MESSY WHITE GAYS Knows The Difference Between Rosé and White Zinfandel — Review

It’s Sunday morning! Get the champs on ice and make sure the brunch reservation is set. Unfortunately for Brecken and Caden, this is one Sunday they won’t soon forget. 

Drew Droege has made a career of queer humor that ranges from madcap to berserk given the day, and his new play Messy White Gays which opened tonight at The Duke on 42nd Street is no exception. Living in Hell’s Kitchen myself, I could name a few messy white gays off the top of my head (off the record of course) but the wild cast of characters Droege has dreamed up certainly provides for one wild evening of theatre. 

Director Mike Donahue, who I thought vividly brought to life Matthew Lopez’s The Inheritance at the Geffen Playhouse a few years back, has assembled a queer quintet of actors, all perfectly suited to handle Droege’s comedy and bring it to life. First we have Brecken (James Cusati-Moyer) and his partner Caden (Aaron Jackson). Together they killed their throuple-mate Monty (don’t worry this happens before the lights even come up — no spoilers here.) Not knowing what to do and coming down from their drug-induced Saturday night, let’s just say things don’t go so well for them. Their friends Thacker (Pete Zias) and Addison (Derek Chadwick) show up unbeknownst, because that sort of thing happens when you are trying to hide the body of your dead boyfriend, and Karl (Droege) is there just to buy the glittered Jonathan Adler credenza that he saw on Facebook marketplace. What could go wrong?

The ensemble works well together and each are given their moments to shine, but flowers are due to Zias whose portrayal of Thacker may just be one of the funniest performances I have seen on the New York stage in years. Think your gay best friend who had too much adderall and poppers and is now blasting the new Wicked soundtrack, that’s Thacker in a nutshell. 

Droege, as playwright, has captured the epitome of modern day New York gay culture in his script from jabs about waiters at Arriba Arriba to bouncers at Hush. While some jokes may seem insensitive and dated, for fans of Droege, this is his bread and butter — skewering the bits of culture most near and dear to him. 

Clocking in at just about 80 minutes, Messy White Gays is the perfect length to get in, have a cocktail, and have some laughs. It prides itself in knowing exactly what it is and what it wants to say, and hey, that's all you can really ask for from a show that sells branded jockstraps in the lobby. 

Messy White Gays is now in performance at The Duke on 42nd Street. For tickets and more information, visit here.