 actors, 5 are known to have died of AIDS: Frederick Combs died in 1992 at age 57. Leonard Frey, who was 49, died in 1988 and Robert la Tourneaux died two years earlier at 44. Kenneth Nelson died in 1993, aged 63. . Prentice, born in Ohio, studied in NYC at the @theacademyinstagram. On Broadway, he appeared in ‘The Sound of Music’ with Mary Martin and ‘Gypsy’ with Ethel Merman. In 1971, he joined the cast of the Gothic soap opera ‘Dark Shadows.’ He also had a small role in Friedkin’s ‘Cruising’ (1980) about a serial killer targeting gay men and starring Al Pacino. . In 1982, Prentice, struggling to find work in New York, returned to his hometown of Dayton and co-founded ‘Kettering Theatre Under The Stars’. He directed summer shows there until his death in 1992. . #whatisrememberedlives #theaidsmemorial #aidsmemorial #neverforget #endaids . ⏺ The 50th anniversary production of @boysbandbway returned to the New York stage at the Booth Theatre on May 31 until August 11, 2018. @andrewrannells stars as Larry.

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. . Robert La Tourneaux (November 22, 1941 – June 3, 1986) was an actor born in St Louis, Missouri as Robert Earl LaTurno. He was best known for his role of Cowboy, in the Off Broadway production and film version of The Boys in the Band. . In the early 1980s, La Tourneaux contracted HIV. He received news coverage when he sought legal assistance to prevent being evicted from his apartment. His landlord objected to the presence of a live-in caregiver. La Tourneaux won the court case, but later died of AIDS in Metropolitan Hospital aged 44. . After the film version of The Boys in the Band (1970) was released, La Tourneaux’s career declined. He claimed that all doors in Hollywood had remained closed to him. . “I was too closely identified with homosexuality, with Boys in the Band. I was typecast as a gay hustler, and it was an image I couldn’t shake.” . La Tourneaux landed bit parts in low-budget films made in Europe. He began nude modeling in gay men’s magazines. He became a sex worker and worked in a male porno theater in Manhattan, doing a one-man cabaret act between showings of X-rated films. In 1983, La Tourneaux was arrested for assault after trying to extract money from a client and was confined to Rikers Island prison where he survived a suicide attempt. . In the early 1980s, Murray Gitlin, a former dancer and stage manager, who in 1994 also died of AIDS, went to visit La Tourneaux who was seriously ill, recalled: . “He was in a private room with leg shackles. And the guard guarding twenty-four hours a day, wearing a gown and mask. It was just awful. And Bob just kept getting sicker and sicker. It was just such a waste: he was so sweet and so beautiful and had so much going for him. I saw him a couple of weeks before he died. He was in Metropolitan Hospital, he was out of prison. And the nurse who was assigned to him had seen The Boys in the Band on television the night before. And he died in her arms. And to her, he was a star.” . ⏺ The 50th anniversary production of @boysbandbway returned to the New York stage at the Booth Theatre on May 31 until August 11, 2018. @charliecarver stars as Cowboy.

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