On the Town: Three Sailors on Leave in a Gay City

Long before I ever visited New York City, I learned all about the Battery, the Bronx, the Empire State Building, Central Park, subways, seltzer, and delis.  Like Los Angeles, it was a magical place, gleaming with steel and glass, where you could escape the constant "what girl do you like?" litany of the adults.

I learned all that through tv programs like That Girl and The Odd Couple, and through movies like On the Town (1949).

Based on a 1944 Broadway musical scored by gay composer Leonard Bernstein, On the Town follows the adventures of three sailors on leave in New York City before they ship out: the naive Gabey (dance master Gene Kelly), the fast-talking Chip (future Rat Pack singer Frank Sinatra), and the dopey Ozzie (comic relief Jules Munshin). They just have 24 hours, and they want to see and do everything, especially meet girls.

Then Gabey falls in love with a girl on a poster, Ivy Smith (Vera-Ellen), mistakenly thinking she's a famous actress.

So his friends obligingly give up their plans to help Gabey track her down.

They give up their plans to help a buddy?  Anytime a same-sex friendship trumps the quest for hetero-romance, you have some significant gay symbolism.

During the madcap scavenger hunt, female cabbie  Hildy (Betty Garrett) aggressively courts Chip ("Come back to my place!").

Ozzie is courted by anthropologist Claire (Ann Miller), whose mentor thinks she's a lesbian, uninterested in men; actually, she just prefers the big, brawny type ("Give me a prehistoric man!").

And Gabey catches the eye of  the gawky Lucy Schmeeler (Alice Pearce).

Butch, aggressive women chasing unwilling, feminine-coded men: the gender atypicality gives the musical even more gay symbolism.

And even more: all of them become friends, boys and girls both -- when was the last time you saw a platonic male-female friendship in a musical?

They all help Gabey search.  When he becomes despondent, they all invite him to "Count on me."  

Gabey eventually meets the Girl, and the "three couples" share a final song and a kiss.  But there's no marriage and children: when the 24 hours ends, the three sailors head back to their ship.  Hildy, Claire, and Iris wave goodbye.

But they're not alone.  Strangers yesterday, the three women have found each other.

This movie is not about hetero-romance at all.  It's about friendship.  That's what makes it a gay classic.

Plus the energetic dance numbers, the gay connections of actresses Betty Garrett and Alice Pearce, and New York City, the most important character, brimming with light and color.  No wonder the posters call it "Twice as gay as Anchors Aweigh."

The original musical is a favorite of high school and college drama departments.  Not a lot of beefcake, but Tony Yazbeck dances shirtless in the Broadway revival.

Robert Clark: From Zack Files to Gay Teen

Robert Clark has been very busy since he buddy-bonded with Michael Seater on The Zack Files (2000-2002) and Strange Days at Blake Holsey High (2002-2006).












For one thing, he bulked up, transforming from a teen hunk into a bodybuilder with a stunning physique. (His brother Daniel is also a bodybuilder.)





For another, he's guest starred in some of Michael Seater's projects, and starred in some gay-friendly projects of his own.

On Veronica Mars (2005), he played a gay high schooler who is recruited by the lawyer to humiliate the homophobic ex-boyfriend of one of her friends.

Nonsense Revolution (2008) is about six best friends in Nova Scotia: a gay couple, a straight couple, a single lesbian, and a single heterosexual man.  One of the gay men is killed, and comes back as a horny ghost, who seduces the lesbian until she can get all five friends together to send him to into the light.  I'm not making this up.

On the paranormal series Warehouse 13 (2010), Robert plays a hunky high school wrestler with a penchant for catching on fire just when he grabs one of his hunky opponents.

Did I mention that most of his roles require underwear, shirtless, or otherwise semi-nude scenes?

Or that he's gay in real life?

He is also a singer, recording songs under RWC (Ready When Called) Productions.

10 Reasons Why "Kiss Me, Kate" is a Gay Classic

1. It's a musical about the backstage antics during a performance of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, which has a gay subtext.  The dissolute Petruchio comes to Padua to marry a woman for her money -- her looks are meaningless to him, as he spends a lot of time...a lot of time..with his male friends.

 2. As with most musicals, there are two romantic plots.  The "serious" one involves director/star Fred Graham and his costar Lilli Vanessi.  But their bickering romance is so ludicrously over-the-top that it's not serious at all:

Gazing down on the Jungfrau, from our secret chalet for two

The Jungfrau is the highest mountain in Europe. You can't gaze down on it from anything but an airplane.

3. The humorous plot involves gold-digging Lois Lane (silly name, but the elitist Porter had apparently never heard of Superman's girlfriend) and Bill, who would rather be gambling than spend time with her.

4. Author Cole Porter was gay, and infused his lyrics with coded -- and not so coded -- gay references for those "in the know."  For instance,  in"Too Darn Hot," among the various couples for whom the hot weather is impeding sexual activity:  The Marine for his Queen is not.

Marines were notorious for thinking of themselves as heterosexual as long as they were active partners in their relationships with the passive, gay-coded "queens."

5. Even when the lyrics aren't gay-coded, they're humorously  risque. For instance, in "Always True to You (In My Fashion)," Lois explains to Bill why she has sex for money:
I could never curl my lip
To a dazzlin' diamond clip,
Though the clip meant "let 'er rip," I'd not say "Nay!"

6. The 1953 movie features several famous beefcake stars, including Howard Keel (Fred, left), Bobby Van (Gremio), Tommy Rall (Bill), and Bob Fosse (Hortensio).

7. Two gangsters, Lippy and Slug, appear on stage to collect on a loan.  They sing "Brush Up Your Shakespeare," about using Shakespearean quotes to get girls:

If she says you're behavior is heinous, kick her right in the Coriolanus.

But their demeanor and body language makes it clear that they are a couple.

8. In the 1953 movie, one of the gangsters is played by Keenan Wynn, who was gay.

9. Watch the big dance number, "From This Moment On," for the superb choreography.  Then go back and watch it again.  In slow-motion.  You'll be in for a surprise.  Bob Fosse was quite gifted beneath the belt.

10. The other actors wear Elizabethan tights that are perfect for accentuate beneath-the-belt gifts, so you'll get several more surprises if you watch carefully.  Try it at your local community theater, too.

See also: Kiss Me, Kate: Updated and Gay-ified

All that Jazz

My Fair Lady

Dylan and Cole Sprouse after The Suite Life

In 2004, child actors Dylan and Cole Sprouse became the teen stars of one of the biggest hits -- and biggest gay subtext series -- in the history of the Disney Channel, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody (2004-2008). 

 It was about two twins, the scheming teen operator Zack (Dylan) and the bookish intellectual Cody (Cole) who move into the posh Tipton Hotel, where their mother works as a singer. In an unprecedented 83 episodes, no one Said the Word, but gay subtexts were everywhere, from the gay-vague hotel manager Mr. Moseby to Zack's "date" with a popular boy to two boys obviously dancing together at a party.

In 2008, the twins, now 16, spun off onto The Suite Life on Deck (2008-2011), taking their shenanigans (and the gay subtexts) to a luxury cruise ship.  They wanted more control over the writing and direction, but Disney refused, so after 3 seasons and 71 episodes, they had had enough of Zack and Cody.

They also left the world of acting behind.  They enrolled in New York University, where Cole is studying archaeology, and is also an accomplished photographer.  Dylan is studying video game design and fine arts, and sells his artwork online.

In 2013, they toured Japan with Shin Koyamada as International Ambassadors on the U.S.-Japan Discovery Tour.

Both brothers are rumored to be gay, and Dylan, the more feminine of the two, has been linked with Jake T. Austin, but they haven't made any public statements.  Cole's tweets avoid any discussion of relationships.  Dylan mentions men and women both.  Cole states, in jest, that he's not attracted to either, just to cookies.

Dylan uploaded a nude selfie to attract someone.  I don't know who.

My friend Michael in West Hollywood claims to have hooked up with one of them.  He doesn't remember which.

The fully nude pic is on Tales of West Hollywood

See also: A Hookup with Cole or Dylan Sprouse.