I've Come to Sing a Song About Hope

Out on Broadway: The Third Coming has come to an end. We closed the show tonight. I never thought in 1996, when I created the first Out on Broadway, that twenty-one years later, we would still feel the need for a show like this. But we do still need it.

This has been a deeply personal show for all of us. These five actors and I all live openly gay lives, but it's so empowering, so gratifyingly defiant, putting our gay lives and emotions and challenges and insecurities and joys onstage, insisting that the Others aren't in fact Other at all.

I'm monumentally proud of this show of ours. It didn't sell out like the first two editions, and we'll never know if that's because the gay community is more a part of mainstream culture now, because Will & Grace happened and is about to happen again, because there's so much more cool theatre in town now (including the Fringe Fest, Ragtime, In the Heights) than there was twenty-one years ago, or because we're still rebuilding our audience after our move a year and half ago.

Whatever the reasons, we spent very little on this show, so it won't hurt us financially. Plus our audiences really loved our show. The word I heard most often in the lobby after performances was "wonderful." People both straight and gay found so much to connect to in these amazing theatre songs and in the honest, heartfelt performances of our five actors.

The critics all agreed...

“If you've ever been in love with musicals, don't miss this show.”
– Richard Green, TalkinBroadway

"Brassy, sassy, tender, and touching."
– Lynn Venhaus, OnSTL

“A wonderful evening of musical theatre.”
– Kevin Brackett, ReviewSTL

"A celebration of life and love for all."
– Jeff Ritter, Critical Blast

"An easygoing mood, favoring sophistication over splash."
– Judith Newmark, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"Well-disciplined velvety voices."
– Keaton Treece, St. Louis Limelight

“A collection of songs which underscore the ever-changing musical vitality of Broadway."
– Mark Bretz, Ladue News

Keith, the only actor to appear in all three editions of our show, was scared shitless this time because I gave him three comedy songs. "I'm not funny!" he whined. "No," I replied, "You're honest." And he is, and so his comedy songs were really funny, but also really rich and truthful and human.

More than anything, I just feel profoundly proud and grateful. Putting a song list together for a revue or concert is an art, and through the first two OOBs and the five concerts we've done at the Sheldon, I've gotten better and better at constructing an evening of songs.

The guiding principle for the show has always been Dignity. Since the first edition all those years ago, there were just two rules. We didn't mock any orientation, or each other, and we didn't sing about how hard it is to be gay. Our OOB shows have always been about our shared humanity, more than anything else, the idea that a love song written for a hetero couple really doesn't change at all if two men sing it instead. (I hate the Broadway Backwards events in NYC. It's not "backwards.")

It was a genuine privilege to work with these five amazing members of our gay community, Ken Haller, Keith Thompson, Sean Michael, and Mike and Dominic Dowdy-Windsor (and our token straight guy, our music director Nate Jackson).

I am beyond grateful that I get to run a company like New Line, that I get to create theatre pieces like Out on Broadway, and that St. Louis audiences keep coming back for more. Thank you, St. Louis, for believing that what we do is important to you. I am a very, very lucky guy. Thank you.

I'll leave you with OOB3C's penultimate number, "Everything Possible," by Fred Small, one of two non-theatre songs in our show, one of the few songs that has appeared in all three editions of Out on Broadway. This is why we did the show.

We have cleared off the table, the leftovers saved,
Washed the dishes and put them away.
I have told you a story and tucked you in tight
At the end of your knockabout day.

As the moon sets its sails to carry you to sleep
Over the midnight sea,
I will sing you a song no one sang to me;
May it keep you good company.

You can be anybody you want to be.
You can love whomever you will.
You can travel any country where your heart leads,
And know I will love you still.

You can live by yourself, you can gather friends around,
You can choose one special one;
And the only measure of your words and your deeds
Will be the love you leave behind when you're gone.

Some girls grow up strong and bold;
Some boys are quiet and kind;
Some race on ahead, some follow behind;
Some go in their own way and time;
Some women love women, some men love men;
Some raise children, some never do.
You can dream all the day never reaching the end
Of everything possible for you.

Don't be rattled by names, by taunts, by games,
But seek out spirits true.
If you give your friends the best part of yourself
They will give the same back to you.

You can be anybody you want to be.
You can love whomever you will.
You can travel any country where your heart leads,
And know I will love you still.
You can live by yourself, you can gather friends around;
You can choose one special one.
And the only measure of your words and your deeds
Will be the love you leave behind when you're gone.

And now onward to Lizzie, directed by our associate artistic director Mike Dowdy-Windsor. We start rehearsals Monday. Another wild, awesome adventure. I'll keep you posted.

Long Live the Musical!
Scott