Engagingly written, with a slight gossipy edge, Gays on Broadway is the perfect read for anyone looking for lively nonfiction. The author is clearly knowledgeable about his subject, and the narrator does a great job at conveying the intended tone throughout, while making the narrative engaging. Highly recommend for Pride and beyond!

I enjoyed this! It was like trying to follow a lecture that was being given on a moving walkway, and made me want to take a survey class in this topic covering the books he discusses. I liked getting the introduction to seminal works (I had never heard of The Boys in the Band before) but the book "worked" the most for me when he discussed plays I had already read/seen. If you're looking for a deep dive, this isn't the book for you, but it is a good overview/introduction/survey.
I especially liked that Mordden talks about how many gay stories, in order to get past the censors, were about seemingly hetero characters in order to tell queer stories.
I also liked the narrator - it was very conversational and friendly.

3.5 rounded up.
If you're looking to do some research on this topic, I'd recommend this. While I believe the author could have used some sensitivity readers, I think they did a good job with the history and evolution of gay representation and writers in theatre. I enjoyed that each play had some description of what it was about and we were given depth on certain characters being played. I expected more but was entertained with the amount given. It was informative and interesting. I'd say I was indifferent with the narrator.

Thank you to NetGalley for the audiobook ARC.

When I listen to the audio sample of Daniel Henning I knew I was going to enjoy this book and boy did I! Being only a fan of great literature and not having seen mini Broadway plays I knew there would be so many familiar names in this book but I was so shocked when the title upon of the first books I read called Jesus Doesn’t Mind given to me by my aunts “lifelong female roommate” it is a book I didn’t know was made into a Broadway play and one that I have looked for cents and cannot find the mini other things in this book that we’re new to me but some weird things I have heard before but all was very interesting from Ethel Merman and her relationship with Cole Porter, The loan on again off again Broadway rider Terrence McCauley and so much more the author goes from decade to decade tells you what became a part of the zeitgeist the things that were protested against and things that just didn’t work he even tells into the delicious rumors that’s around it Broadway the subliminal messages in the not so subliminal and so much more. I thought the author did a wonderful job covering decades of entertainment in those things that were fraud with problems due to the pearl clutchers and those who think they are just too moral for the room. My dad passed away a few weeks ago and every time I read books like this and booked on race I am so thankful I was raised by a man who loved everyone in the those he didn’t he made no comment about but let them live their life while he lived his something I think if we all did this world would be a much happier place although maybe not as interesting? I am a big fan of history and so this book was right up my alley in one I highly recommend. I received this book from NetGalley and Tantore audio but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Gays on Broadway was a very interesting and accurate look into the connection between Broadway and the gay community. I loved the behind-the-scenes look into some of my favorite shows. Some of it is fairly basic Broadway gossip knowledge, but a lot of it was brand-new information to me. Which was quite surprising as I spent my youth studying the history of my favorites. The narrator's voice was relaxing and fit this book so well. Highly recommend this one.

Thank you to Tantor Audio and to NetGalley for an ARC of this audiobook.

I really enjoyed this book. It was well researched and really well written. There are a lot of shows that the author talks about in this book that I am going to have to see if I can find (or the movie version) He speaks of Musicals and Plays that were on broadway, as well as some of the stars that portrayed Gay characters on Broadway . I really liked listening to this as an audiobook. The narrator did a great job as well.

As a queer theatre artist, I had higher expectations for this book. I’m annoyed that it only discusses gay plays instead of gay musicals which.. hello, that’s 75% of Broadway?

Truly, however, I did not like the tone of the author. I didn’t like that the author decided to use the word “transsexual” instead of “transgender.” That was offensive to me. It is 2023, y’all.

I also did not like the narrator.

If you are looking to do research into gay representation on Broadway, this is a great book for you. That being said I was mainly looking for a book that would contextualize and make interesting a subject that I hadn't researched much before and this was the wrong choice for that. While it can be interesting and well written at times, it is much closer to an encyclopedia than anything else and I can't say I gained much from reading it. I wouldn't warn people away from this book, but I am not going to be putting it into people's hands either.

**Listened to the audiobook**

The premise of this book sounded right up my street, however i was left really disappointed with this. I found the level of detail in each of the sections to be really varied. Some chapters were really detailed - and went off on some tangents, whereas other sections just felt way too brief.
I would have liked more sections on more recent years on Broadway - but maybe Mordden is saving it for a second edition of the book.

The narrator was a tad annoying too - very whiney voice - but this wasn't my main issue with the book.

Some parts of this book were interesting, but a lot of the time I found myself wanting to 'skip' through.