"Asking me if I'm homosexual is like asking James Brown if he's black." So crowed the American glam-rocker Jobriath as he commenced his career in the early '70s. Entering a milieu rich with androgynous stars with heterosexual habits, Jobriath proclaimed himself the "true fairy of rock," making it clear that, unlike David Bowie or Marc Bolan, he was a tarted-up rocker who actually took it up the ass. Backing up the faggy hubris was Jobriath's musical talent (he was a classical piano prodigy) and his shameless manager, who unleashed an avalanche of hype—from Times Square billboards to full-page ads in Rolling Stone and Vogue, all before one note of music had been released—that would ultimately prove ruinous. In Jobriath A.D., documentarian Kieran Turner tracks this incredible tale through archival interviews, contemporary interviews, gracefully plot-forwarding animation, and awesome performance footage. No fan of glam rock, musical theater, or pioneering gay artists should miss it.

(Jobriath A.D. plays Oct 18 at the Egyptian. Full info here, trailer below.)