Sometimes
a movie comes along that takes me by surprise which is absolutely
delightful and "The Big Gay Musical" which is such a movie. I walked in
expecting a bunch of cliches and, yes, they were there, but there was
also humor, a touching story, some Broadway caliber singing and a lot
of believable acting--and the latter is rare in most gay independent movies.
First
the cliches--there are the gratuitous nude, not frontal, nudity and one
too many sex scenes--there is the hustler, the trying to be a slut and
the real slut, the wise cracking fem, the coming out, the eye candy,
the Liza Minnelli, AIDS, Safe Sex, the gay guy with religious parents,
not to mention the big gay musical numbers and guys over 40 are always
fat and, mostly, trolls!  LOL

Yes
the cliches are there but handled a little bit differently. There are a
few story lines going on, with an off-Broadway musical called, "Adam and
Steve Just The Way God Made Them", the story of Eddie losing his
virginity and coming out, Paul losing his boyfriend because the latter
was told Paul is HIV+ which isn't true and his search for love,
including the wrong places, AIDS being a part of gay life yet not
pounded into your head while the coming out story brings a tear, or
two, to the eyes.

The
songs, sung appropriately in the Off-Broadway show and a cabaret, have
smart lyrics, good tunes and are sung by professionals, especially the
women who know how to belt a song when needed and go soft if called
for. This is a  show tune admirer's movie with nods to many different
styles and shows, including sort of a take off of "And I Am Telling You
I'm Not Going" from "Dreamgirls".

The
religious aspects are looked at from all angles including God's take,
the ex-gay movement, Adam and Steve versus Adam and Eve, the bible,
etc., all in the confines of the musical while the other aspects such
as the search for sex and/or love, for friends, avoiding AIDS, the
coming out are outside of the musical play.

The camera focuses mainly on Paul (Daniel Robinson) and Fred (Joey Dudding)
who both deliver the goods as do many of the secondary players. There
are a few show stopping tunes written by Fred M. Caruso and Casper
Andres who also co-produced and co-directed.

The women, Celina Carvajal, Liz McCartney, Kate Pazakis and a couple whose name I didn't catch, hold their own which, isn't
easy for females in a gay man's film where the men take off their
shirts as much as possible to show off not only their 6 pack stomachs
but walk around and sing in their underwear showing other 'muscles'.
Liz McCartney sings the very emotional song, "As I Am", that would be
the 'eleven o'clock number' in a Broadway show and it packs a wallop.

The Big Gay Musical is not a classic, probably won't be remembered a few months from now, but a very enjoyable singing, dancing, acting, funny, emotional movie. You certainly don't have to be gay to enjoy and understand it.