History Theatre / TorchSongTrilogy

* QueerRomance: Duh.

* BrainlessBeauty: Subverted with Alan. He's a model. Arnold says to him in the film "If you have an I.Q. of over 30, then there is no God." But in fact, Alan is not dumb at all.

* BrainlessBeauty: Alan. He's a model. Arnold says to him in the film "If you have an I.Q. of over 30, then there is no God."

-->'''Arnold:''' He used to be a euphemism, now he's just a friend.

* RealityIsUnrealistic: To people who know about how LGBTQ+ people tended to be treated by social services agencies in the US before the last decade or so (and still today too often), it could be surprising that Arnold and Ed could adopt a gay teenage foster child in 1980. As it turns out, [[https://www.newyorker.com/news/us-journal/the-untold-story-of-queer-foster-families that was actually a thing]] — as early as the 1970s, sympathetic social workers were discreetly placing LGBTQ+ teens, especially ones who had already been through homo/transphobic placements, with [[MentorInQueerness same-sex couples who would understand and support them]].

''Torch Song Trilogy'' is a groundbreaking gay theatre piece by Creator/HarveyFierstein. Fierstein wrote the three plays to give himself acting work, and he became a famous writer accidentally. The three plays included were each written and produced separately, at La Ma Ma, etc. in New York in the '70s, then came to Broadway in 1983. The three plays have radically different styles, but all concern a character named Arnold Beckoff, and his on-again-off-again relationship with his bisexual lover Ed.

They are:

''Torch Song Trilogy'' is a groundbreaking gay theatre piece by Creator/HarveyFierstein. Fierstein wrote the three plays to give himself acting work, and he became a famous writer accidentally. The three plays included were each written and produced separately, at La Ma Ma, etc. in New York in the 70s, then came to Broadway in 1983. The three plays have radically different styles, but all concern a character named Arnold Beckoff, and his on-again-off-again relationship with his bisexual lover Ed.

Fierstein starred in and adapted his play for a feature film, released in 1988. It co-starred Creator/MatthewBroderick as Alan, who had played David in the original production.

* PragmaticAdaptation: The unorthodox style of the four-hour-long play obviously couldn't translate to film, except maybe as a filmed play. Instead, Fierstein elected to change the film into a more straightforward narrative that followed the main outline of the play but smoothed it over considerably. One result is that the title becomes something of a WordSaladTitle in the film version, since it's presented as a single story instead of three separate pieces with the same characters.

* HomophobicHateCrime: how Alan dies. Happens off-stage in the play; portrayed—while Ed watched helplessly from the window—in the movie.

* RealityIsUnrealistic: To people who know about how LGBTQ+ people tended to be treated by social services agencies in the US before the last decade or so (and still today too often), it could be surprising that Arnold and Ed could adopt a gay teenage foster child in 1980. As it turns out, [[https://www.newyorker.com/news/us-journal/the-untold-story-of-queer-foster-families that was actually a thing]] — as early as the 1970s, sympathetic social workers were discreetly placing LGBTQ+ teens, especially ones who had already been through homo/transphobic placements, with same-sex couples who would understand and support them.

* QueerRomance: Duh.

''Torch Song Trilogy'' is a groundbreaking gay theatre piece by Harvey Fierstein. Fierstein wrote the three plays to give himself acting work, and he became a famous writer accidentally. The three plays included were each written and produced separately, at La Ma Ma, etc. in New York in the 70s, then came to Broadway in 1983. The three plays have radically different styles, but all concern a character named Arnold Beckoff, and his on-again-off-again relationship with his bisexual lover Ed.

* ''Widows and Children First!'' – Naturalistic style. Alan has died in a gay-bashing, and Arnold is left to raise their adopted gay teenager David alone. His intolerant mother comes to visit from Florida (a role written for Estelle Getty, who won great acclaim in the Broadway production – it was this that brought her to the attention of the producers of ''Series/TheGoldenGirls''). Ed meanwhile has divorced his wife, and it seems he and Arnold may reconcile.

Fierstein starred in and adapted his play for a feature film, released in 1988. It co-starred Matthew Broderick as Alan, who had played David in the original production.

->"I think my biggest problem is being young and beautiful. It's my biggest problem because I've never been young and beautiful. Oh, I've been beautiful, and God knows I've been young, but never the twain have met."
--> Arnold Beckoff

* NoBisexuals: Averted with Ed, though it seems he'll get back with Arnold in the end.

* ''Widows and Children First!'' – Naturalistic style. Alan has died in a gay-bashing, and Arnold is left to raise their adopted gay teenager David alone. His intolerant mother comes to visit from Florida (a role written for Estelle Getty, who won great acclaim in the Broadway production – it was this that brought her to the attention of the producers of ''TheGoldenGirls''). Ed meanwhile has divorced his wife, and it seems he and Arnold may reconcile.

* QueerRomance: Duh.

* Gayngst: From Ed. Pretty much the reason he and Arnold break up.

* ''International Stud'' – 3 characters. Told in fragments as Arnold, a drag queen, talks to the audience, then Ed tries to pick up Arnold in a bar, they break up when Ed can’t come out of the closet. The sections keep the actors apart, with monologues and speaking together on the phone, until they finally share the stage in the last scene. It is intended that a character called “Lady Blues” will sing a torch song between each section.

''International Stud'' – 3 characters. Told in fragments as Arnold, a drag queen, talks to the audience, then Ed tries to pick up Arnold in a bar, they break up when Ed can’t come out of the closet. The sections keep the actors apart, with monologues and speaking together on the phone, until they finally share the stage in the last scene. It is intended that a character called “Lady Blues” will sing a torch song between each section.
''Fugue in a Nursery'' – Arnold and his new young lover Alan come to visit Ed and his new wife at their country house for the weekend. Jealousy abounds. The set is an enormous bed with a back for four musicians who play thematically, each of the musical instruments represented a character in the original score.
''Widows and Children First!'' – Naturalistic style. Alan has died in a gay-bashing, and Arnold is left to raise their adopted gay teenager David alone. His intolerant mother comes to visit from Florida (a role written for Estelle Getty, who won great acclaim in the Broadway production – it was this that brought her to the attention of the producers of ''TheGoldenGirls''). Ed meanwhile has divorced his wife, and it seems he and Arnold may reconcile.