THE BOYS IN THE BAND
The Cast From Broadway to Netflix
The Band is back together. The Broadway hit The Boys in the Band will stream on Netflix by September’s end, and the star-studded cast has reunited.
The Boys in the Band, Mart Crowley’s landmark play about gay New Yorkers in the pre-Stonewall era, sold-out a limited 15-week Broadway run and earned a 2019 Tony Award for best revival of a play.
The movie is the latest Ryan Murphy project who signed a $300 million deal with the streaming service. He was at the helm as the Broadway production producer and stays true to his vision with his ensemble of openly gay actors: Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto, Matt Bomer, Andrew Rannells, Charlie Carver, Robin DeJesús, Brian Hutchison, Michael Benjamin Washington, and Tuc Watkins. Joe Mantello returned as the director.
The Boys in the Band centers on friends who meet to celebrate their pal Harold’s (Zachary Quinto) birthday. The movie’s first trailer shows Michael (Jim Parsons), a recovering alcoholic, promising a gathering of the “same old tired fairies you’ve seen around since day one.”
The boys gather for the party, and their suppressed feelings emerge. It turns into a messy but funny night as Michael deals with his alcoholism and a friend’s (Brian Hutchison) homophobia–” I couldn’t care less what people do as long as they don’t do it in public.” The trailer — watch it above — lays out a night of partying that turns into a high school party game.
“Hey everybody, game time. We all have to call the one person we truly believe we have loved,” Michael announces to the less than enthused group. “Who makes the first call?” The rest of the movie trailer lays out the game rules and shows how each of them embraces the challenge. Will the feelings and truths threaten their friendships?
It is the second film adaptation of Mart Crowley’s play. The 1970 version was one of the first major American motion pictures to focus on gay characters and is cited as a milestone in the history of queer cinema. The 2020 version of The Boys in the Band drops on Netflix on September 30th.
