Broadway Responds to Russia’s ‘Gay Propaganda’ Ban

Andrew Rannells in Russia Tea Room, one of dozens of Broadway stars appearing in the video entitled "Russian Broadway Shut Down - Government Deems All Theatre Homosexual Propaganda"
Andrew Rannells in the Russian Tea Room. He is one of dozens of Broadway stars appearing in the satirical video entitled “Russian Broadway Shut Down – Government Deems All Theatre Homosexual Propaganda”

Broadway responds satirically to official LGBT discrimination in Russia, and to a specific Russian law, enacted in June, 2013, punishing citizens “who disseminate information aimed at minors ‘directed at forming nontraditional sexual setup’ or which may cause a ‘distorted understanding’ that gay and heterosexual relations are ‘socially equivalent,'” according to an account by news wire service AFP.

The video, entitled “Russian Broadway Shut Down – Government Deems All Theatre Homosexual Propaganda,”  was created by John Walton West and composed by Jason Michael Snow.

Among those in the video:

Michael Urie, Andrew Rannells, Harvey Fierstein, Roger Rees, Laura Osnes, Joanna Gleason, Analeigh Ashford, Andy Karl, Santino Fontana, Andrea McArdle, Stephen Schwartz, Eric Anderson, Ann Harada, Michael Cerveris, Laura Benanti, Stephanie J. Block (these last two as lesbian cosmonauts!), Sierra Boggess, Leslie Kritzer, John Bolton, Jackie Hoffman, Lena Rocker Hall, Jeremy Jordan and Jonathan Groff (these last two as gay Olympian lovers!)

JeremyJordanandJonathanGroff

Author: New York Theater

Jonathan Mandell is a 3rd generation NYC journalist, who sees shows, reads plays, writes reviews and sometimes talks with people.

2 thoughts on “Broadway Responds to Russia’s ‘Gay Propaganda’ Ban

Leave a Reply