Reviews are in for the new stage-to-screen adaptation of Mart Crowley’s The Boys in the Band, streaming September 30 on Netflix. The movie stars the entire cast of the 2018 Tony-winning revival, including Jim Parsons as Michael, Matt Bomer as Donald, Zachary Quinto as Harold, Michael Benjamin Washington as Bernard, and Tony nominee Robin de Jesús as Emory.
Rounding out the cast are Tony nominee Andrew Rannells as Larry, Tuc Watkins as Hank, Brian Hutchison as Alan, and Charlie Carver as the Cowboy. Joe Mantello returns to direct after helming the revival, with Ryan Murphy producing alongside David Stone and Ned Martel. .
Expanding the world of Crowley’s seminal queer work, the movie breaks out from Michael's apartment to include scenes on the streets of Manhattan and in Julius, one of the oldest gay bars still operating in NYC, in addition to several flashback sequences.
Read the reviews below.
Chicago Sun-Times (Richard Roeper)
Chicago Tribune (Michael Phillips)
Entertainment Weekly (Leah Greenblatt)
The Globe and Mail (Barry Hertz)
The Hollywood Reporter (David Rooney)
The Independent (Clarisse Loughrey)
The Los Angeles Times (Charles McNulty)
The New York Times (Glenn Kenny)
Rolling Stone (K. Austin Collins)
San Francisco Chronicle (Mick LaSalle)
Theatre News Online (Joe Dziemianowicz)
The Washington Post (Michael O'Sullivan)
The play was first seen Off-Broadway in 1968, with an initilal film version following two years later. The Broadway production opened in May 2018 at the Booth Theatre, where it ran through August 11.
The Boys in the Band is part of Murphy’s megadeal with Netflix, which also includes projects like the movie musical The Prom, a series adaptation of A Chorus Line, and the limited series Halston.
