When Gay Chorus Deep South opened in theaters, The New York Times reviewed it on October 31, 2019. Critic Glenn Kenny described David Charles Rodrigues’s film as an understated documentary about the chorus’s 2017 tour of five Southern states, joined by the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir.
A political tour, a personal story
Kenny notes that Tim Seelig framed the tour as a message of love to states that had passed anti-LGBTQ laws, and that the film soon finds a more personal story: Seelig’s past as a minister of music at a Houston Baptist church that turned on him when he came out. Other singers are seeking reconciliation too, including one estranged from his father in Mississippi and a transgender singer worried about restroom laws.
The verdict
The review calls the performances impressive, tender and sometimes funny, and says the film captures small changes of heart rather than sweeping ones, while keeping a compassionate optimism throughout.
Sources
This post summarizes reporting by The New York Times. Details attributed to those outlets are their reporting; see the sources below.
- The New York Times, “‘Gay Chorus Deep South’ Review: Singing Down Homophobia” by Glenn Kenny, October 31, 2019. Read the original story
