Best. Gay. Week. Ever. (May 30, 2008)

What sets Youth’s journey in motion is his friendship with a gay church choir conductor, “Mr. Franklin,” sensitively and compassionately played by Colman Domingo. The closeted Franklin advises Youth to do what he never was able to, and travel to Europe where outsiders and artists have historically been welcomed. At one point, Franklin comments how, in the end, both Youth and he “are just two brothers … passing.”

Left to right: Breaker, Stew, and Colman Domingo

I liked how the show subtly linked sexual and ethnic identities this way, examining the psychological damage of trying to abide by societal expectations by passing oneself off as something contradictory to one’s very sense of “self”.

If that’s a bit too heady for you, there’s also a wonderful Amsterdam orgy sequence to a song titled “We Just Had Sex,” that depicts Youth in a series of ménage a trois, including one with two other men, one of whom describes himself as a “part time sex worker/philosophy professor.”

In a first for Broadway musical recordings, the cast album — recorded live in the theater — just became available this week exclusively on iTunes, although it will later be released in stores on July 15^th. You can listen for free to “We Just Had Sex” on the Sh-K-Boom/Ghostlight Records website here and download free MP3s from the show, including the song “Arlington Hill” in which the Youth and Franklin connect over a joint, at the Passing Strange website here.

TV FINALE ROUNDUP
Is it just me or did this year’s TV season feel particularly endless, even with the time off for the writers’ strike? But primetime TV ’07-’08 is pretty much finally finis, so I figured it’s the perfect time to review which cliffs our favorite gay TV characters were left hanging off of — and offer my predictions (a.k.a. fantasies) about what will happen to them next season.

Brothers & Sisters. Scotty and Kevin tied the knot but didn’t even get to enjoy a single moment of connubial bliss, as Kevin got ensnared in yet more Walker (illegitimate) sibling drama. Obviously I’m hoping the two get to enjoy some happiness together in the coming season, but my greater hope is that Scotty’s father will show up on his door, since he’s played by Michael O’Keefe who I found hugely appealing back in his days on Roseanne. Maybe he can ditch his shrewish wife and become the new love interest for Uncle Saul?

Michael O'Keefe in Brothers & Sisters

Ugly Betty. Even though the season finished out with a decent finale that included the glorious sight of a shirtless Eddie Cibrian, Marc and Justin enjoyed far less screen-time post-strike than usual and my enjoyment of the show overall definitely suffered for it. Marc’s wonderfully shlubby boyfriend Cliff hasn’t been seen in any of the post-strike episodes, but there’s nothing to indicate they’re not still together and hopefully he’ll be back in Marc’s arms next year. And with Justin, nothing equaled the giddy, catty bliss of his brief Mode internship or fashion club field trip.

But come next fall we at least have this to look forward to — just imagine what might happen when Justin gets into a mean-girl face-off with guest star Lindsay Lohan.

Torchwood. Despite the Moldavian massacre-like finale that left two key cast members dead and buried, Ianto and Jack both survived and it looks like Janto will live to hunt Weevils together another day. While this season moved their relationship along significantly, it also indicated Ianto just might be a bit more emotionally invested in it than Captain Jack, which could spell trouble later on. I’m also still waiting to see them go on that movie date Jack alluded to way back in the Season 2 premiere.

Dirty Sexy Money. The strike put an end to this freshman series just when I was starting to get into it, but it will be back in the fall and I’m planning on watching it. The last episode that aired had the transgendered mistress of William Baldwin’s character, brilliantly played by the utterly fabulous Candis Cayne, disappearing under mysterious, possibly violent circumstances. I’m counting on her being back next year, and setting those Darling women straight on how a lady truly conducts herself.

Billy Baldwin & Candis Cayne in Dirty Sexy Money

Gossip Girl. After all the promos promising a dramatic coming out shocker, we got the story we all saw coming, with boring secondary character Eric being involuntarily outed by a conniving Michelle Trachtenberg. Now that he’s out, though, hopefully we’ll see him happily dating his way through Manhattan’s private school gay elite next season. And I’m still counting on the TV series to follow through on the books’ depiction of Dan Humphrey’s (Penn Badgley) walk on the gay side.