"And Underneath Her Wimple, She Has Curlers In Her Hair!!!!!!!"

                             No, girls, this is not how I look, when I first get up in the morning, or go to bed, at night. Not that far off, actually, except the curlers are not as large, and there is a fresh layer of cold cream on my face!!!!!!!  Just picture it, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                             Now, get this--Musical Theater, and all it entails, may be the sacred territory of Theater Queens, and while there have been some noteworthy Gay theater composers (Cole Porter and Stephen Sondheim) come first to mind, consider that some of the gayest theater lyrics, were written by the straightest of men.  Like the one headlined above, which is my personal favorite lyric phrase from "The Sound Of Music."  It was written by Oscar Hammerstein, who, if things are to be believed, was as strait laced as they come.  And how radical for its time--"The Sound Of Music," a 1959 musical, set in 1938, expostulating that a nun would dare to wear anything beside a shaved head under her habit!!!!!!!!!!  Wonder what the Diocese of New York said, when it opened at the Lunt Fontanne Theatre on November 16, 1959, just two days before MY very own fifth birthday, lambs????????????

                              When you think about it, Oscar wrote some of the gayest lyrics in American Musical Theater.  Consider the entirety of "I Enjoy Being A Girl," from "Flower Drum Song."  Or, how about this from "Grant Avenue" in the same show--"The girl who serves you all this food is another tasty dish?" Sounds straight, dolls, but theater queens know its code.  And they just love these dishes, like chorus boys, outside the stage door.  Better than Liza Minnelli's Moo Shu Pork!!!!!!!!!!

                                 How about "Bill" from "Show Boat?"  If a Gay man sings that, it becomes somethign else, let me tell you!!!!  And don't forget, from "Life Upon The Wicked Stage--"If a gentleman should take your hand, which means an extra beer or sandwich/Everybody whispers ain't your life a whirl!!!!!!!"

                                   What about "Carousel's "You're A Queer One, Julie Jordan?"  I am sure much has been made of that one!!!!!!!!!

                                       Darlings, I am telling you, Oscar Hammerstein was ahead of his time. He anticipated, somehow what an iconic cultural zeitgeist Musical Theater would become for Gay men, and he wrote, however indirectly, lyrics that sometimes reflected that iconic status!!!!!!!!!

                                         Too bad he was never named "Queen For A Day!"

                                          Love to all my queens out there, each and every day!!!!!!!!!!!