Torch Song Trilogy is a collection of three plays by Harvey Fierstein, running in New York City from June 10, 1982, to May 19, 1985 at the Little Theatre (now the Helen Hayes Theatre on West 44th Street). In 1988, it was made into a film starring Anne Bancroft, Matthew Broderick, Harvey Fierstein and Brian Kerwin. Harvey Forbes Fierstein (born June 6, 1954 in Brooklyn, New York) is a Jewish, gay, American actor, author, and singer. ... Nickname: The Big Apple Official website: City of New York Government Counties (Boroughs) Bronx (The Bronx) New York (Manhattan) Queens (Queens) Kings (Brooklyn) Richmond (Staten Island) Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Geographical characteristics Area Total 468. ... June 10 is the 161st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (162nd in leap years), with 204 days remaining. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... May 19 is the 139th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (140th in leap years). ... This article is about the year. ... The Helen Hayes Theatre (originally the Little Theatre) is a Broadway theatre at 240 West 44th Street in New York City. ... See also: 1987 in film, other events of 1988, 1989 in film, list of years in film. // Events Michael Jacksons first film was Moonwalker Top grossing films Rain Man, starring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise Who Framed Roger Rabbit Coming to America Big, starring Tom Hanks Crocodile Dundee II... Film refers to the celluloid media on which movies are printed. ... Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate Anne Bancroft (September 17, 1931 – June 6, 2005) was an iconic Academy Award-winning American actress, born Anna Maria Louisa Italiano in The Bronx, New York to Michael and Mildred Italiano, both children of Italian immigrants. ... Matthew Broderick (born March 21, 1962) is an American film and stage actor who is perhaps best known for his role as the title character in Ferris Buellers Day Off. ...

The combined play runs at roughly four hours in length, so New Line Cinema insisted that Fierstein restrict the film to a two-hour maximum. Despite the copious excisions, the film is also made in three distinct acts: "The International Stud", "Fugue in a Nursery" and "Widows and Children First!". The dates given below are the dates from the film; the plays were set two or three years more recently, but New Line Cinema couldn't understand how a gay film in the mid-1980s could not mention AIDS, so Fierstein moved the film to before the AIDS crisis. New Line Cinema, founded in 1967, is one of the ten major Hollywood movie studios. ... The 1980s decade refers to the years from 1980 to 1989, inclusive. ... The Red Ribbon is a symbol for solidarity with HIV-positive people and those living with AIDS. Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (or acronym AIDS), is a collection of symptoms and infections resulting from the specific damage to the immune system caused by infection with the human...

Plot synopsis

Each of the three acts tells a separate part of the life story of Arnold Beckoff, a torch song-singing Jewish drag queen in New York City who starts the story with a soliloquy explaining his cynical disillusionment with love. In The International Stud, set in 1971, Arnold meets Ed and they fall in love. Ed, however, is uncomfortable with his bisexuality; he leaves Arnold for a girlfriend, who he subsequently marries. Torch Song was a British synthpop and dance band of the early 1980s consisting of William Orbit, Laurie Mayer and Grant Gilbert. ... The word Jew (Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or a member of the Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... Drag queens Luc DArcy and Jerry Cyr and friend at Montreals 2003 Divers/Cité pride parade. ... Soliloquy is an audible oratory or conversation with oneself. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1971 calendar). ... Bisexuality in human sexual behavior refers to the aesthetic, romantic, and/or sexual desire for people of either gender and/or for people of either sexes. ...

Fugue in a Nursery starts at Christmas 1973, when Arnold meets the love of his life, Alan, a model. They settle down together, later spending a weekend with Ed and his wife, where their relationship is tested but endures. Eventually, they arrange to adopt a child together. At the end of the act, however, Alan is killed in a homophobic attack. In music, a fugue is a type of piece written for counterpoint for several independent musical voices. ... Christmas (literally, the Mass of Christ), also known as Noël, is a traditional holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus with both religious and secular aspects, commonly observed on 25 December. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1973 calendar). ... The persecution of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgendered individuals is the practice of attacking a person, usually physically, because they are or are perceived to be lesbian, gay or transgender. ...

Widows and Children First! is set in the spring of 1980. Arnold's mother comes to visit from Florida and, after disapproving of Arnold's homosexuality and adoption of a gay teenage son (David), as well as Arnold's use of a family burial plot for Alan, they have a series of arguments where Arnold demands that she accept him for who he is. The following morning, though, on her way to leaving back for Florida, they have a conversation where, for the first time, they seem to understand each other. 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Official language(s) English Capital Tallahassee Largest city Jacksonville Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 22nd 170 451 km² 260 km 800 km 17. ... Legal status of gay adoption in Europe (map needs to be changed; UK, Norway, Iceland see text). ...

Awards and nominations

• In 1983, author and star Harvey Fierstein won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play, and Torch Song Trilogy won the Tony Award for Best Play.
• At the 1989 Deauville Film Festival, director Paul Bogart won the Audience Award and was also nominated for the Critics' Award.
• At the 1989 Independent Spirit Awards, producer Howard Gottfried was nominated for Best Feature and Harvey Fierstein was nominated for Best Male Lead.

1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Harvey Forbes Fierstein (born June 6, 1954 in Brooklyn, New York) is a Jewish, gay, American actor, author, and singer. ... What is popularly called the Tony Award (formally, the Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre) is an annual award celebrating achievements in live American theater, including musical theater, primarily honoring productions on Broadway in New York. ... A Tony Award for Best Play has been awarded since 1947. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Deauville American Film Festival is a film festival for American movies that occurs every year since 1975 in Deauville, France. ... The film director, on the right, gives last minute direction to the cast and crew, whilst filming a costume drama on location in London. ... Paul Bogart (b. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Founded in 1984, the Independent Spirit Awards were originally known as the FINDIE (Friends of Independents) Awards and presented winners with Plexiglas pyramids containing suspended shoestrings representing the paltry budgets of independent films. ... A film producer oversees the making of movies. ... Harvey Forbes Fierstein (born June 6, 1954 in Brooklyn, New York) is a Jewish, gay, American actor, author, and singer. ...

Trivia

While Matthew Broderick played Arnold's lover Alan in the movie version, he originated the role of David, the adopted son when Torch Song began off-Broadway. He left to film the movie Max Dugan Returns before the show moved to Broadway's Little Theatre.

This play brought a relative unknown Broadway Actress, Estelle Getty, to the critics attention. She played Arnold's disapproving mother in Widows and Children First!. Her performance in this role soon led to her casting as Bea Arthur's critical yet loving Sicilian mother in The Golden Girls. Getty as Sophia on The Golden Girls Estelle Getty (born Estelle Scher on July 25, 1923 in New York City) is a Jewish-American actress whose most important beginning role was playing Harvey Fiersteins mother on Broadway in the play Torch Song Trilogy; however, she was best known for...

External links

• Torch Song Trilogy at the Internet Broadway Database
• Torch Song Trilogy at The Internet Movie Database