Tubstrip

The original production, also directed by Douglas, premiered off-Broadway in 1973, played in eight other cities, and then opened on Broadway in 1974 with adult film star Casey Donovan in the lead role.

[4] Adult film actor Casey Donovan, performing under the name Calvin Culver, took over the lead role of Brian in Los Angeles and remained with the show when it returned to the Mayfair Theatre in New York City.

[7] Other actors who performed for portions of the run include Rick Cassidy, Michael Kearns, Eddie Rambeau, Dean Tait, Gerald Grant, and Dick Joslyn.

[8] Lee Barton of The Advocate saw the 1973 off-Broadway production of Tubstrip as a welcome departure from plays that “exploit, degrade, insult, or distort what it’s like to be gay.”[9] He praised Tubstrip as “funny, sexy, [and] important,” but wondered whether mainstream critics could “tolerate anything gay that is so open and healthy.” Other critics, including Vito Russo, found the play exploitative because of the frequent nudity of the actors.

Many claimed that the play was not for heterosexual audiences, with dialogue that “might be virtually a foreign language”[13] to the “straight intruder.”[14] One exception was Debbi Wasserman of Show Business who stated, “Tubstrip is not for everyone, but it comes pretty close.