Lysistrata Jones

It's not a war. It's a basketball game. Stakes are low. Why exactly do the men want to play basketball if they're choosing to throw the games? Why do the gay players care about the cheerleader sex strike? Don't overthink it. Lysistrata Jones wants to be an old fashioned tired businessman musical with lotsa jokes and legs. There will always be an audience for that, though not always at Broadway prices.

Xanadu

Camp is hard. Good camp looks effortless, but for every Little Shop of Horrors there are ten Rachael Lily Rosenblooms. Douglas Carter Beane had a low bar to hurdle as the film was a notorious flop. He was also wise to keep it to a 90 minute run time. Other comedies would benefit from such brevity. Add a viral marketing campaign and some backstage drama and you've got a modest hit.

Performance Clips
Suddenly
Evil Woman
Don't Walk on By

The Nance

Three Panel Musicals

The Nance

Play by Douglas Carter Beane. Broadway 2013.

Nathan Lane's burlesque comic goes cruising for trade and finds a boyfriend.

 Lane refuses to censor the gay content out of his burlesque act.

Mayor LaGuardia shuts down the burlesque houses and Lane self-destructs.

 Not technically a musical but there's enough music in the burlesque interludes for me to sneak it in here. After a short run at the Lincoln Center the Nance was filmed and is currently being broadcast in theaters across the U.S. It's a well-researched piece of theatre history and a titanic performance from Mr. Lane. The whole cast is terrific and Johnny Orsini as the mis-treated boyfriend is heartbreaking... even if Beane's script does make him a bit too good to be true.

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