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2003 Tonys: As gay as it gets |
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The 57th Tony Awards show was a big night for gays on Broadway,
with top honors going to gay-themed productions and artists
relishing the openness that has marked this theatrical season.
The Best Play award went to Take Me Out, a drama about a star
baseball player revealing that he is gay, and Best Musical honors
went to Hairspray, whose leading actor, Harvey Fierstein, plays
the gravel-voiced mother of the heroine in drag.
Many of the Tony winners rode a wave of awards-night euphoria
Sunday to unabashedly address their gayness or to comment on
the phenomenon to the Radio City Music Hall crowd. The issue
was raised early in the broadcast, hosted by X-Men star Hugh
Jackman, when Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, partners in both
songwriting and romance, stepped up to receive the Tony for
best original score for Hairspray. "We're not allowed to
get married, but I want to declare I love you and I'd like to
live with you the rest of my life," said Shaiman, who then
kissed Wittman. Joe Mantello, who won the Tony for his direction
of Take Me Out, said, "I think I just saw two guys kiss
on CBS, which is cool." Denis O'Hare, honored as best featured
actor for his comic portrayal of a gay accountant suddenly enamored
of baseball in Take Me Out, said later: "It's Gay Night
out there. It's amazing."
Theater has long been an accepting and nurturing environment
for gays, and many in the parade of Tony winners took note.
Fierstein, who became a hero among gays after writing and starring
in the gay-themed play Torch Song Trilogy to earn two Tonys
20 years ago, said he felt honored to work with all the caring
people in the theater world. "I want to have your babies,"
the Hairspray star joked in accepting his award for best lead
performance in a musical.
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