Review: Off-Broadway play Messy White Gays lives up to its name (and then some)
"It’s a satire that occasionally hits its mark but more often feels like the sketch itself got drunk," says Kyle Torrence
Drew Droege’s newest Off-Broadway play Messy White Gays is a darkly comedic look at the chaotic lives of privileged gays in Manhattan caught up in a brunch murder gone wrong!
The cast of Messy White Gays stars Derek Chadwick as Addison, James Cusati-Moyer as Brecken, Drew Droege as Karl, Aaron Jackson as Caden, Pete Zias as Thacker, with Drew Reilly and Matt Steele as understudies.
Messy White Gays officially opened on 2 November 2025, and is scheduled to close on 11 January 2026 at The Duke On 42nd Street, New York City.
I wasn’t entirely sure why I needed to go to the theatre to see Messy White Gays. I spent my early twenties bar-hopping in Hell’s Kitchen; I’ve met these people, but I came ready to be entertained.
The play opens with a murder: a basic Hell’s Kitchen couple kills their third before the lights are even warm. Stumbling home from a night out, they scramble to figure out what to do next. Brecken, played by Tony nominee James Cusati-Moyer, attempts to film some OnlyFans content while Caden, played by Aaron Jackson (serving major Jeff Hiller energy), spirals into panic. It’s Will & Grace meets American Psycho within the first ten minutes, and I’ll admit, I was worried about how long I’d have to watch these two whirl until the “Karen” arrived.
Enter Thacker, played ridiculously and gloriously stupid by Pete Zias, the coked-up brunch friend who barges in mid-crime scene and finally jolts the show to life. Zias is so absurd he feels born for this material. While Cusati-Moyer and Jackson occasionally struggle to find their footing in the chaos, Zias channels pure Carol Burnett energy and never leaves the variety hour. When he stumbles upon the murder, the pair panic about how he got into the building. “I know the lobby queen,” he shrugs. “We met at a Wicked audition and then got drunk at Boxers.” Later, staring at the body, he muses, “You know, the pandemic really taught me that everyone dies, so we just have to make the most of it while we’re here, gurl.”
Soon after, Instagram star Addison (played by Derek Chadwick) enters. The writer seems far more confident crafting fast, whip-smart humour for Thacker than for Addison – the influencer’s lines land a little flat when they should sparkle. Not long after comes Karl, the older gay downstairs neighbour (played by the show’s writer, Drew Droege). When Karl finally reveals his personal reason for hating the murder victim, the moment begs for tenderness – a flicker of humanity amid the chaos – instead of another shouted exchange.
From there, the show becomes a parade of vapid, self-obsessed queers, all talking over one another, desperate to be seen, liked, and followed. It’s a satire that occasionally hits its mark but more often feels like the sketch itself got drunk and forgot its lines.
And then, late in the play, Thacker declares, “Black lives matter, sure, but what about us?” Let me tell you – no one cares about these messy white gays’ lives. Did the audience laugh? Absolutely. But did I want a layer of self-awareness, a wink of critique about the very people it lampoons? Even more so.