January 10, 2012 | Arts / Entertainment

Broadway musical planned for gay daddy

Musical producer Matthew Weaver is hoping his personal life story has enough meat in it to make for a successful broadway show. He was raised by his openly gay father, Gordon, in the 1970s and 80s.

“It’s a little Auntie Mame, a little La Cage Aux Folles and a little Kramer vs. Kramer,” said Matthew, pointing out that a gay man raising an 8-year-old boy was certainly not commonplace several decades ago.

He plans to make the story into a TV series, but also thinks it would translate well for the stage.

His father came out in 1976, and gained sole custody. Matthew remembers being told as his father took him home to New York and “explained to me what homosexuality is.” They stopped at Fire Island, where Gordon was judging a drag-queen contest.

And Gordon was more Liberace gay than Modern Family gay. He “wore mink coats to my soccer games” and would "walk down the street holding hands with his boyfriend, and tell me that if I didn’t like it, I could walk on the other side of the street,” Weaver said.

Weaver admitted that he seldom spoke about hs father, afraid he would be targeted for abuse. But now he is proud of his dad and how he was raised.

“We’re willing to show the warts and all,” Weaver confided. “It's a great story with a beautiful message, but it's got its ups and downs.”

With gay-positive shows like Billy Eliot and Priscilla pulling in mainstream audiences, and with Weaver's own success producing the acclaimed Rock of Ages, we think this could be a truly amazing show.

Matthew Weaver wants to turn his gay dad's story into Broadway musical or movie [NY Daily News]