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Torch Song Trilogy
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Torch Song Trilogy
Torch Song Trilogy is a collection of three plays by Harvey Fierstein rendered in three acts: International Stud, Fugue in a Nursery, and Widows and Children First! The story centers on Arnold Beckoff, a Jewish homosexual, drag queen, and torch singer who lives in New York City in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The four-hour play begins with a soliloquy in which he explains his cynical disillusionment with love.
Each act focuses on a different phase in Arnold's life. In the first, Arnold meets Ed Reiss, who is uncomfortable with his bisexuality. This becomes an increasing source of conflict between the two, causing Ed to eventually leave Arnold and settle down with a woman named Laurel. Arnold is heartbroken because he still loves Ed. In the second, one year later, Arnold meets Alan, and the two settle down into a blissful existence that includes plans to adopt a child. The couple visits Ed and Laurel in their country home, where the group deals with tensions resulting from Ed and Arnold’s previous relationship. The segment ends with Laurel telling Arnold she and Ed are engaged. In the third, several years later, Arnold is a single father raising gay teenager David. It is revealed that just before receiving David from the state, Alan was the victim of a violent hate crime, resulting in his death and leaving Arnold to raise a child on his own. Ed is separated from Laurel, and stays at Arnold’s to help him. The play revolves around Arnold’s struggle to move on following Alan’s death as he is forced to deal with his mother's ("Ma") intolerance and disrespect when she visits from Florida.
The first act derives its name (International Stud) from an actual gay bar of the same name at 117 Perry Street in Greenwich Village in the 1960s and 1970s. The bar had a backroom where men engaged in anonymous sex. The backroom plays a central role in the act. The trilogy derives its title from the “torch” musical style which are “popular sentimental song[s] of unrequited love.”
The award-winning and popular work broke new ground in the theatre: "At the height of the post-Stonewall clone era, Harvey challenged both gay and straight audiences to champion an effeminate gay man's longings for love and family."
The first staging of International Stud opened on February 2, 1978, at La MaMa, E.T.C., an off-off-Broadway theater, where it ran for two weeks. The off-Broadway production opened on May 22, 1978, at the Players Theatre, where it ran for 72 performances.
The first staging of Fugue in a Nursery opened at LaMama on February 1, 1979.
Torch Song Trilogy first opened at the uptown Richard Allen Center on October 16, 1981, produced by The Glines. On January 15, 1982, it transferred to the Actors' Playhouse in Greenwich Village, where it ran for 117 performances, produced by The Glines. The cast included Fierstein as Arnold, Joel Crothers as Ed, Paul Joynt as Alan, Matthew Broderick as David, Diane Tarleton as Laurel/Lady Blues and Estelle Getty as Mrs. Beckoff.
The Broadway production, directed by Peter Pope, opened on June 10, 1982, at the Little Theatre, where it ran for 1,222 performances and 8 previews. Fierstein, Joynt, Tarleton, and Getty were joined by Court Miller as Ed and Fisher Stevens as David and Susan Edwards as Lady Blues. Later in the run, David Garrison and Jonathan Hadary portrayed Arnold, Craig Sheffer was cast as Alan, and Barbara Barrie replaced Getty.
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Torch Song Trilogy
Torch Song Trilogy is a collection of three plays by Harvey Fierstein rendered in three acts: International Stud, Fugue in a Nursery, and Widows and Children First! The story centers on Arnold Beckoff, a Jewish homosexual, drag queen, and torch singer who lives in New York City in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The four-hour play begins with a soliloquy in which he explains his cynical disillusionment with love.
Each act focuses on a different phase in Arnold's life. In the first, Arnold meets Ed Reiss, who is uncomfortable with his bisexuality. This becomes an increasing source of conflict between the two, causing Ed to eventually leave Arnold and settle down with a woman named Laurel. Arnold is heartbroken because he still loves Ed. In the second, one year later, Arnold meets Alan, and the two settle down into a blissful existence that includes plans to adopt a child. The couple visits Ed and Laurel in their country home, where the group deals with tensions resulting from Ed and Arnold’s previous relationship. The segment ends with Laurel telling Arnold she and Ed are engaged. In the third, several years later, Arnold is a single father raising gay teenager David. It is revealed that just before receiving David from the state, Alan was the victim of a violent hate crime, resulting in his death and leaving Arnold to raise a child on his own. Ed is separated from Laurel, and stays at Arnold’s to help him. The play revolves around Arnold’s struggle to move on following Alan’s death as he is forced to deal with his mother's ("Ma") intolerance and disrespect when she visits from Florida.
The first act derives its name (International Stud) from an actual gay bar of the same name at 117 Perry Street in Greenwich Village in the 1960s and 1970s. The bar had a backroom where men engaged in anonymous sex. The backroom plays a central role in the act. The trilogy derives its title from the “torch” musical style which are “popular sentimental song[s] of unrequited love.”
The award-winning and popular work broke new ground in the theatre: "At the height of the post-Stonewall clone era, Harvey challenged both gay and straight audiences to champion an effeminate gay man's longings for love and family."
The first staging of International Stud opened on February 2, 1978, at La MaMa, E.T.C., an off-off-Broadway theater, where it ran for two weeks. The off-Broadway production opened on May 22, 1978, at the Players Theatre, where it ran for 72 performances.
The first staging of Fugue in a Nursery opened at LaMama on February 1, 1979.
Torch Song Trilogy first opened at the uptown Richard Allen Center on October 16, 1981, produced by The Glines. On January 15, 1982, it transferred to the Actors' Playhouse in Greenwich Village, where it ran for 117 performances, produced by The Glines. The cast included Fierstein as Arnold, Joel Crothers as Ed, Paul Joynt as Alan, Matthew Broderick as David, Diane Tarleton as Laurel/Lady Blues and Estelle Getty as Mrs. Beckoff.
The Broadway production, directed by Peter Pope, opened on June 10, 1982, at the Little Theatre, where it ran for 1,222 performances and 8 previews. Fierstein, Joynt, Tarleton, and Getty were joined by Court Miller as Ed and Fisher Stevens as David and Susan Edwards as Lady Blues. Later in the run, David Garrison and Jonathan Hadary portrayed Arnold, Craig Sheffer was cast as Alan, and Barbara Barrie replaced Getty.