Terrence
McNally's The Ritz was born during the 1970s sexual
revolution, an era of liberation extravagantly celebrated at
the Continental Baths, a gay New York bathhouse where
an unknown Bette Midler, Barry Manilow, Wayland
Flowers, and others once performed for a towel-clad
audience. Today, its author calls the play, set in a
bathhouse not unlike that exotic establishment, a
period piece. ''There was a time at the height of the
AIDS crisis that I would not have allowed a revival...
but I think we're ready to see it again,'' McNally says.
Your man on the New York theater scene looks back at gay love and self-loathing in the '40s, '50s, and '60s before shamelessly lusting after Broadway stars Liev Schreiber, Victor Garber, and High School Musical hunk Corbin Bleu.
The Advocate's queen on the NYC theater scene uses his gift receipt to exchange seasonal solo shows for inner-city lesbian tragedy, scenery-chewing divas, Mark-Paul Gosselaar's muscles, and Broadway's first high-powered prostate massage.
