The Big Gay Musical

The Big Gay Musical By Juan Milan Austin Director Bridget Brewer wanted to raise money and awareness for LGBTQ organizations in a way that would stand out: So she created an all-queer musical. “We’re improvising a queer-centric Broadway musical, the type of musical we never had as kids. Most musicals are about hetero couples, hetero things,” said Brewer, the director of The Big Gay Musical.

The Big Gay Musical has been playing at the Hideout Theatre since July 28 and will finish production on Aug. 25. Tickets sell for $15 each but are sold out. Part of those proceeds go to several LGBTQ organizations such as Out Youth, an organization that helps LGBTQ youth explore their gender identities. As she began to construct her show, Brewer knew she wanted to raise money and awareness for LGBTQ organizations. In the current political climate, she feels it's especially important to help out this cause through her work. With her connections to the Hideout Theatre, all of the pieces for her show began to come together. Brewer created a musical with an all-queer cast and crew called The Big Gay Musical along with her Assistant Director Frank Sanchez. Brewer and Sanchez had previously worked together in an improv show called Orphan at the Hideout Theatre. Together they decided to organize a show where they could be themselves. “Because the entire cast and crew is queer we’re kind of doing this for ourselves but also the rest of the community,” Brewer said. “It’s a vulnerable thing, I feel good because one you're making the scene on the spot so there's a lot of things you're working on at the same time but at the same time you have everyone out there to support you and help your story,” said Luke Wallens, a cast member and improv teacher at the Hideout Theatre. “I feel like it’s vulnerable but at the same time rewarding and a really fun way to explore these things that we’ve been talking about in the show.” Wallens also teaches improv classes at the Hideout Theatre to all kinds of people, many of who identify as LGBTQ. Some are even cast members of the Big Gay Musical. “A lot of people are attracted to improv because they want to improve their speaking skills or socials skills,” he said. Brewer said that a large part of the show's success is the audience's involvement. “I think something that's really strong in queer art and comedy is that there's really personal involvement of the audience. The true audience involvement is them being emotionally invested in it because they are part of it. You have to put yourself in the shoes of the people talking,” she said. “We interact a reasonable amount with the audience. I would say more than most shows because the concept of the show is that the audience is watching a musical with the two gay best friends who are being played by two cast members. Those cast members are serving as sort of monologists who are in a dialogue with one another and sharing with the audience real true things from their lives and their experiences,” Sanchez said.“Those pieces of information inform what the actual show will look like.” Both Brewer and Sanchez said that there has been a great amount of positive reactions from the audience.

“Normally when I do improv shows people tell me things like that was very funny but for this show it's different, people are intense about it,” Brewer said. “Parents will bring their queer teenagers, and they find me on Facebook and send me messages that say ‘You don't know me, but I brought my kid to your show, and they just came out as pan or just came out as trans or queer, and they loved it so much and it meant so much to them and being able to experience it with them was so major to the family.’ People after the shows are so grateful for it.”

"It was funny and I cried, it was very intense,” Brewer said.

“When I was leaving a show someone outside the Hideout Theatre stopped me and said ‘Thank you,’ and they were very kind. I kind of deflected the comment and said, ‘Oh no, thank you for coming.’ They said, ‘That show changed my heart forever.’ it was a very impactful moment,” Sanchez said. “I didn't think that that would’ve happened. That's not what we set out to do, but it’s really cool that people are taking so much from it.”

Thanks to the success of the show, the Big Gay Musical has been meeting their goals of fundraising for several LGBTQ organizations and exceeding those goals.

“We’ve been raising money every night more than we expected. During intermission we sing a song and go around church style with a basket for donations,” Brewer said. “It’s been really fucking rad.”

Comedy Theaters in Austin Offering Improvisational Comedy

Some of the top billing theaters in the city do not offer improv classes or shows. Those that do are small, low grossing and spread out amid the city.

graphic by Sarah Yoakley