Torch Song Trilogy (1982), three one‐act plays by Harvey Fierstein. [Actors Playhouse, 1,222 perf.; Tony Award.] In The International Stud, Arnold (Fierstein), a female impersonator, thinks that with Ed (Joel Crothers), a man he picks up in a gay bar, he may have found the love he has been looking for. But in Fugue in a Nursery, Ed is now engaged to Laurel (Diane Tarleton), who invites Arnold and his new lover, Alan (Paul Joynt), to Ed's farm, where things do not quite work out. Several years later, in Widows and Children First!, Ed's marriage is on the rocks and he seeks to reestablish his relationship with Arnold, who, in turn, has taken in the gay teenager David (Matthew Broderick), whom he plans to adopt. The arrival of Arnold's mother, Mrs. Beckoff (Estelle Getty), complicates matters for everyone, but by the end each has learned to accept the others. Each of the plays had been previously seen Off Off Broadway. Put together they made for a compassionate, if darkly funny, view of the homosexual lifestyle. The long evening was successful enough to transfer to Broadway's Little Theatre for a very long run. Harvey FIERSTEIN (b. 1954), a native of Brooklyn, became a female impersonator at fifteen, then studied at the Pratt Institute. He made his legit acting debut in an Andy Warhol play in 1971. He also wrote Spookhouse (1984), Safe Sex (1987), and the musicals La Cage aux Folles (1983) and Legs Diamond (1988). Fierstein has acted in plays by other writers as well, most memorably in The Haunted Host (1991) and Hairspray (2002).
Torch Song Trilogy
| American Theater Guide: Torch Song Trilogy |
| Notes on Drama: Torch Song Trilogy |
Contents: Plot Summary Characters Themes Style Critical Overview Criticism Sources Further Reading |
Harvey Fierstein 1982
Torch Song Trilogy is a play that straddles genres, existing as both a comedy and a melodrama. Harvey Fierstein’s play opened at New York’s Richard Allen Center in October, 1981, and moved to the Off-Broadway Actors Playhouse in January of 1982. The play opened on Broadway in June, 1983, at the Little Theatre and continued for a long and successful run, having won several awards, including two Antoinette “Tony” Perry Awards.
The work is semi-autobiographical; Fierstein used his own experience as a homosexual to bring a sense of authenticity to the play. Critics have remarked that the language and situations ring true and not only to homosexual audience members. Fierstein states in a brief author’s note to the play that he hopes members of the audience will recognize themselves in the exchanges between lovers and the relationship between mother and child. The play’s popularity among a wide range of viewers indicates that the playwright’s intentions succeeded.
Torch Song Trilogy began as The International Stud, a one-act play that was produced Off-Off-Broadway in 1978. This early work was combined with two other one-act plays, Fugue in a Nursery(1979) and Widows and Children First(1979), to create Torch Song Trilogy. Each element of the play focuses on an important passage in the life of its protagonist, Arnold. Although the play is about homosexuals, at its heart it is a play about family, love, and survival. Fierstein’s play appeared just as AIDS was recognized as a major medical problem. His reinforcement of the importance of love in all relationships, hetero and gay, served to counter the attacks against homosexuals as promiscuous pleasure seekers.
| Wikipedia: Torch Song Trilogy |
| Torch Song Trilogy | |
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 Broadway promotional poster |
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| Written by | Harvey Fierstein |
| Characters | Arnold Beckoff Ed Lady Blues Mrs. Beckoff Alan David Laurel |
| Date premiered | January 15, 1982 |
| Place premiered | Actors' Playhouse New York City, New York |
| Original language | English |
| Subject | |
| Genre | Drama |
| Setting | 1970s, 1980s New York City |
| IBDB profile | |
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 torch song-singing Jewish drag queen living in New York City in the late 1970 and 1980s. The four hour-plus 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, who is uncomfortable with his bisexuality. 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, until tragedy strikes. In the third, several years later, Arnold is a single father raising gay teenager David. Arnold is forced to deal with his mother's intolerance and disrespect when she visits from Florida.
The first act derives it 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. [1] The backroom plays a central role in the act.
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."[2]
Contents |
Production history
The first staging of International Stud opened on February 2, 1978 at the off-off-Broadway La MaMa, E.T.C., 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.[3]
The first staging of Fugue in a Nursery opened at LaMama on February 1, 1979.[4]
Torch Song Trilogy first opened at the uptown Richard Allen Center in October 1981.[5] On January 15, 1982 it transferred to the Actors' Playhouse in Greenwich Village, where it ran for 117 performances.[6] The cast included Fierstein as Arnold, Joel Crothers as Ed, Paul Joynt as Alan, Matthew Broderick as David, and Estelle Getty as Mrs. Beckoff.
After eight previews, the Broadway production, directed by Peter Pope, opened on June 10, 1982 at the Little Theatre, where it ran for 1,222 performances. Fierstein, Joynt, and Getty were joined by Court Miller as Ed and Fisher Stevens as David. Later in the run, David Garrison and Jonathan Hadary portrayed Arnold, Craig Sheffer was cast as Alan, and Barbara Barrie replaced Getty.
The play won Fierstein two Tony Awards, for Best Play and Best Actor in Play, two Drama Desk Awards, for Outstanding New Play and Outstanding Actor in a Play, and the Theatre World Award.
The West End production starring Antony Sher, with Rupert Graves as Alan, opened on October 1, 1985 at Albery Theatre on St. Martin's Lane, where it ran for slightly more than seven months.
In late January of 2009, it was revived at the American Theatre of Actors Sargent Theatre in New York City by Black Henna Productions[7]. Directed by Malini Singh McDonald, ran as a limited engagement until February 1st, 2009, with each act being performed separately on weeknights and the entire series running on Saturdays and Sundays. The cast features Cas Marino as Arnold, Ian M. McDonald as Ed, Susan Erenberg as Lady Blues, Christian Thomas as Alan, Amie Backner as Laurel, Chris Kelly as David, and Mary Lynch as Mrs. Beckoff.
Film adaptation
In 1988, Fierstein adapted his play for a feature film directed by Paul Bogart, starring Fierstein, Anne Bancroft, Matthew Broderick, Brian Kerwin, and Eddie Castrodad.
Awards and nominations
- Awards
- 1983 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play
- 1983 Tony Award for Best Play
- Nominations
- 1982 Drama Critics' Circle Award Runner-Up Best American Play
References
- ^ http://www.huzbears.com/nychistory/gv.html
- ^ Charles Busch (2002-11-12). "Torch Song Trilogy June 1982". The Advocate. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1589/is_2002_Nov_12/ai_94598303. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
- ^ "International Stud". Lortel Archives. 2008. http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=show&id=2476. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
- ^ La MaMa ETC
- ^ Mel Gussow (1981-11-01). "Theatre Review: Fierstein's 'Torch Song'". The New York Time. http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?html_title=&tols_title=TORCH%20SONG%20TRILOGY%20(PLAY)&pdate=19811101&byline=By%20MEL%20GUSSOW&id=1077011431802. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
- ^ "Torch Song Trilogy". Lortel Archives. 2008. http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=show&id=2476. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
- ^ Black Henna Productions | http://www.blackhennaproductions.com
External links
- Torch Song Trilogy at the Internet Broadway Database
- Torch Song Trilogy at the Internet off-Broadway Database
- Torch Song Trilogy (film) at the Internet Movie Database
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 | American Theater Guide. The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Copyright © 2004 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Notes on Drama. © 2006 through a partnership of Answers Corporation. All rights reserved. Read more |
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Mentioned in
- Fierstein, Harvey (American playwright and actor)
- Torch Song Trilogy (Sources) (play)
- Mr. Ricco (1975 Crime Film)
- Torch Song Trilogy (Critical Overview) (play)
- Torch Song Trilogy (Author Biography) (play)
- Anne Bancroft (American actress)
- Fisher Stevens (Actor, Director, Comedy/Drama)
- Paul Bogart (Director, Comedy)
- Torch Song Trilogy (1988 Comedy Drama Film)
- The Demon Murder Case (1983 Crime Film)
- The Sissy Duckling (1999 Film)
- Torch Song Trilogy (Criticism) (play)
- Torch Song Trilogy (Style) (play)
- Matthew Broderick (American Theater)
