Broadway and Film star Ben Playy sings of queer love

Following the album release of ‘Honeymind,’ he tours with a concert of the same name, including performances in SLC

BY BLAIR HOWELL

CONCERT To celebrate the album release of Honeymind, Ben Platt headlined a three-week residency in New York City’s prestigious Palace Theatre, and launched a nationwide summer tour that includes a stop in Salt Lake City.

About Honeymind with gay-themed compositions: “It’s very particular to queer love in the sense that there are a lot less societal examples for what queer relationships look like or shouldn’t be,” says the Tony-, Grammy-, and Emmy-winner.

“There’s an inherent sort of rebellion and statement that you have to be making every day when you’re out in the world with your partner as a queer person, because there remain so many people who are intolerant, don’t understand, and are still fearful and judgmental,” he continues. “It requires an extra bit of courage just to engage in the relationship.”

Platt is engaged to Noah Galvin, with Platt captioning photos of the engagement ring on Instagram with: “He agreed to hang out forever.” Galvin explained, “I said ‘Yeehaw’ and then cried for like seven hours.” Galvin performed in Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway after Platt created the title role, which earned Platt the Tony award.

Joining Platt in the concert is Brandy Clark, the Grammy winner and songwriter for the Tony-winning Broadway musical Shucked. “We had the pleasure of writing a duet together, and she is such an incredibly special artist, brilliant songwriter, and icon of queer Americana,” Platt said.  July 16 and 17, Eccles Theater, bit.ly/benplattslc

SONG After a tease, Billie Eilish has released “Lunch,” one of the most anticipated songs on the queer internet. And the singer’s most explicitly gay track yet.

A post she made includes the lyrics from her Hit Me Hard and Soft album: “I could eat that girl for lunch / Yeah, she dances on my tongue / Tastes like she might be the one / And

I can never get enough … She’s coming up the stairs / So I’m pulling up a chair / And I’m putting up my hair.”

The song deserves to join the hallowed canon of gay pop odes to going down, which is a surprisingly large category at this point — from “Pussy is God” by King Princess to “Casual” by Chappell Roan.  Hit Me Hard and Soft, on sale now

REALITY Drag Race Producer World of Wonder is setting the House on Fire. The titular small-screen series streams on its WoW Presents Plus service.

Following the pre-eminent House of Miyake-Mugler, the House on Fire reality show follows family members and the heads of the household, Yusef Mugler and Exotic Mugler, as they juggle the pressures of competition and mentoring their cohort.

The streamer’s original fare includes the stand-up comedy show House of Laughs, Grag Hearts Drag, and RuPaul’s Drag Race Live Untucked, which goes behind the scenes at RuPaul’s Drag Race Live! Vegas show.  WoW Presents Plus, now streaming