With all due respect to the creative team responsible for Three Way (in particular David Cote, a librettist of real distinction), what the hell is this piece doing on a list of 7 American Operas That Put LGBTQ Issues Center Stage? 

Of the three short operas that comprise this piece, two deal exclusively in heterosexual relationships and the third portrays an orgy among four male-female couples. Of those pairs, three are clearly heterosexual, and the fourth identifies as gender nonconforming. While the female partner from this couple  is off doing titillating same-sex stuff (for the amusement of the white cis hetero males among the guest list), the male partner (a countertenor, for Christ’s sake) briefly laments his misfit status. At that, he’s given less stage time than the baritone who bewails his erectile dysfunction.

This is LGBTQ?

Photo: Steven Pisano

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