ATTENTION! The Boys in the Band movie review is over 100% LGBT+ content. This material is not recommended for reading by persons with congenital braces and a fragile psyche.

The Boys in the Band is the second film adaptation of the play of the same name by Marth Crowley, first staged in 1968 on Off-Broadway stages (the so-called theater venues in New York with a capacity of 100-499 spectators off-Broadway). The play was one of the first works to speak openly about gay issues, and produced the effect of a bombshell. The same can be said about the 1970 film adaptation , directed by William Friedkin with the participation of the author of the play. Interestingly, the same actors who played in the play starred in the film version. Six of the nine performers in the original production and film were gay. In 1968, participation in such a performance could well have cost the careers of both them and their heterosexual stage partners.

Designed initially for only five productions, the play was at the center of the scandal and became popular. From April 1968 to September 1970 The Orchestra was shown 1001 times. The same period saw the first protests of the LGBT community for their rights. Between 1984 and 1993 five of the six gay actors in the play have died of HIV, as have director Robert Moore and producer Richard Barr.

The play was staged off-Broadway in 1996 and 2010, and in 2018, in honor of the 50th anniversary, the production triumphantly moved to Broadway. The remastered Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play features Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory), Zachary Quinto (Heroes, Star Trek ), Matt Bomer (White Collar), Andrew Rannells, Charlie Carver (Teen Wolf), Robin de Jasus, Brian Hutchison, Michael Benjamin Washington and Tuck Watkins (Desperate Housewives). They are all openly gay, and Andrew Rennells and Tuck Watkins, like their stage characters, are a couple. In fact, all of them, as in the case of the original production in 1968, returned to their roles in the film version, directed by Joe Mantello (also gay) commissioned by Netflix. Mart Crowley himself took part in the work on the film, moreover, the playwright even starred in extras.

In The Boys in the Band, seven gay friends gather at the apartment of one of them to celebrate a birthday. By coincidence, two more people turn up in the company – a gay prostitute, rented for a birthday boy, and one of the heterosexual university friends of the owner of the apartment. After a while, a nice party filled with light chatter and friendly jokes turns into a cruel game, during which painful topics that have tormented men for a long time are revealed. They talk about the first sexual experience, the first love, attitudes towards monogamy, hypocrisy, self-hatred, faith, and much more.

The Boys in the Band is primarily a theatrical production, and the whole point here is in the dialogues and monologues of the characters. Netflix released a version of the film with the original track, English and Russian subtitles. The latter are highly discouraged, they have a lot of liberties, and some points are tritely distorted. Mart Crowley wrote a brilliant text, and the characters, whom he wrote off from his gay friends, turned out to be very textured and alive. There is a deeply religious, self-hating and aging Michael (Jim Parsons) here. There is Hank (Tuck Watkins), pretending to be heterosexual, who loves his partner and suffers from his constant cheating. There is a narrow-minded, but very sincere and spontaneous Cowboy (Charlie Carver), who tries to maintain dignity even while working as a prostitute. There is a caricature, wildly infuriating heterosexual Emory (Robin de Jazus). There is a ostentatious and narcissistic, although clearly suffering from loneliness, Harold (Zachary Quinto). Each of the characters is well revealed as a person, and it is pleasant to watch their interaction on the screen; several months spent on Broadway are clearly felt in the teamwork of the ensemble.

Of course, today, gay actors who agreed to participate in such a production do not require unbridled courage. And in this, among other things, there is a great merit of the author of “Orchestra” Mart Crowley and the actors who played in the original production. Actually, the modern version of The Boys in the Band is a kind of homage to those who 50 years ago found the strength to speak on an uncomfortable topic. And also confirmation that the struggle of the LGBT community for their rights was not in vain. Unfortunately, belonging to the gay community is far from being punished in all countries, it is not worth looking far for examples. And yes, now I am also talking about Ukraine. So, films like The Boys in the Band are still needed.

However, The Boys in the Band is worth watching, if only for the great acting, amazing dialogues and the atmosphere of the late 60s. Yes, we strongly recommend that you pay attention to the documentary The Boys in the Band: Something Personal, which contains interviews with performers, producers and the author of the original play, who, unfortunately, did not live to see the premiere of the film for only six months.