This is the second vertical AI BL drama I've sat through, and honestly I went in knowing better. I had it on while I was doing cardio at the gym, and what struck me was just how much the plot echoed the last one I watched. Same step brother romance angle, same mystery girlfriend showing up near the end, same extra guy pining after one of the leads. Genuinely the only thing going for it was the runtime, the whole thing wrapped up in forty five minutes flat. The setup kicks off with Finn moving schools because his mom just married into money. He finds out his new step brother Aiden goes to the same place, and he's warned to keep his distance from him. Their first run in at school is rocky, just like you'd expect, but there's this odd pull between them neither can shake off. Finn keeps telling himself not to read into it because Aiden's straight and openly homophobic. Things shift when some kids start bullying Finn and the student council president, Ryan, steps in to ...
A headliner called “the nance”, usually played by a straight man, was a stereotypically camp homosexual and master of comic double entendre. THE NANCE recreates the naughty, raucous world of burlesque’s heyday and tells the backstage story of Chauncey Miles and his fellow performers. Chauncey's seemingly settled life quickly becomes upended. He meets a straight turned gay man Ned and falls in love with him.Ned is a sweet-natured, attractive younger man from Buffalo, who also loves back Chauncey which he finds quite surprising. Ned manages to find work in the same theatre where Chauncey performs. Chauncey plays occasional Nance characters but when the then mayor LaGuardia establishes new rules in cracking down on burlesque for showing loose morals and deviancy. After taking a surprisingly political stand — and suffering consequences for his actions he somehow doesn't expect — a disheartened Chauncey begins to spiral downward. For all his proud protestations, by the play's end it's clear that he has been so indoctrinated by society's view of gay men that he doesn't believe he deserves personal or professional happiness.
Anchored with several engeritic burlesque songs, dances and cornball humor, we experience the unique stage craft of the burlesque/vaudeville players who entertained a generation in the 20th century. We witness how careful gays had to be when meeting others as well as how indirect the sexy shows had to be so as not to be closed by the mayor’s office. But despite all the challenges, we cheer for Chauncy and Ned’s romance. The social and political dynamics of NYC in 1937 effects the lives of these entertainers. It is important for this generation to know and experience the craft of burlesque and vaudeville especially if they want to be effective musical comedy actors. I wish someday I get to see the play in real, because all said and done, the televised version of a play can never give you the fun and connection that the real thing can. (5/10)
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