This Week’s Best LGBT Events in New York City

Written by | December 6, 2018| Things to Do

George Takei and Lea Salonga in Allegiance

George Takei and Lea Salonga by Henry DiRocco courtesy "Allegiance"

Looking for gay things to do in New York? Whether you’re looking for drag shows, parties talks & lectures, film screenings, theater, or cultural outings, Metrosource has got you covered. Our complete list of LGBT things to do is just a click away, but here are a few handpicked favorite queer events:

Head into the weekend strong with Ana Gasteyer, and get ready for a busy start to next week with drag stars BenDeLaCreme and Jinkx Monsoon, an exclusive chance to see George Takei on the big screen, and Taylor Mac taking apart the holidays at Town Hall.

44 Charlton: Everything Must Glow

Friday, December 7

The first Friday of each month means it’s time for 44 Charlton at the Greene Space – an always entertaining mashup of envelope-pushing comedy, music, dance, theater and spoken word. This time around they’re celebrating the holidays (including people who are anti-holidays) with salty, sexy host Julian Fleisher, national treasure Ana Gasteyer (Saturday Night Live, Mean Girls, Lady Dynamite), comedian Dewayne Perkins and avant garde performance trio QuaQuaQua. Who knows what spontaneous genius will erupt at this singular celebration of NYC flavor?

BenDeLaCreme & Jinkx Monsoon: To Jesus, Thanks For Everything! – Jinkx & Dela

Monday and Tuesday, December 10 and 11

Drag race alums (and Seattle sisters!) BenDeLaCreme and Jinkx Monsoon are joining forces to bring you a spankin’ new two-queen holiday extravaganza at the Bell House! DeLa is all sugar and Jinkx is all spice – but how do these two very different gals deal with the stress of the holidays?! A little song, a lot of eggnog, and theaters full of people looking at them… Yup – all they want for Christmas is attention!

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George Takei’s “Allegiance”

Tuesday, December 11

Straight from its Broadway run and inspired by the true-life experience of its star George Takei, Allegiance follows one family’s extraordinary journey in this untold American story of the Japanese-American experience during World War II. Also featuring the talents of openly gay Broadway star Telly Leung and Tony-Award-Winner Lea Solanga, this one-night-only screening at the Regal Court Street 12 will also featuring an exclusive conversation with the creative team.

Taylor Mac’s “Holiday Sauce” at Town Hall

Tuesday, December 11

Welcome to the latest incarnation of the artist’s award-winning A 24-Decade History of Popular Music project, which will skewer holiday traditions both sacred and secular – exploring Christmas as calamity and celebrating the holiday in all of its dysfunction. “My job as a theatrical artist,” Taylor Mac told the Paris Review, “is to remind people of the things they’ve forgotten, dismissed or buried, or that other people have buried for them.” Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music was an epic a 24-hour live performance that debuted in Brooklyn in 2016 – offering songs from genres including battle hymns, black spirituals, Tin Pan Alley songs, blues, Broadway musicals, lesbian-feminist punk and more. You won’t want to miss Mac and the artist’s collaborators bringing their deconstructive and performative powers to all things holiday at Town Hall.

The Donna Summer Musical

Through December 30

Where were you the first time you heard “I Feel Love?” In the world of Hot 100 radio, that track cut through everything around it — the arena rock of Fleetwood Mac and Bruce Springsteen, the disco of the Commodores and Jacksons — all of it. For those who were there, it sounded like a transmission from another galaxy.

But Donna Summer began her career in the musical “Hair,” becoming best known for refusing to take off her clothes in the show’s much-ballyhooed nude scene. She was a girl from Boston with a voice from heaven, who shot through the stars from gospel choir to dance floor diva. But what the world didn’t know was how Donna Summer risked it all to break through barriers, becoming one of the signature voices of an era and the inspiration for many who followed in her path.

Tony Award winner LaChanze (The Color Purple), Ariana DeBose (Hamilton, A Bronx Tale) and newcomer Storm Lever play the many facets of Donna Summer, taking audiences through her tumultuous life, tempestuous loves and mega-watt musical hits. From “Love to Love You, Baby” to “Last Dance” and beyond, her story and her music pair for a night of memories — or discovery. It’s The Donna Summer Musical.

Head Over Heels

Through January 6

Variety‘s review of the show when it was in San Francisco says Head Over Heels could have been called “A Very LGBT Thing Happened on the Way to the Masque” (masque as in 17th century court performance, and Masque as in the Hollywood punk club where the Go-Go’s learned their chops — take your pick). That’s one juxtaposition that’s really anything but odd, since the Go-Go’s and Carlisle have ended up amassing a huge gay fan base over their decades of breaking up and reuniting. The plot of “Head Over Heels” really gets underway well into the first act, when the lowly shepherd Musidorus (Andrew Durand), banished by the king from pursuing the princess Philoclea (Alexandra Socha), cross-dresses as an Amazonian warrior to get quality time with his unsuspecting sweetheart. It’s a setup right out of “Some Like It Hot” or “Tootsie,” if not time immemorial, but imagine a “Some Like It Hot” that just gets less and less straight until it ends with a succession of same-sex marriages.”

Head Over Heels is directed by Tony Award winner Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening, Hedwig and the Angry Inch) with musical arrangement by Pulitzer Prize and Tony winner Tom Kitt (Next To Normal, American Idiot) and choreography by Emmy Award nominee Spencer Liff (So You Think You Can Dance, Hedwig and the Angry Inch). With a wickedly funny original book by Tony winner Jeff Whitty (Bring It On: The Musical, Avenue Q) adapted by James Magruder (Triumph of Love), this new production also includes scenic and puppet design by Tony Award nominee Julian Crouch (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), costume design by Academy Award and Tony Award nominee Arianne Phillips (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), lighting design by four-time Tony Award winner Kevin Adams (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, American Idiot, Spring Awakening), sound design by Tony Award nominee Kai Harada (Follies), and projection design by Andrew Lazarow.

Looking for more? Check out our complete listing of events.

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Last modified: December 6, 2018