“I just want to be loved, is that so wrong?!” – Arnold Beckoff, “Torch Song Trilogy.” Picture: Harvey Fierstein, “Torch Song Trilogy” float, Christopher Street Liberation Day Parade, New York City, June 24, 1984. Photographer unknown, photo c/o @lgbt_history. On January 15, 1982, thirty-five years ago today, “Torch Song Trilogy,” a collection of three plays by Harvey Fierstein presented in three acts, premiered at the Actors’ Playhouse in Greenwich Village. The four-hour play—made up of “International Stud,” “Fugue in a Nursery,” and “Widows and Children”—follows Arnold Beckoff, a gay Jewish drag queen and torch singer in New York City in the late 1970s and early (pre-AIDS) 1980s. “At the height of the post-Stonewall clone era,” one critic later wrote, “Harvey challenged both gay and straight audiences to champion an effeminate gay man’s longings for love and family.” In the first act, “International Stud,” named after the real-life gay bar, Arnold meets Ed, who is struggling with his bisexuality; the two ultimately separate when Ed is unable to come out. In the second act, Arnold meets the gorgeous Alan and the two settle into an ideal partnership; they even plan to adopt a child. Alan, however, is killed in an act of homophobic violence. In the final act, Arnold is a single father of a gay teenager, David, and a visit from Arnold’s intolerant mother is painful for both. After an initial run in late 1981, “Torch Song” premiered to great acclaim on January 15, 1982. The cast included Fierstein as Arnold, Joel Carothers as Ed, Paul Joynt as Alan, Matthew Broderick as David, and Estelle Getty as Mrs. Beckoff. The show made its Broadway debut in June 1982, and it won Tony Awards for Best Actor (Fierstein) and Best Play. During his acceptance speech for the Best Play Award, producer John Glines made history by thanking his lover, Larry Lane. Estelle Getty later said that her role in “Torch Song Trilogy” brought her to the attention of the producers of what would become “The Golden Girls.” Fierstein adapted “Torch Song” into a film in 1988. #lgbthistory #HavePrideInHistory #TorchSongTrilogy #HarveyFierstein (at New York, New York)
