The film “Musical Comedy Whore” is a one-man song, dance and comedy show playing off Broadway in New York and is a raunchy autobiography of David Pevsner who both stars and is the writer of the play.
Pevsner is unabashedly gay and you are faced with a few of options here. Not everybody co-exists peacefully with the LGBTQ community. There are scores of gay bashers who will be disgusted by the homosexual promiscuity of Pevsner set forth in the play. And there are those, hopefully in the majority, who may be gay and delight in the originality, honesty and hope in the film. Then there are the straights who can look beyond anti-gay prejudice and see Pevsner as a gay man but a human being with a story to tell.
Pevsner realized his homosexuality early on this his life falling for the male lead in the 1960’s television show Flipper having a crush on the single dad male lead (Brian Kelly) whereas most were fixated on the dolphin Flipper.
He chronicles his life much of it in New York City, a “candy store for gays”. He worked on and off Broadway, a writer of songs for musicals, a nude model for photographers, an escort, a naked maid amongst other things.
His story is thick with the numerous sexual escapades he had in leather bars, gay bars, gay movie houses, saunas and gyms. He claims to have made notes with every man he slept with in his “book of lust”. No doubt an endless stream of promiscuity which at times he felt guilty and shame about. But if you can escape the strange daze of the concept for 10 minutes you are hooked into a fascinating and very honest story. Although you simply can not completely forget Pevsner is gay you may find you are so drawn into the narrative you realize that this is truly a story about a man and his sexuality as opposed to the story of a gay man.
There are LGBTQ films that focus on gayness and those more recently that focus on gays within a “human setting” which may include inclusion within a greater society than an isolated gay society.
Pevsner focuses on gay society but if you let it and you are open the gayness fades away and you are left with a fascinating story about a man who just happens to be gay.
Yes when Flipper was showing I loved Flipper and as a young boy could I understand and accept homosexuality? No. It was a long process to escape my prejudices to the point where I am today where there is so much hate in the world why can’t we all accept the LGBTQ community? Let them be and try and enjoy their culture and contribution to the arts. I am not saying you have to embrace the LGBTQ community but as a decent human being at least try and accept this community.
This play is about Pevsner “coming clean” and relating his experiences to make himself whole and not hide under the covers. Truth can be a powerful therapy.
The sad conclusion of the film is that as hard as Pevsner tries he can’t find true love and a sincere loving relationship. The last 30 minutes or so of the film quickly slip from comedy and sarcasm into a painful recounting of a loving relationship that simply couldn’t work. He sings he would be willing to give up his promiscuous lifestyle for love. In the meantime his coming clean has created words in a play that Pevsner feels he is the one who has been healed and in the end he considers himself a fabulous guy. He also says he is coming clean as he loves us all. I think his message is I really care about you humanity to tell you about how he has lived his life as a human and not simply a gay man.
An innovative, creative, inspiring film touched with humour and a bit of sadness.
A ground-breaking and friendly LGBTQ film. My biggest desire is to not have to refer to “LGBTQ films” but simply to a film. I think that Pevsner is taking us in this direction.
The VOD/DVD release date is September 1st on Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, VUDU and Fandango. Another interesting film distributed by Breaking Glass Pictures in Philadelphia.
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