Brian d'Arcy James, Daniel Breaker, and Sutton Foster in Shrek (Photo: Joan Marcus) 

If you're a gay parent or uncle and you want to take in a new (or newish) Broadway show that will entertain the kids without boring you to tears, your options are limited. Disney's The Little Mermaid and Mary Poppins are huge disappointments, and the recently opened White Christmas is, as a friend of mine would say, from hunger.

But there's good news! Despite some minor flaws, Shrek the Musical is a delight. Based primarily on the first in the series of three animated films that proved to be blockbusters for Dreamworks, this stage version — with book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire, and music by Jeanine Tesori — is so hilarious and warm-hearted that it's pretty much guaranted to please audience members from 8 to 80, and offers gay audiences plenty to enjoy.

Read on for a full report!

Liza Minnelli (Photo:Eric Antoniou)

It's very difficult to review a Liza Minnelli show. The highs and lows of this amazing performer's personal and professional life are so well known, and her appeal to her audience is based so much on emotion, that any sort of "objective" critique of her performance is impossible.  Also, the woman's body has been through so much in terms of illness and substance abuse that, at this point in her career, the condition of her singing voice can vary widely from one appearance to the next.  

That said, let me tell you that Minnelli is scoring a triumph in her current show at the Palace Theater. Looking fabulous, and singing and dancing better than anyone would expect after all the physical challenges she has faced, 62-year-old Liza tears up the stage of the legendary theater. On opening night, her unique brand of showmanship was rapturously greeted by an audience that included such notables as Shirley MacLaine, Tommy Tune, Elaine Stritch, Christine Ebersole, Linda Lavin, John Kander, and Rex Reed.

Read on for more about Liza's at the Palace and the opening of a Christmas classic on Broadway!

John Lavelle and Christina Pumariega in Catch-22 (Photo: Richard Termine) 

Full-frontal nudity in the theater is more prevalent than ever, and it's clear that having naked or near-naked actors in your show can really help sell tickets, as I pointed out in a recent feature. But there has been so much nudity in so many shows over the past few decades that some producers and directors apparently feel more is required to get a rise out of the audience.

To wit, graphically simulated sex acts have been seen in productions ranging from low-profile fare to last year's Tony Award winner for Best Musical. Within the space of a few days recently, I saw three Off-Broadway shows in which sex between men and women -- and, and in one case, between two men -- was so realistically simulated that I might as well have been watching a soft-core porno flick. For all the juicy details, read on...

Haley Joel Osment and John Leguizamo in American Buffalo (Photo: Carol Rosegg)

In this week's Blogging Broadway we review the starry revival of American Buffalo, The Public Theater production of the new/old Stephen Sondheim musical Road Show, and a terrifically sexy and violent interpretation of Macbeth.

Read on, Macduff!

 
David Alvarez in Billy Elliot (Photo by David Scheinmann)

In this week's Blogging Broadway, we review two new productions that you won't want to miss: the highly-anticipated Billy Elliot musical and the gripping Off-Broadway revival of the groundbreaking gays-in-the-military drama Streamers. Read about both after the break!

Harvey Fierstein in Hairspray (Photo: Paul Kolnik)

In this week's Blogging Broadway, we take a look at the upside of Hairspray's January closing. (Yes, there is one!) Plus: Notes on Musicals Tonight! and the song stylings of openly gay singer Todd Murray. Check it out after the break!

Jeremy Piven and Raul Esparza in Speed-The-Plow (Photo Credit: Brigitte Lacombe)

Plus: Charles Busch returns to the stage, The Big Gay Musical begins filming, and hot-hot-hot Adam Pascal does a two-night stand at Feinstein’s.

See it all after the break!

John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest, Patrick Wilson, and Katie Holmes in All My Sons; photo by Joan Marcus

Unlike William Inge, Tennessee Williams, and other mid-20th century American playwrights of note, Arthur Miller gave us stage works that have very little to do with sex as their subject matter. So people who appreciate actor Patrick Wilson (Angels in America) largely for his hunkiness may have been a little disappointed to learn that Wilson was returning to Broadway in Miller’s All My Sons rather than, say, Inge’s Picnic or Williams’ Sweet Bird of Youth.

As it happens, Wilson (pictured below right courtesy of Getty Images/Andrew H. Walker) does have a shirtless scene (while clearing the remains of a downed tree) in Sons. But as Miller himself might have put it, “attention must be paid” to this production for its mostly excellent acting and skillful direction – and for the power of the play itself – rather than for the display of its handsome young star’s torso.

More after the jump!

A scene from 13 (Photo credit: Joan Marcus) 

Editor's note: Starting today, our theater critic Michael Portantiere will be blogging each week about Broadway and Off-Broadway shows as well as other items of theatrical interest.

Broadway is one of the last places where you’d expect to find any sort of homophobia. But since the theater deals with every conceivable sort of life situation, and since producers and artists can’t control audience reaction to gay (or supposedly gay) characters and subject matter, there are occasions when the inclusion of certain words and situations in shows makes some people very uncomfortable.

If a show depicts homophobic behavior by characters who aren’t clearly characterized as villains, is that wrong? In a related question: Is it acceptable to present “comic” scenes of gay intimacy that result in gasps, groans, and/or nervous laughter from the audience, especially when young performers and audiences are involved?