Usually romantic heartbreak, losing your bearing due to a swelled head or bad advice, losing one’s old friends and/or family while descending into substance abuse are standard plot points.  In the end the brokenhearted but now wiser ingenue chooses love and domesticity over the glitter of Broadway or Hollywood.

This is exactly the plot of the new Off-Off Broadway musical Shooting Star which opened in late October.  It tells the story of Taylor Trent, aspiring actor turned porn superstar “TNT”, as he negotiates the world of all-male pornography.  Tropes familiar from “A Star is Born” to “Boogie Nights” are touched upon scene by scene.

However, the huge porn industry (billions of dollars earned every year) is in many ways the dirty little sister of the Hollywood star machine.  The two mirror each other although one may not always want to acknowledge or validate the other…  So why shouldn’t a gay porn musical follow the same storyline and share the same tropes as one about mainstream show business?

Shooting Star is the brainchild of Bavarian-born Florian Klein, also known as “Hans Berlin” in all-male videos.  A veteran of gay pornography but with a background in acting and theater, Klein brings a wealth of personal insight to his book for the musical.  The story is one he personally experienced as an L.A. transplant, a perennially struggling actor and cater waiter who turned to porn because the porn studios at least would book him for gigs and pay him.

Taylor Trent (the chiseled and vocally gifted Coleman Cummings) is a small-town Midwestern boy who comes to Los Angeles hoping to become a star.  He is sent to Pride Studios by his landlord who wants to get Taylor a job so he can pay that back rent.  His gorgeous bod and epic posterior gain him instantaneous stardom as well as much needed work and easy money.

On the porn set he quickly befriends porn mama and director Mr. Sue (talented Zuri Washington playing a character clearly modeled on Pamela Dore aka Mr. Pam) and meets a motley assortment of porn performers.

The gay for pay Butch O’Neal (Juan Danner), druggy slutty bottom twink JR Andrews (Spencer Petro), old school veteran “daddy” on the way down James Grant (Craig Winberry in the Norman Maine role), Tiger Black (Grant Evan) a shifty player in front of and behind the camera and, most importantly, the unattainable, commitment-phobic star top Jesse Apollo (Grant Latus in his NY debut).  This bunch of marginalized misfits become a porn family.

However, the slippery and corrupt Tiger introduces the susceptible Taylor to New York City porn mogul Martin Lords (a double role for Danner who is clearly channeling Russian-born porn czar Michael Lucas down to the duck-lipped pout).

Taylor becomes a Lords exclusive but must reject his former Los Angeles posse.  Taylor longs for Jesse Apollo, a talented but frustrated pop singer, but Apollo has been burned by mixing porn work and private romance and will not reciprocate his affections.  Personal loneliness and the abusive Lords weigh down on Taylor who is introduced to drugs by Tiger.

Act II brings us to the Cocky Awards (clearly an analogue for the GayVN Awards, the Oscars of gay porn) at the Black Rooster Club where all the shit goes down and Taylor Trent must face losing himself and all he has gained while winning multiple industry awards.

What happens?  Will Taylor and Jesse find true love?  Are Taylor’s dreams of mainstream acting success destroyed by his porn fame?  Will gay porn devour our hero and leave him for roadkill along the highway of broken dreams?  You will have to travel to East Williamsburg in deepest Brooklyn (Montrose Ave. on the L subway line!) to find out!

The denouement is delivered through narration, which I always feel is a cop out.  We do not see genitalia although we do get a good nude rear view of Taylor/Coleman Cummings’ shapely buttocks.  The actors (male and female) basically strip down to jocks or tight undies and halter tops/bras.  As the action heats up on the porn set, the stage lights go out and we just hear moaning and groaning.

Klein emphasizes and re-emphasizes that porn is work, not play and you must always keep a cool head.  It’s business, not pleasure for the performers.  It also can be isolating.  Taylor finds that even though he is having sex with a lot of people, real emotional connection is hard to find, and his fame makes him lonely.  People see the porn image and not the person.

One aspect that is not explored is the parallel world of escorting/sex work which provides a steadier income for porn performers.  Nor does Klein go into the subject of safe vs. bareback sex involving the use or disuse of condoms in porn.  AIDS is not a plot point.

The older character of James Grant who emerged in the adult industry of the 1990’s discusses how the internet has changed the landscape of the porn industry.  Most porn consumers find a plethora of erotica free online on tube sites whereas in his pre-internet “Golden Days” (Grant’s big solo) people had to pay for video tapes in order to see their favorites in action.

The exact location of this porn opus is the gay bar 3 Dollar Bill at 260 Meserole Street – not exactly Broadway or Off-Broadway but exactly the right seedy/fabulous venue for a show of this type.

The Black Rooster Club is a large backroom/cabaret black box space with a proscenium stage which includes a convenient runway for performers to interact with the audience.  There are cabaret tables along the runway and folding seats in the back.  Director Dennis Corsi provides an immersive staging that keeps the action lively using the entire space including the sides and back of the auditorium.

Composer Thomas Zaufke and lyricist Erik Ransom (Grindr, the Opera) have provided a tuneful, upbeat pop score strong on power ballads and duets that is excellently performed by a uniformly vocally strong cast.  These performers not only look good in jockstraps and thongs but can SINGGGG!

Coleman Cummings (Roger in the RENT tour) as Taylor/TNT has a soaring pop tenor and glistening six-pack abs.  His angelic face can morph from farm boy to porn idol in a millisecond.  Grant Evan as Tiger has a fascinatingly silky androgynous voice, Zuri Washington brings sassy power belting to Mr. Sue and Grant Latus’ seductive rock voice evokes Jesse Apollo’s cool/hot allure.

Spencer Petro has androgynous sexiness and lost boy fragility as the self-destructive JR Andrews.  Juan Danner nails the sexual ambiguity underneath Butch’s macho façade and is properly repellent as the abusive Martin Lords.  Craig Winberry brings a strong legit baritone, rugged good looks and hauntingly broken machismo to the tragic Grant.  Maya Santiago and Brennon Stylez in multi-tasking ensemble roles also have rich, vibrant voices, strong dancing skills and hot bods.

Shooting Star had a sold-out Los Angeles run three years ago. (The New York premiere was produced by Bruce Michael Harris.) Yet the quiet and slow death of Off-Broadway means that in New York City it has been relegated to the outer boroughs.  Off-Broadway was a trial ground for up-and-coming songwriters, lyricists, directors and performers who later would graduate to Broadway.

In the golden era of musical theater in the 1940’s, 50’s and 60’s, there were off-Broadway venues and clubs which would do revues using fresh young talent where the likes of Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt and Jerry Herman tried out new material and actors like Barbra Streisand, Tammy Grimes or Carol Channing would make waves and graduate to Broadway stardom.

However, gentrification and rising rental and running costs have made Off-Broadway a historical artifact.  It costs nearly as much as Broadway and earns much less.  Meanwhile both Broadway and what is left of Off-Broadway go for safe corporate products that cater to tourist audiences.  Creativity is lost and new voices go unheard.

Shooting Star is a diverting evening full of fun new discoveries that deserves larger audiences and greater exposure.  The story isn’t new but the youthful cast, vibrant voices and high energy performing (especially on a cold Monday night) keeps any hint of staleness at bay.

Shows continue through on December 18 so there’s still time to hop on that L train, grab a drink and catch some rising stars!

photos by koitz; © 2022 koitz