‘Gay 90s Musical’: A Proud Presentation

They’re gay, they’re proud and they’re incredibly entertaining.

The creators of “The Gay 90s Musical: Looking Back . . . Moving On . . . ,” at the Celebration Theatre, have concocted a musical revue of such sheer pleasure, you’re almost overwhelmed with gratitude by the final curtain.

On its face, the 20-song show represents a kind of musical picture of gay life, in all its variety and complexity. There’s a comic number about bewildered parents who find out their adult child is gay, and a serious one about a woman who loses a close friend to AIDS.

Yet director David Galligan, a large crew of composers (including Billy Barnes, Holly Near and Gerald Sternbach) and the six bountifully talented cast members have scrupulously avoided taking a narrow, politicized approach to this potentially controversial material. Warmth and wit are in, preaching and polemics are out.

Choreographer Toni Kaye keeps the numbers kinetic and visually playful. The rubber-faced Kirby Tepper (who also wrote several choice numbers) has a field day with “Lookin’ at Me,” about an Army private engaged in wishful thinking during a morning shower. Florence Henderson look-alike Peggy Hewett, meanwhile, stops the show with a hilarious “Bisexual Tango,” about a sexually ambivalent bon vivant whose love life was “a tad complicado. “

“The Gay 90s Musical” is a revelation, a gay-pride musical with something for almost everyone--over the age of 18, that is.

* “The Gay 90s Musical: Looking Back . . . Moving On . . . ,” Celebration Theatre, 7051 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. Thursdays-Fridays, 8 p.m., Saturdays, 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., and Sundays, 5 p.m. Ends Feb. 26. $15-$20. (213) 660-8587. Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.