Author + Producer / Bri Ng Schwartz
Images / Shane Reynolds
Styling + Editor in Chief / Phil Gomez
Styling Help / Alex Murphy
MUA / Gabriel Barse & Daddy Doll
MUA Help / Julieta Bellina, Emily Cohen & Leo Kyle
Hair / Isaac Davidson & Henry De La Paz
Movement / Stevo
PA / Asher Oliver , Michael Villanueva
Artistic Producer / Dakota Griffin, The 199x New York
Founder / Koko Ntuen
Location / The Boiler Room
Broadway has lengthy been a guiding mild for the Queer group, bringing of us from the world over to New York in pursuit of a life on stage. Within the late twentieth Century, whereas mainstream movie and tv have been presenting caricatures and stereotypes of Queer life, Broadway was fleshing out characters with depth. Characters like Paul in A Refrain Line and Georges and Albin from La Cage aux Folles have been accused of “mainstreaming homosexuality for mass consumption.” Nonetheless, a lot of the Queer illustration throughout platforms have been largely cisgender, white, and male.
Additional uptown in Harlem, was a counterculture to the Nice White Means: the birthplace of ballroom. Black and Latine queens, kings, and their respective drag homes have been inventing what would turn into the blueprint for musical efficiency that we see in popular culture in the present day. twenty first Century Broadway would later introduce characters like Angel Dumott Schunard in RENT and Lola from Kinky Boots that might pave the way in which for drag queens to be embraced by the Broadway stage. Theatre legends like Eartha Kitt and Bernadette Peters have served as inspiration for drag queens for generations with their bigger than life personalities and booming vocals, creating an enduring synergy between the 2 mediums.
The Broadway ecosystem in 2026 is a fastidiously weaved tapestry of all that has come earlier than, with a contemporary twist. Variations and revivals dominate the historic midtown theaters in ways in which give theater traditionalists a run for his or her cash, actually. This Delight Month, LADYGUNN introduced twelve of Broadway’s brightest stars of this season collectively for a day of glamour and group. We took over beloved East Village homosexual bar, The Boiler Room, to rejoice the pink scorching second that Broadway is having within the present cultural panorama.
CATS: The Jellice Ball has taken one of the crucial polarizing musicals of all time and turned it right into a celebration of ballroom, previous and current. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s authentic anthropomorphic felines are reimagined because the drag queens and kings of our wildest goals. Choreography duo Omari Willes and Arturo Lyons have been behind the magnetic motion within the present, and have been approached by Invoice Rauch (CATS co-director) and Josie Kearns (manufacturing dramaturg and gender advisor) to make reimagine CATS as a celebration of queerness.
“We requested ‘how may we make this into one thing that speaks to a era of in the present day and tomorrow?’ After which The Jellice Ball simply got here to thoughts. It’s a nightclub. Sure, it’s a homosexual bar. It’s a ball.” shares Omari. Whereas the supply materials served as an overview within the present’s growth, creating the ball was the objective. “It was ballroom within the forefront, with the unique rating and choreography within the again after which simply merged them collectively.” explains Arturo.
The manufacturing takes the unique setting of a London alleyway to New York Metropolis, with Emma Sofia’s Shimbleshanks aka “The Railway Cat” dressed as an MTA conductor gone glam with excessive heeled boots and a skunk striped wig. With a background in NYC’s nightlife and go-go dancing scene, Emma feels proper at dwelling in her ensemble, which have named themselves The Home of Philion. “It appears like that is the right intersection of all avenues of my life.” she shares. “I’m actually honored to be part of it and to get to make use of my platform to tell folks and to coach folks of this historical past that I’m a visitor of.”
She speaks to the significance of honoring the legacy of ballroom, nodding to the presence of ballroom MC pioneer Junior Labeija and Leiomy Maldonado, the “Surprise Girl of Vogue” who performs the elusive cat McCavity within the manufacturing. Musical theater legend André De Shields is one other member of the ensemble, rounding out this considered one of a sort group that’s multifaceted in not solely age, however form, dimension, race and entrypoint into the work.
“The factor about ballroom is everybody walks in a special class. So that you’re all uniquely made in your individual proper, in your individual expertise.” shares Omari on serving to every ensemble member discover their distinctive motion within the present. “Every character and second brings a special feeling, a special sort of pleasure. I’ve by no means skilled one thing prefer it earlier than.” Arturo provides, talking to the celebration of individuality that the present brings to Broadway. In an business that has traditionally erased Black and brown artists, particularly these in greater our bodies, CATS: The Jellice Ball revolutionizes the medium and affirms that those that are completely different are right here to remain.
The Rocky Horror Present is a mainstay musical haven for the bizarre and eccentric. Richard O’Brian’s cult traditional film and stage present might be discovered each Friday night time throughout the nation with respective shadow casts within the smallest of cities, and is presently being introduced on the Broadway stage by Roundabout Theatre Firm. Featured within the ensemble is NYC indie darling Boy Radio, who serves as a Lead Phantom and occasional understudy for Rocky and Frank-In-Furter.
Boy Radio was 13 when he first found the movie. “It was the primary film musical that wasn’t primarily based on realism,” he reveals. “To get into one thing that was not solely simply rock music, however obscure sci-fi alien, excessive trend, loopy make-up, foolish characters. I bear in mind pondering I’d discovered one thing that I wasn’t presupposed to and I fell in love with it.” The boldness, silliness, and unapologeticness of Rocky Horror speaks Radio’s aesthetic as an artist, and the “don’t dream it, be it” mantra deeply resonates together with his inventive voice. As The Rocky Horror Image Present celebrates its fiftieth anniversary, its continued success and Broadway revival show that there’s nonetheless a deep yearning for tales that shock and slay, unabashedly. With artists like Boy Radio on the stage, it’s a failproof night-out that can depart you shivering with antici…pation.
The Rocky Horror Present’s social media accounts, together with the accounts of many different present Broadway hits, is advertising and marketing mastermind Austin Spero. Spero was first tapped by Cole Escola to run social media for Oh! Mary’s Off-Broadway run, and he has been booked and busy ever since. Having labored on different reveals together with John Proctor Is The Villain and Liberation, He has made a reputation for himself because the go-to voice in theatrical advertising and marketing. “The way in which that advertising and marketing campaigns tick is what actually excites me.” Austin admits “I’ve all the time been so deep in web tradition. I really like theater, I really like to jot down, I like to create, and I really like to provide. And that is simply the way in which that each one my expertise can come collectively in a method that feels thrilling to me.”
A day of labor for Spero is an instance of the fast-paced New York profession that aspiring Gen-Z theater directors dream of. “I begin the day by taking a lay of the land within the social media world. Then I take into consideration the massive tales that we’re attempting to inform. What’s the story of each this piece as an impartial entity, but in addition as a part of the New York Metropolis establishment, what makes this an occasion, what makes this thrilling to folks.” Operating from theater to theater capturing content material with expertise, he has gained a large understanding of the business at giant and the artistry behind it. By night time, Austin Spero turns into Reese Havoc, drag queen extraordinaire. “Fascinated by the queer nightlife world I come from, the New York Metropolis theater scene is so wild as a result of it intersects. Even wanting over to see Emma proper now, I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s my woman. We have now been within the golf equipment and to each be engaged on Broadway in wildly other ways, it’s so cool.”
Alongside Austin ushering in a brand new generational voice for Broadway is the ensemble of & Juliet. Set to soundtrack chart topping Max Martin hits, the story presents an alternate ending of the notorious tragedy. As an alternative of committing suicide on the discovery of her lover, Romeo’s, loss of life, Juliet strikes ahead on a journey of self discovery and friendship. There’s a universality that comes together with a present like & Juliet, which makes use of popular culture hits and considered one of theater’s most well-known scripts as a car for an empowering story about independence, the de-centering of romantic relationships, and discovering your voice exterior of societal expectations, all of that are themes that the Queer group is aware of all too nicely.
“We have now so many individuals from everywhere in the world who don’t even know something concerning the story, and it opens folks’s minds and hearts as much as so many various various characters.” shares Michael Iván Service, who performs Might within the manufacturing. The character of Might identifies as non-binary, and is the love curiosity of François, presently performed by Nathan Levy. “It’s like we’re tricking them into coming in right here and experiencing lives that aren’t theirs as a result of they know a cute Britney Spears music. They depart studying one thing.”
Gianna Harris, the present Juliet, shares the brand new perspective she has gained on the supply materials by means of this present. “Taking part in Juliet has actually put into perspective how highly effective, assured, and robust willed she is. Trying on the authentic textual content of Romeo and Juliet, she all the time took management over the scenario and instructed Romeo what to do the entire time.”
The juxtaposition of younger, queer and racially various performers like Gianna, Michael, and Levy taking up the old-English world of The Bard is one other reminder of the transformation occurring within the business. Levy shares the next recommendation for up and coming queer musical theater performers of coloration “Take up house. Don’t really feel like you need to be conventional with every thing. I really feel like Broadway is so explicit, however I really feel like we’ve been breaking these boundaries, so let’s proceed with the brand new wave, the brand new era.”
Additionally Queering historic textual content is J. Harrison Ghee, the present Hermes in Hadestown. The retelling of Greek Tragedy Eurydice has been promoting out homes on Broadway for the final seven years, and was key in ushering the wave of adaptation to the mainstream Broadway world. Much like & Juliet, Hadestown grants the character of Eurydice extra company than the unique ingénue of the Greek Tragedy, making it her option to pursue life within the underworld. Hermes serves as a narrator and information all through the story. Beforehand talked about André De Shields originated Broadway’s Hermes, and the function has been taken on by a wide selection of skills since.
J. HARRISON GHEE / Full look, LARUICCI
“They didn’t know they wanted Hermes excessive kicks.” Ghee spills about their distinctive spin on their character. Having performed Lola in Kinky Boots over a decade in the past on Broadway and the touring manufacturing, Ghee is not any stranger to intricate footwork. With an 8-piece band to accompany the ensemble’s booming vocals, it’s only pure for motion to function a component of the storytelling. “My Hermes is lively. I’m twirling the umbrella, tossing it within the air. My Hermes is in every single place and it delights and excites folks and it excites me to get to do this.” When requested concerning the significance of weaving Queerness into these classics, Ghee reminds us that the Queer group is right here to remain in future retellings. “It’ll by no means cease. Illustration issues. Folks have to see themselves in each type, and it’s a privilege to get to face in my fact each night time and present those who something is feasible.”
The present Broadway season proves that Queer storytelling can present up within the locations you least count on them. This actually rings true in Titanique, the unserious spoof of the culturally beloved James Cameron movie. Co-created by Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli, and Tye Blue, the musical adaptation places larger-than-life vocal vixen Céline Dion on the heart of the already fictionalized story. On this world, Mindelle’s Dion was a passenger on the boat, and offers guests to a Titanic Memorial Museum the within look into the shenanigans that went down earlier than the deadly crash. Rousouli additionally joins the solid, enjoying a unusual, quippy, and questioning Jack.
MARLA MINDELLE / Gown, DESTROYER OF WORLDS. Earrings, Susana Vega. Ring, LARUICCI. Bracelets, Alexis Bittar
CONSTANTINE ROUSOULI: Full look, Marina Magré. Sneakers, John Fluevog.
The parody musical has all the time lived on the fringes within the higher scope of Broadway and musical theater at giant. Midelle, Rousouli, and Blue first met working at LA’s Rockwell Desk and Stage dinner theater engaged on parodies of different well-known movies and reveals together with The Satan Wears Prada, Scream, and Troop Beverly Hills. One night time over drinks (a gin martini for Rousouli and a sauvignon blanc for Mindelle.) They’d the concept of making their very own spin on Titanic. Titanique has had a handful of lives previous to their present star-studded Broadway manufacturing on the St. James Theater.
“Deep in my little homosexual soul, I all the time dreamt that it will go mainstream, however there have been a number of obstacles that got here together with placing out your individual stuff, and never having an enormous film studio behind you or actual cash.” admits Rousouli. The DIY beginnings of the trio have paid off after which some, garnering the eye of Celine’s interior circle. “I watched tons of and tons of of hours of Céline.” Mindelle reveals. “It’s just like the horror film 1984 and also you’re trapped together with your deepest, darkest concern. Mine was Céline Dion, not as a result of I’m afraid of her, however as a result of I really like her a lot and needed to do her justice so badly.”
Loud and proud icon Frankie Grande joins the stacked Broadway solid of Titanique as The Captain, actual life actor Victor Garber, and the enduring Luigi of Nintendo fame. “Marla’s comedy is one thing that you simply solely see as soon as a era, somebody that sensible that may command a room of 1400 folks by herself on stage. Her management is what makes me know that I can do it each night time.” shares Frankie. As a longtime mainstream voice for the Queer group, he reminds us of the significance of telling joyous Queer tales like Titanique. “Discovering locations of group, security, pleasure and celebration are going to be extra necessary now than ever. We will’t simply consistently be in battle mode. People can’t survive that method. We have now to recollect what we’re combating for and we’re combating for queer pleasure and that’s what we rejoice each night time throughout our performances.”
As productions cycle out and in of those historic Manhattan theaters, we should proceed to fill them with tales that commemorate Queerness in all of its types. This present second is proof that the classics and canonical works might be each honored and reworked to encapsulate the experiences of these as soon as deemed too completely different. In these instances of private and political turmoil, what we’d like greater than ever are areas of celebration the place all are welcome. It’s secure to say that Broadway is in good arms with the twelve artistic visionaries that we packed into The Boiler Room this Delight Month.
FRANKIE GRANDE / Full look, AKNVAS. Sneakers, LARUICCI.
GIANNA HARRIS / Gown, AKNVAS. Jewellery, Alexis Bittar. Sneakers, Steve Madden.
NATHAN LEVY / Full look, Wiederhoeft.
MICHAEL IVÁN CARTER / Gown, Wiederhoeft. Necklace, Vivianne Westwood. Gloves, Balenciaga. Ring, LARUICCI. Sneakers, John Fluevog.
EMMA SOFIA / Prime, AREA. Jacket, Taottao. Backside, MENYELEK. Boots, John Fluevog. Earrings, Alexis Bittar.
BOY RADIO / Full look, DESTROYER OF WORLDS. Jewellery, LARUICCI.
AUSTIN SPERO / Prime, Wiederhoeft. Backside, LARUICCI. Sneakers, Maison Margiela. Hat, LADYGUNN x HESTA.
ARTURO LYONS / Shirt, Retrofete. Sneakers, Steve Madden. Coat, Adrienne Landau. Broaches and Ring, Alexis Bittar.
OMARI WILES / Look, MELKE. Sneakers, LARUICCI.
