With directorJoe Mantello’sfantastic adaptation ofThe Boys in the Bandnow streaming on Netflix, I recently spoke toJim Parsonsabout being part of the production. If you’re not aware, back in 2018, Mantello and his all-openly gay cast including Parsons,Zachary Quinto,Matt Bomer,Andrew Rannells,Charlie Carver,Michael Benjamin Washington,Tuck Watkins,Brian Hutchison, andRobin De Jesús, put on a revival ofMart Crowley’siconic 1968 work, where it played to sold out audiences and went on to win the 2019 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play. After the production wrapped, producerRyan Murphyand everyone involved decided to get back together and make a movie.
If you haven’tseen the trailersor know the material,The Boys in the Bandtakes place in New York City in the late 60s and is about a group of gay friends that get together for a birthday party. As the night progresses, everyone is forced to examine the choices they have made and the cracks in their relationships begin to show.
What you also need to know is when this production was originally put on Off-Broadway in 1968 it was literally a game-changer. No one was presenting gay men’s lives onstage without judgement. At the time, if you were a member of the LGBTQ community, you needed to be careful about showing who you were both in public and even in private. People were jailed for holding hands in public (and still are today in other parts of the world). In addition, this play happened before Stonewall. Before gay activists won support from the Democratic Party. Before any openly gay person ran for a political office. Simply put: 1968 was such a different era, it’s hard to get your mind around it when you compare where we are today. But art likeThe Boys in the Bandhelped change society. That’s why it’s important to know the context and history.
During my interview with Jim Parsons he talked about what it meant being part of this historic material, why he sent Ryan Murphy a thank you letter, how much has changed in the fifty years since the play was originally put on, why filming in order was so beneficial to the cast and filmmakers, and more. In addition, we talked about two specific things that happen in the movie: what Michael inscribed on the frame to Harold, and what Alan wanted to tell Michael.
Check out what he had to say in the player below and further down the page is exactly what we talked about followed by the official synopsis. For more on the film, you canread Greg’s review hereand here’smy interview with Zachary Quinto.
Jim Parsons:
Here’s the official synopsis forThe Boys in the Band:
More than fifty years after Mart Crowley’s play became an unexpected smash hit for putting gay men’s lives center stage with honesty and humor, THE BOYS IN THE BAND returns to the screen in a new adaptation that reunites acclaimed director Joe Mantello with the all-star cast of the Tony-winning, 2018 Broadway production. In 1968 New York City – when being gay was still considered to be best kept behind closed doors – a group of friends gather for a raucous birthday party hosted by Michael (Jim Parsons), a screenwriter who spends and drinks too much, in honor of the sharp-dressed and sharp-tongued Harold (Zachary Quinto). Other partygoers include Donald (Matt Bomer), Michael’s former flame, now mired in self-analysis; Larry (Andrew Rannells), a randy commercial artist living with Hank (Tuc Watkins), a school teacher who has just left his wife; Bernard (Michael Benjamin Washington), a librarian tiptoeing around fraught codes of friendship alongside Emory (Robin de Jesús), a decorator who never holds back; and a guileless hustler (Charlie Carver), hired to be Harold’s gift for the night. What begins as an evening of drinks and laughs gets upended when Alan (Brian Hutchison), Michael’s straight-laced college roommate, shows up unexpectedly and each man is challenged to confront long-buried truths that threaten the foundation of the group’s tight bond.
