The Boys in the Band (Original Version)

A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

The Boys in the Band (Original Version)

Full-Length Play, Drama

This seminal work of the Off Broadway movement premiered in 1968 and was a long-running hit onstage, later filmed with the original cast.

Image: 2018 Broadway Production (Joan Marcus)

The Boys in the Band (Original Version)

  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult

Details

Summary

This seminal work of the Off Broadway movement premiered in 1968 and was a long-running hit onstage, later filmed with the original cast. In 2010, the play made a triumphant return to New York City in an highly praised production produced by Drama Desk and Obie Award winning Transport Group. In 2018, The Boys in the Band made its Broadway debut at the Booth Theatre in an unprecedented production featuring a cast of entirely out-and-proud gay actors. This new edition contains both the original two-act script and the one-act Broadway version, as well as an introduction by celebrated playwright Tony Kushner.

In his upper eastside Manhattan apartment, Michael is throwing a birthday party for Harold, a self-awoved "32 year-old, pock-marked, Jew fairy", complete with surprise gift: "Cowboy" a street hustler. As the evening wears on, fueled by drugs and alcohol, bitter, unresolved resentments among the guests come to light when a game of "Truth" goes terribly wrong.

  • Time Period 1960s
  • Cautions
    • Alcohol
    • Mild Adult Themes
    • Smoking

Media

ON BREAKING CHARACTER

Musical Theatre and the LGBTQ+ Audience: An Interview with Patrick Pacheco
by Jim Colleran
June 20, 2019

Photos

  • The Boys in the Band (Original Version)

    Image: 2018 Broadway Production (Joan Marcus)

  • The Boys in the Band (Original Version)

    Image: 2018 Broadway Production (Joan Marcus)

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: £70 per performance plus VAT when applicable.

Scripts

Available Formats:

Authors

Mart Crowley

Mart Crowley (1935-2020) was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi and educated at The Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. After graduating from the drama department, he went to New York to pursue a career in the theatre and landed jobs as production assistant to the d ...

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