If you thought your group chat was messy, wait until you meet Braden and Caden. In Messy White Gays, the latest off-Broadway spectacle from the ever-hilarious Drew Droege and directed by Mike Donahue, two white gay men attempt to navigate the most treacherous terrain known to mankind—brunch with their friends—after, well… murdering their boyfriend and stuffing his body into a Jonathan Adler credenza.
Photo Credit: Messy White Gays
Let’s Get Messy, Shall We?
Yes, you read that right. Murder, brunch, and high-end home decor collide in this wild 80-minute satire that’s already the talk of New York’s theater scene. As the show gleefully advertises, it’s a “brutal new satire” that turns a spotlight on the chaos of modern gay culture—throuples, rivalries, and all the glossy, glittery dysfunction that comes with it.
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Droege, who’s long been celebrated for his sharp wit and his ability to roast gay culture with equal parts affection and precision, describes Messy White Gays as a look into “what happens when throuples crumble, neighbors bicker, and rich and pretty clash with hot and dumb.” In other words, it’s like watching a Real Housewives reunion if Andy Cohen lost control halfway through brunch.
And yes, that’s exactly as fun as it sounds.
The reviews have been, shall we say, as mixed as a bottomless mimosa pitcher. 1MinuteCritic.com quipped that Messy White Gays “delivers laughs early but loses steam faster than a Sniffies hookup gone wrong.” Meanwhile, The Daily Beast called it “a barrage of extremely gay, extremely New York, extremely right now zingers”—alternating between “sporadically very funny” and “sporadically exhausting.”
But perhaps the best review came from New York Stage Review’s Michael Sommers, who reported that during a preview, “the audience frequently screamed with mad laughter at this 80-minute charade’s trashy talk and tawdry doings.” Translation: the gays were living.
Because let’s face it—sometimes, the beauty of theater isn’t in its moral message or literary weight. Sometimes, it’s in the messy, chaotic joy of seeing people like us represented on stage, in all our brunch-fueled, drama-drenched, Jonathan Adler-decorated glory.
The cast is stacked with queer talent: Derek Chadwick plays Addison, James Cusati-Moyer brings the charisma as Brecken, Drew Droege himself stars as Karl, and Aaron Jackson and Pete Zias round out the ensemble as Caden and Thacker. With Drew Reilly and Matt Steele as understudies, this lineup is giving full “Broadway brunch table” energy.
Performances run through January 11, 2026, at The Duke on 42nd Street at New 42 Studios—and whether you love your theater sharp and satirical or just want to laugh at gay chaos for 80 glorious minutes, Messy White Gays might just be your next obsession.
So grab a mimosa, clutch your pearls, and remember: when the gays get messy, they really commit.