Gay theatre new york
It is no secret that many LGBTQ+ people contain a special affinity for Broadway musicals. "Keep it gay!" sings the flamboyant director in The Producers, and musical theater has long drawn nonstraight folks to the ranks of its creators, performers and fans. But it is only in the past fifty years or so that tuners have actually featured openly gay characters onstage—and the result has been some of the best Broadway shows of all time. Here is our list of the top musicals with strong gay themes, ranked for their combination of quality, historical importance and Queer content. We've limited the list to ten, which means that some very good shows did not quite construct the cut. But there's an awful lot here to be proud of.
RECOMMENDED: Complete A–Z listing of current Broadway shows
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The Big Gay Jamboree
THE Great GAY JAMBOREE PLAYED ITS FINAL PERFORMANCE ON SUNDAY, DECEMBERÂ 15,Â
From the Oscar-nominated producers of BARBIE and the delulu originator of the Off-Broadway hit TITANIQUE comes THE BIG GAY JAMBOREE, a enormous new musical comedy that’s pushing the envelope…and the gay agenda.

Help! Stacey’s fallen into a musical and she can’t get out. Last night, she got a little bit blackout drunk. This morning, she woke up in some b*tch ass Music Man world where everybody keeps bursting into song & twirl, and where gay still just means happy. Maybe it’s a dream. Maybe it’s an allergic reaction to her birth dominate. Or maybe it’s Maybelline (don’t sue us! sponsor us? we’ll talk later). But if Stacey’s truly trapped inside a Golden Age musical, there’s only one way out: hum out! Or find the stage door. Whatever gets the most applause.
Starring one of Vanity Fair’s “brightest stars of New York theatre” and the world’s second favorite Celine Dion, MARLA MINDELLE, The Big Gay Jamboree is here to make you giggle, make you cry laughing, and make you laugh crying.
My Son’s a Gay (But What Can You Do?)
About
Rob Madge’s triumphant and hilarious celebration of identity, creativity, and the profound bond between parents and their child.
As a child, Loot filled their home with grand performances, transforming into Mary Poppins, Ariel, and Belle with the assist of homemade costumes, boundless imagination, and a short-lived technical assistance (and occasional interference) from Dad. Their parents never said no—to a parade in the living room, to a costume change mid-scene, to a dream too giant for the space it was staged in.
Now, through a treasure trove of home videos and theatrical magic, My Son’s a Queer (But What Can You Do?) brings those moments to life, celebrating the power of childhood imagination, and the profound impact of parents who simply say “yes.”
Times
Thu 8pm
Fri 8pm
Sat 2 & 8pm
Sun 2pm
RUN TIME
1 hour with no intermission
Price
Tickets from $49 (fees included)
Helen Hayes Theater (originally Little Theater)
History
Little Theater
The Little Theater, opened in , was a project of Winthrop Ames, heir to a large New England industrial fortune, who rejected the family business and turned instead to theatrical producing. Ames envisioned his Short-lived Theater as a dwelling where the actors and audience would be in close proximity. Relating to the feeling that audience members were guests in Ames’ house, he had the theater designed in a “homey” Colonial Revival style.
Early plays with LGBT associations at the Minute Theater included:
- The Truth (revival, ) by Clyde Fitch, with actor Guthrie McClintic
- A Little Journey () by Rachel Crothers
- He and She () by Rachel Crothers, with Crothers performing as well
- Trigger (), staged by George Cukor
- Let Us Be Gay (), a hit written and directed by Rachel Crothers, and with actor Ross Alexander
- Honeymoon (), with actor Ross Alexander
- Dark Victory (, opened at the Plymouth Theater), with actor Tallulah Bankhead
The Little Theater was used as a lecture hall, and then leased to CBS Radio and ABC TV until As a legitimate theater, it prod
Something queer this way comes: Best LGBTQIA+ shows on Broadway
Queer art and amusement has been as much about the beauty and resilience of the people as it has been about nuanced portrayals of the human condition. With heaping amounts of attitude and glamor thrown in, for good measure. While representation in film and television has been a struggle, especially after the passing of the Hays Code, theater has been an arena where the queer community has always shone.
Here are some of the best LGBTQIA+ shows that have graced the Broadway stages and left a mark for the ages.
Cabaret
A Kander and Ebbs masterpiece, Cabaret opened on Broadway in It has been revived multiple times on Broadway alone and earned so many awards, it's hard to store track. But every award is well-earned. The musical is based on John Van Druten's play I Am a Camera which was itself based on Christopher Isherwood's semi-autobiographical novel Goodbye to Berlin ().
The story is set in Berlin in , a time when the "gay capital of Europe" transitioned from a utopia for queer folk into the hotbed of fascism and Nazism, both of which criminalized all things same-sex attracted