May 10, 2009
R.I.P. Steve Gideon, 1956-2009 (Naked Boys Singing)
“The concept of romantic love is so much a part of gay culture, I thought, why not put two men in it. I never thought Sondheim would allow us to do it.”
— Steve Gideon on staging the first gay version of Stephen Sondheim’s Marry Me a Little, 1999
Steve Gideon, whose musical theater career included staging and starring in the first authorized gay version of Stephen Sondheim’s “Marry Me a Little,” has died. He was 52.Gideon died May 1 at his West Hollywood home of complications from colon cancer, said Bernard Vyzga, his longtime companion.
Usually performed by a man and a woman playing two single strangers, the musical revue “Marry Me a Little” was re-conceived by Gideon as a two-man show. It debuted in 1999 at the tiny Celebration Theatre in Hollywood. …
Gideon believed he was best known in Los Angeles for “Naked Boys Singing,” a musical revue that was true to its title when the Celebration presented it in 1998.
Calling the show “devastatingly amusing,” the Times review praised Gideon’s beautiful delivery of a monologue that wistfully addressed lost love. It also pointed out that the performers were “triple threats, whose singing, dancing and acting skills are first-rate.” …
More at the Los Angeles Times — and much more at Steve’s official Web site.
Playbill notes: “Mr. Gideon requested that donations be made in his memory to the West Hollywood Recovery Center (www.thewhrc.org).”
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Filed Under: Celebrities, R.I.P., Stage
