"Bathhouse" the Musical Invades Fort Lauderdale

Mayor Jim Naugle has more to worry about in the next few weeks besides a possible rendezvous in the men's room at Fort Lauderdale beach.

The city will soon be invaded by a bathhouse.

No, a new hotspot for gay casual sex isn't opening up on Las Olas Boulevard or in Wilton Manors. The national tour of Bathhouse: The Musical is coming to the Rising Action Theatre on East Oakland Park Blvd. in Oakland Park from Aug. 20 through Sept. 7. And all of the actors are clad in bathing towels or less.

The 90-minute version of "Bathhouse: The Musical!" is an all male musical comedy about Billy as he visits a bathhouse for the first time, in search for his true love but instead he finds a gaggle of horny gay men hell bent on one-night stands.

Young Billy, who just came out of the closet despite his family's objections, initially is awkward upon encountering the group of naked, horny guys and is not accepted, but is quickly embraced by three older gay men who take him under their wing.

One of the men is married - he's a father and in the closet, another is the resident macho hunk and the third guy, a pudgy, shy wing man, played by Tim Evanicki, the co-writer and producer of the musical.

The trio teaches Billy how to navigate around the bathhouse life and he quickly becomes the life of the party. The musical features cabaret-style numbers, along with Gospel and tango music and pop scores.

Despite what some critics call a thin plot, the musical's material isn't for the easily offended. There are plenty of adult jokes, simulated oral sex, nude bodies grinding and for the truly fainthearted, tributes to showtunes and parodies of religious revival.

But there's also good wholesome advice on how to cruise a bathhouse, how to accept rejection and how to try to transition from pickup to dating.

"Bathhouse: The Musical" had its debut in May at the Orlando Fringe Festival and is now on tour to various major U.S. metropolitan areas. Chicago, Atlanta, New York and Orlando recently had sold out shows.

The musical was written and produced by Evanicki and Esther Daack. The two also coined the music and lyrics and teamed up to write a novel, which the production is loosely based on.

Bathhouse fever isn't new. There was a fairly popular 1970s stage show base don the lifestyle and a 1976 movie version called, "The Ritz," set in a gay bathhouse. The film starred Rita Moreno playing Googie Gomez, the talentless singer who performs for the guys.

In 1970 Bette Midler got her start singing at the Continental Baths, a gay bathhouse in New York. Her piano accompanist there, Barry Manilow, went on to produce her first major album, "The Divine Miss M," in 1973.

So for the clueless or sexually non-adventurous, a bathhouse is a private club where gay and bisexual men can relax and unwind.

Most clubs look like a regular locker room at the local fitness center, complete with showers, steam and sauna rooms, hot tubs and private cubicles for getting it on.

Unlike at brothels, many bathhouses are membership only and customers pay only for the use of the facilities; sexual activity, if it occurs, is not provided as a service by staff of the establishment, but is between customers, and no money is exchanged.

Many gay bathhouses explicitly prohibit or discourage prostitution and ban known prostitutes.

Bathhouses are usually dimly lit and rooms and lockers are usually grouped together. Bathhouses are frequently decorated with posters of nude or seminude men, and sometimes explicit depiction's of sex.

It is not uncommon to see pornographic movies playing on wall-mounted televisions throughout the bathhouse.

Most men typically just wear the towel provided. Some bathhouses are clothing optional and some encourage total nudity. In some bathhouses nudity is forbidden in the common areas of the establishments.

While some men may wear underwear or fetish-wear, in most bathhouses it is unusual for customers to remain fully or even partially dressed in street clothes.

Customers are sometimes required to purchase yearly memberships and many offer special entry rates to members or to students or other groups. In some countries, bathhouses can restrict entrance to men of certain age ranges or physical types.

Thank goodness for Mayor Naugle and his fellow homophobic comrades, it's only the musical, not the real thing, coming to Fort Lauderdale.

"Bathhouse: The Musical" runs from Aug. 20 through Sept. 7 and will show Wednesdays and Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 7 and 10 p.m. and Sundays at 7 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased at www.risingactiontheatre.com or by calling (800) 595-4849. The Rising Action Theatre is located at 840 E. Oakland Park Boulevard.