Turns out that in the midst of the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression, one of the sounder investments you could have made is in Broadway theater. Ticket sales are actually up from last year, defying the perennial expectations that the Fabulous Invalid will finally go belly up. To entice you to do your part, here’s a selection of some our favorite gay boys of Broadway (a comprehensive list would be way too long), as found on YouTube.
John Barrowman
When not busy being a bisexual time-traveling whatever the hell he is on BBC’s Torchwood, John Barrowman is strutting the boards. There’s a lot of Barrow-love on YouTube, but there’s something undeniably fun about watching the adorable moppet inhabit the role of Reagan’s would be assassin John Hinckley in this clip of him singing “Unworthy of Your Love” from Stephen Sondheim’s Assasins.
Cheyenne Jackson
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Broadway’s ‘It’ Boy, Cheyenne Jackson’s hard at work an upcoming musical from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone about Mormons, but he got his big break on Broadway by playing Sonny in Xanadu. Here he is singing “Suddenly” from the show.
Michael Arden
The star of Catholic gay-boy off-Broadway musical Bare, Michael Arden is the Broadway actor’s actor. He tends to eschew the teeny-bopper musicals, by choosing to work on edgier fare like Adam Bock’s play about a gay man in love with a shark, Swimming in the Shallows. Here he is singing one of your editor’s favorite songs in the world, Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You”.
Paolo Szot
There was a huge “Is he or isn’t he?” debate over Brazilian opera singer Paolo Szot, who played Emile De Becque in the recent revival of South Pacific. Well, he is, but you know what else he is? A Tony Award winner. Szot nabbed the Best Actor in a Musical Award for his first appearance on the Broadway stage.
John Tartaglia
Best known as the lead puppet dude in Avenue Q, the adorable John Tartaglia has worked on Q’s inspiration, Sesame Street, as well. He may well be destined to doing children’s parodies forever: Currently, he plays Pinnochio in the musical version Shrek. Here he is, breaking out of his mold, playing Lumiere from the Beauty & The Beast. It’s a ‘musical mad libs’ version of “Be Our Guest”.
David Burtka & Neil Patrick Harris
Consider this a bonus since it’s so short. It’s real life bf’s Dave Burtka and Neil Patrick Harris singing lesbian love duet “Take Me or Leave Me” from Rent. That may be one of the gayest sentences I’ve written on Queerty, which really is saying something.
Gregoire
Isn’t this a big like saying, “And here’s a compilation of clips of black people that perform in hip hop music!”
Erik
While John Barrowman is singing a song from “Assassins” in the clip, he’d not doing it IN “Assassins,” and isn’t playing Hinckley. This is a clip from “Putting it Together,” a Sondheim review that also featured Carol Burnett and George Hearn.
Landon Bryce
Gregoire:
Where’s the cute gay Broadway boy channel offshoot from MTV? Where are the magazines and Websites I could be buying and visiting to see sexy singing and dancing bottom boys? Cause, Dude, I’d so be there.
This is worth covering, not because of novelty, but because these guys are under-exposed. Although phrased positively, the story even links itself explicitly to the ecomonic downturn, which is killing shows right and left.
Ain’t nothin’ wrong with giving these boys some exposure. I wish ultra-hottie Gavin Creel was out. Actually, I wish Gavin Creel was naked in my bed with me. I don’t even know what his sexual orientation is. I just want to fuck him.
Jon B
Nice list. Love that Michael Arden is on it!
Landon: Gavin Creel definitely should have been included. 1) He’s gay, 2) very recently he helped start Impact Broadway, a group of Broadway performers and fans fighting for equality, 3) he’s hot and can sing the hell out of anything. Check out “Going Down” from the Actor’s Fund’s Hair recording (also check it on on Broadway soon, the cast performed at Defying Inequality in NY and they were great).
Does anyone know if Aaron Tveit is gay or not? If he is, he should definitely be on the list.
Oh, and Barret Foa, John Tartaglia’s replacement in Avenue Q, also in Spelling Bee, is so hot.
Okay. Done. Sorry. Just somewhat obsessed with hot broadway boys.
David
I didn’t know who Gavin Creel was an hour ago. Now I do and I love him. Heard him singing a demo of Michael Arden’s “Not Afraid” and it’s amazing.
Landon Bryce
Jon B:
Gavin’s “Going Down” is one of the sexiest recordings I have ever heard. I listened to it obsessively last fall as I prepared to be expelled from high school heaven. It’s unabashed in its gay bottom boy siren call, and would be whether the singer were or not.
rick
neil patrick harris RULES!
and so does john barrowman.
Sebbe
Support Broadway!
emmy
What about Raul Esparza? He was in a revival of Sondheim’s “Company”!
Michael (from atlanta)
Um, excuse me, but where is Matt Doyle!!!!!
SO cute, SO talented, and So gay.
JH
Aaron Tveit (rhymes with straight) is a total hetero, though watching him in Saved at Playwrights’ Horizons made me wish that he wasn’t.
hatorl
John Barrowman is amazing in Putting it Together. He is great
hardmannyc
Imagine. gay people on Broadway. This is why I love this site: hard-hitting investigative journalism.
Landon Bryce
@hardmannyc:
Really? I love it for the insightful, original, deep commentary left by readers like you.
Cam
Cheyenne Jackson’s interviews while promoting the movie “United 93” have left me a bit cold on him. during the promotion of the film he was saying things like “If my wife or girlfriend was on that plane…..etc…”
Later when called on it by the advocate he tried to blame a publicist for it, but I saw the interview and it was him, not his publicist saying it. Now he’s back to broadway asking all the gays to support him.
Randy
NPH and David Burtka own my soul. SOFA KING CUTE. Wish there were more than the two little 30-second clips.
Jon B
@Michael (from atlanta): You’re right, Matt should be on here. Especially for his contribution to the Bare soundtrack. Oh, and playing the gay boyfriend in 30 seconds of Gossip Girl.
Dusty St. Amand
@Landon Bryce:
I love this response!
you’d like my site, it’s all about gay boys.
CQ
@JH: Hey, just wondering, how do you know he’s straight? Do you know him? Curious is all!
Steven
I saw Michael Arden years ago in a show in San Diego called “Ace”, and fell in love with his voice. He was also the only good thing in the Twyla Tharp mess “The Times They Are A’Changin”. It’s time for his star to rise and for him to become much better known than he is.