The Boys in the Band

Los Angeles: Callboard Theatre, Circa 1970s. Vintage poster for three performances of the 1969 play held at the Callback Theatre in Los Angeles, circa early 1970s. Directed by and starring Gerald McRaney, who would go on to a long and successful career in film and television as an actor.

Mart Crowley's off-Broadway play, about a group of gay men who gather at an apartment to celebrate a birthday, ran for over 1000 performances at Theatre Four from April 15, 1968 to September 6, 1970. In addition to being a landmark piece of queer theatre, the play also found significant mainstream success, and served as an inspiration and rallying point for many who would participate in the burgeoning gay rights movement. The play's influence and importance are evidenced not only by this early revival, but by the poster itself, whose subtly homoerotic image would have been provocative in that era (and probably quite a bit later as well).

William Friedkin would direct a film version in 1970, adapted by Crowley from his play, and Crowley would write a sequel to the play, "The Men from the Boys," in 2002.

25 x 19 inches. Near Fine with a couple of tiny closed tears.


[Book #141383]