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.
