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With some ingenuity, determination and good old fashioned research, Buffalo United Artists has unearthed the seldom performed musical, GULP! THE GAY BEACH MUSICAL . And it looks like Western New York audiences may be only the fourth theatre company ever to see performances of this 1977 Off Broadway musical that has all but been forgotten.
In conversation with Vinny Murphy, who is making her Directorial Debut with GULP!, it is clear that he has a passion for musical theatre and has spent more than a year puzzling together the components of this piece. With a script by John Glines and Stephen Greco, Score by Glines, and Lyrics by Glines and Robin Jones, the story is set on the beach at Coney Island on Gay Liberation Day – June 28th, the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. The story follows a closeted lifeguard whose life is saved by five unabashedly eccentric characters: his soon-to be lover, a wacky orthodox priest, a ditzy journalist, a hunky construction worker, and a show queen from Shirley’s Temple on Flatbush Avenue.
Original 1977 Cast of GULP!
But alas, no script or score was ever published. Murphy states that his online research led him down a rabbit hole of internet searches that eventually exposed the entire script in a story on Blue Boy Magazine. Now, how to get his hands on the score? There were bootlegs of many of the songs, but the estate of John Glines informed Murphy that most of Glines' documents were stored in the Yale Archives. Lo and behold, there Murphy found a tattered version of the score. All the pieces were falling into place. Buffalo musician Nikki Fae Dahlen undertook the task of transcribing the score for performance, and Murphy now had all the material necessary to mount a full production for BUA, and the company was off and rolling.
Murphy has traveled to New York to meet with Greco in person, who is thrilled that GULP! is being remounted after all these years. He also has spoken to original music arranger Charles Eubanks, who shared details of a brief 1972 Off Broadway run of the show at New York's Orpheum Theatre, then titled "GOD BLESS CONEY" starring Bill Hinnant and Marcia Lewis (of Bob Newhart fame). GULP! played Off-Broadway at The Glines Theatre in 1977 and for a one night only performance in Houston in 1987
Murphy hopes BUA audiences will embrace this silly, summer romp as a gay beach farce, much as it has past BUA productions like MOMMIE QUEEREST and ALLEY OF THE DOLLS. In casting the 6 person male ensemble, Murphy is thrilled to be bringing new, multi-talented faces that never have been seen on the BUA stage. He hopes the intimacy of the theatre and the story of a group of young gay men frolicking on the beach will be reminiscent of the old beach movies of yesteryear.
BUA Cast of GULP! in Rehearsal
The cast includes Corey Bieber, Robert McKnight, Ryan Blunt, Michael Flanagan, Matt Rittler, and Zachary Kushner.
Music Direction is by Lucas Colon and Nikki Fae Dahlen, who also will be playing the two person piano accompaniment.
The show runs from September 11th through September 27th, 2026 (Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays & Sundays at 5:00 p.m.) at Compass Performing Arts Center, 545 Elmwood Ave., Buffalo, New York 14222
Contact www.buffalounitedartists.org for more information
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