Mess with the gays? Then worry about losing the right for your touring Mormon song-and-dance group to recreate parts of the musical “Wicked”—or any other song or musical for which gays hold the licensing rights. (Which, you know, might be a lot of songs and musicals.)

Eli Sanders was The Stranger's associate editor. His book, "While the City Slept," was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. He once did this and once won...

29 replies on “Prop 8, the Musical Protest”

  1. But this will just lead to a backlash wherein conservative bigots will deny us licenses to perform all of their great art!

    oh, wait…. never mind.

  3. It will be interesting see if this has any impact. I think it would preclude the LDS from doing a lot of contemporary Disney musicals. Didn’t Elton John write The Lion King? Is Andrew Lloyd Weber or Stephen Sondheim gay? Regardless, the organizer of this boycott should also contact sympathetic heterosexual composers and music copyright holders. Paul McCartney, for instance, owns the publishing rights to Annie and many more musicals.

  7. @4, that observation brings up a good point: how will the baby gay mormon’s get properly schooled in the ways of the gays if they can’t perform in musicals?

  10. Could the owners of musical theatre copyrights deny their use to everyone? That’d save time and make musical-haters like me very happy. Think of the children!

  11. 9) I admit I am very uninformed about who is and isn’t gay? I was wrong to assume anything about anyone.

    8) I kind of get where Elton is coming from. If the Christian bigots are willing to concede on every single civil right that marriage allows, but just don’t want gays to use the word “marriage,” why not give in on that little point now. Take all your rights back now, then fight for the word “marriage” later when the majority becomes comfortable with the idea of “gay marriage.”

  12. andrew lloyd webber is most decidedly hetro, and on his third wife. inasmuch as he works with and is surrounded by gay folk in the musical theatre world, i doubt he would withhold permission to do his shows. he wants the money above all. ditto for paul mccartney.

    stephen sondheim is, as boxofbirds pointed out, gay, but not a political animal, as far as i know. still, i hope jerry herman, harvey feirstein, stephen schwarz, the half of kander/ebb that’s still living, marc shaiman, and any gay musical theatre composer/lyricist i may have missed step up and just say no to musicals by mormons.

  14. Has anyone considered that if the “boycott” actually rises to the level of being noticed by anyone who doesn’t read slog (which it shows no sign of doing) then conservatives may respond in kind? What if every one who finds homosexual behavior immoral refused to patronize a business that employs any homosexuals, go to a movie with homosexual cast, etc etc.
    That may not be a huge deal for gays in urban centers but in a lot of America isolated gays could become a lot more so.

  15. This actually will really get them.

    Seriously, you have no idea how much they’re into song and dance things, and they personally connect with the whole Oz and outsider thing.

    Good show!

    Remember, Ski BC! (or WA or OR)

  16. @11
    The rights and privileges associated with civil unions are not equal to those of marriage. Ms. John doesn’t want to be married. Perhaps “civil partnerships” are equal to marriage in England. This is America not England. His comments in the article come from a place of ignorance.
    Making heteros comfortable isn’t a consideration. The Constitution isn’t a rubbing stone meant to soothe those who willfully ignore it’s precepts — you know “liberty and justice for all.” It appears Americans are going to remain divided for a very, very long time.

  17. What Elton John doesn’t mention and where he is wrong, is the California Supreme Court ruled it was a matter of equal justice and that gay people had the right to marry. We had the right to marry! Get it?

  21. #16

    I will just shut up now because no matter how much I try to be supportive of gay rights, someone gay gets all upset because of the awkward or inelegant way I try to express my support for the cause.

    Maybe all non-gay people who are pro-gay rights should just shut up and stay out of the fight and let the 15%* of the population that is gay fight their own battles against the 51%* of the population that is against gay rights.

    *(give or take)

  22. Is this really the best you’ve got?

    Acknowledge and condone our gay lifestyle or we won’t let you sing our songs?

    With all do respect, you can keep your damn songs. Sheesh!

  23. Didn’t Stephen Schwartz also compose Godspell? Lots o’ good Jesus-y music in that; bet the Mo’s would hate losing that kinda material.

    I almost thought I was a Christian after I watched Lynne Thigpen (“The Chief” from Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego) perform the Laura Nyro-esque “Bless the Lord My Soul” in the movie adaptation.

    Oh, yeah–wasn’t Nyro herself also the composer of “pop’s first lesbian love song”? Tough luck, BYU Young Ambassadors!

    Still, if they run out of material, they can always go back to Lex D’Azavedo!

  25. re: ALW

    please don’t take Cats!
    I’ll marry you myself if that’s what it takes-
    just don’t,
    in the name of all that is holy,
    take Cats away!!

  28. Wouldn’t it be better to charge them extra? Less money for the Mormons to funnel into ad campaign; more money for the gays. Or better yet, tell them that in order to get a license, they need to show they’re not promoting hate by disavowing any hateful messages that are associated with their group and stating that gays deserve full equality.

Comments are closed.