NY Musical Theatre Festival - 3 gay-friendly choices

Don't work yourself into a tizzy trying to find an L, G, B or T in the NYMF-but rest assured, they're there.

This year's edition of the annual New York Musical Theatre Festival, which runs through October 16 at various venues around the city, may turn out to be the gayest one yet-and that's saying something.

Previous years have given us a Sherlock Holmes-meets-Watson musical in which the two budding colleagues sing about what might have been had they lived in a more enlightened era. And last year's fest had an entry whose sci-fi plot saw a gay couple's love put to the test when a gravely ill guy and his tweaker boyfriend discovered a pill that could slow time to a crawl. Also in 2010, the 2004 NYMF hit "Altar Boyz" (about a religious-themed boy band with at least one queer member) closed its five-year Off-Broadway run after logging an impressive 2,032 performances.

Equally impressive: the raw number of musicals NYMF has introduced to the world. Since 2004, 270 have premiered at the fest-several of which have gone on to critical and commercial success.

Just last year, the Broadway run of "Next to Normal" garnered three Tony awards-and the Pulitzer Prize. Fellow alum "[title of show]" was nominated for a Tony for Best Book of Musical.

Considering that track record, musical theater muffins can confidently throw a dart at the list of full productions, readings and special events, and likely come out of the theater humming a new tune destined to stay in their head for weeks or years to come. As for the queer content, EDGE has your back.

We recently spoke with the creative forces from three of what we think will be the best queer-themed (and/or gay-friendly) productions.

Time Between Us

"Will and Grace" might have brought the gay guy and straight gal thing into the popular consciousness, but they never had the bright idea to set that dynamic to music. This NYMF production promises to change that.

As "Time Between Us" begins, Morgan and Matthew have just graduated from art school. Over the course of the next quarter century, priorities and expectations change-and test their friendship.

Kalamazoo, Michigan native Brett Schrier, who wrote the music and co-wrote the lyrics, knows a little something about intense guy/gal bonds that grow and change over the years. His "Time Between Us" collaborator is best gal pal Tess Barker.

"Tess and I were best friends in college in Boston," Schrier says. "After she relocated to LA and I moved to New York, we met up again at a mutual friend's wedding." That reunion, combined with their chatty and creative nature, soon led to the idea of "Time Between Us," which, Schrier says, "was written at a series of artistic retreats thanks to a really generous friend who gave us use of his mansion in South Carolina. We've been working on the show for a little over two years now. This is the first fully staged, fully designed production."

Schrier admits that much of what ended up on stage is pulled from not only the friendship he shares with Barker, but also from the twists and turns their own lives have taken over the past two decades. "Tess and I have always had a mutual fascination with how you define success and happiness," says Schrier-who notes that in addition to exploring how the friends navigate that challenge, "It was my goal to create a gay male character that's more than a stereotype. So often in the arts, he's the comic relief."

While there's lots of humor in the work, Schrier hopes the serious questions it asks will also resonate (maybe more so because they're tackled within the context of songs sung by two good friends). "Pretty much every number is a duet," notes Schrier. "They have one called 'What's More Important,' about whether you're fulfilled by that ideal loving relationship or that perfect career. Then they have 'What if He's the Only One,' where they're both looking to each other for advice about their potential lover."

The fact that there are no easy answers to such big questions is what gives the score (written for cello and piano) an often moody, searching tone. "I think this show is thought-provoking. We don't always come out and say what we want you to feel as audience. Many of these songs end with a dot dot dot. But it always comes back to the friendship between Morgan and Matthew. This is a friendship that's the most beautiful thing in the world; but it's also haunting, because each gets what the other wants, but doesn't get."

"Time Between Us" plays Sep 29th, 8:00 pm, Sep 30th, 1:00 pm, Oct 1st, 4:30 pm, Oct 5th, 8:00 pm, Oct 8th, 8:00 pm, Oct 10th, 8:00 pm, Oct 12th, 8:00 pm at the McGinn/Cazale Theatre, 2162 Broadway, 3rd Floor at 76th Street, New York, NY. For more information, visit the "Time Between Us" Facebook page.

Crazy, Just Like Me

Let's hope this one comes up with an empowering (or at least hummable) take on its familiar premise: As two best friends navigate changes in their lives, the gay one realizes he's in love with the straight one.

Best friends since diapers, the bond between Simon and Mike is tested when Mike gets engaged (to a woman!) and Simon questions both his sexuality and the nature of his relationship with Mike.

Drew Gasparini, who wrote the book and lyrics, explains why he chose to give this often gut-wrenching realization the sitcom treatment: "We approach it very humorously. It's written, stylistically, as one of those episodes of 'Must See TV,' where it's really, really funny and laugh after laugh-until about the last five minutes, where it starts to get a little more tender and emotional and real. By this time, the audience has established this relationship with the characters, so you really identify with their dilemmas and discoveries."

But before the pathos, there are plenty of laughs. The song "A Little Bit" has Simon coming out to his mother by way of a long phone message. "Mom," he sings, "I'm a little bit gay." Maybe more than a little bit. "Best Friends" is a number that comes right after Mike has just proposed to his girlfriend. "And in Simon's delusional mind," explains Gasparini, "he starts to assume 'I'm gay and living my life this way, so Mike must be gay too.'" Turns out Mike's actually asking Simon to be his best man-not his life partner.

To make this psychologically complex dynamic one that audiences can tap their toes to, Gasparini weaved sitcom-like scene change music "to make you feel like you're coming back from a commercial." Rooted in his songs, though, is an edgy Ben Folds Five style. "I pride myself that I am a pop writer who can write for theater," Gasparini vows.

"Crazy, Just Like Me" plays Sep 27th, 8:00 pm, Sep 29th, 8:00 pm, Oct 1st, 4:30 pm, Oct 1st, 8:00 pm, Oct 2nd, 1:00 pm, Oct 4th, 1:00 pm, Oct 5th, 9:00 pm at the TBG Theater, 312 W. 36th Street, New York, NY. For more on "Crazy, Just Like Me," visit the show's Facebook page.

Balls: the Musical

Presented by NYMF as a "Special Event" because its score draws from existing Broadway material, "Balls: the Musical" (while not gay-themed) has enough queer sensibility and male eye candy to keep even the most hardcore homo sitting on the edge of his seat.

This parody show, which examines the role of the straight male in musical theater, began as a simple cabaret revue featuring a group of five breast-loving Equity actors performing ironic takes on Broadway favorites (think La Cage's "I am What I Am" interpreted as an empowering anthem for straights).

This NYMF production adds a plot that sees the group's bromance come to an end when one member decides to quit the business.

Brett Carr-who created the show's book, music and lyrics (in collaboration with Mick Bonde, Brandon Ellis, Michael "Tuba" McKinsey, and Nick Verina)-says the plot was lifted from a real life drama that's been playing itself out behind the scenes, as the group preps "Balls!" for its NYMF run. In the show, "The character of Tuba has decided to quit the business and go back home to his family. The show is about the way he's dealing with leaving and telling us. Michael moved to Portland last week. So he won't be in the show."

Tuba (or at least his real life counterpart) may be gone, but you'll still have a chance to swoon over straight boy Nick Verina (currently playing Young Ben in the Broadway revival of "Follies").

As for the straight boy/brotherly love expressed through hetero- interpretations of songs from "Chicago," "Cats," "Wicked" and others, Carr describes the dynamic as "very 'Wedding Crashers' meets 'Superbad,' where we show our love for each other by constantly making fun of each other."

So even though you won't find any potential life partners on the stage, Carr does assure gay audience members (and everybody else) that "Balls!" "is going to be a piece where you can walk out and say you had more fun in the last hour and a half than you had in the last year."

"Balls: the Musical" plays Oct 13th, 8:00 pm, Oct 13th, 11:00 pm, Oct 15th, 11:30 pm at the 47th Street Theatre, 304 West 47th Street, New York, New York, USA