History HoYay / Theater

HoYay in {{Theater}}.
* [[Creator/WilliamShakespeare The Bard]] demonstrates that JustForFun/TheZerothLawOfTropeExamples [[HoYay/WilliamShakespeare applies even here]].
* HoYay/SpringAwakening
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* ''Theatre/{{Mystere}}'' by Creator/CirqueDuSoleil: The emcee Moha-Samedi ho-yays up a storm with every guy in the audience he interacts with. (He'll make direct eye contact with you for a really loooooooong time.) He {{FoeYay}}s it up with Brian Le Petit, the clown trying to upstage him. They hate each other but there is TONS of homoerotic tension between them. He also is a BIT too close with that puppet of his too...
* Calamity and Katie in ''Film/CalamityJane''. Calam defends Katie from the angry mob and describes her as pretty, and then in the next act, they're living together and singing about "A Woman's Touch".
* Mæja and Gedda from ''Theatre/TheFruitBasket''. They seem to put their arms around each other, hold hands, and look deeply into each other’s eyes a lot. Especially noticeable in the 2012 film, where they literally look into each other’s eyes, hold hands, and sing about everyone wanting love.
* Judas and Christ from ''Theatre/JesusChristSuperstar''. One recent revival played up the homoerotic tension between Jesus and Judas deliberately and all the Apostles looked and acted as though they had just come straight from a gay club.
* The title characters in ''Theatre/RosencrantzAndGuildensternAreDead''. [[Theatre/{{Hamlet}} The originals]] are HeterosexualLifePartners and ThoseTwoGuys anyway, so it's not that much of a stretch.
* [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Boris and Goran]] in the stage version of ''Film/ChittyChittyBangBang'', they certainly seem to get along well and act a bit like a married couple. Then theres the fact that Boris decides to use the pseudonym "Doris", and Goran in a moment of heightened emotion loses his head and kisses Baron Bomburst, and later admits he ''likes it''.
* Speaking of recursive-yay; if a ''{{Pantomime}}'' production is of a more traditional flavor, making use of a Principle Boy (a young woman playing the male lead) then any romance subplot with the female romantic interest will be recursive les-yay.
* Some of the oldest FoeYay in the book (and this counts separately from [[Literature/LesMiserables the book]]) is Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert in ''Theatre/LesMiserables''. It opens the play, it's drawn out for nearly twenty years, it [[DrivenToSuicide ends in rejection, followed by suicide]].
--> '''Javert:''' Lord, let me find him, that I may see him safe behind bars - I will never rest 'till then, this I swear. This I swear by - the stars!
** In the 10th Anniversary version of "One Day More", three couples share mikes - The Thenardiers, Marius and Cosette, and...Valjean and Javert.
** Also, anything involving Enjolras and Grantaire is popular among the more hardcore fans, as it's practically canon: In [[FanNickname the Brick]], Grantaire's admiration for Enjolras is the only reason he's really involved in LaResistance to begin with. This is, however, not as common due to its absence from TheMusical, which is ''far'' more popular among teenage girls than the the book is.
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJmp5yjZHtY Depending on the actors]] (start at 6:30), the musical can have some ''serious'' Enjolras/Grantaire vibes. At the very least, Grantaire's usually pining for Enjolras.
*** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BevfCsVQ4ow Have you SEEN the 25th anniversary?]] (start at 1:37) They're going to die, and they know it, and while the rest of the students are singing about the "pretty girls", these two have their hands on each other's faces! Also, they share a mike in the finale- implying they're with each other in the afterlife? Maybe it's just because the actors are best friends in real life but still, it's pretty obvious.
*** In the 2012 film, they [[spoiler: die together, with Grantaire choosing to go die at Enjolras' side]] as in the book, complete with what appears to be gripping each other's hands or wrists. And they are standing together [[spoiler: on the finale barricade]]
*** In the 2013 US touring company, the main actors who played Enjolras and Grantaire were dating, then got engaged, and are now married. The Ho Yay was ''strong'' in that production.
* Max and Leo in ''Film/TheProducers''. The original film may be debatable, but the musical gives us "Til Him," which gives us very, ''very'' gay little gems like this:
-->My existence bordered on the tragic\\
Always timid, never took a chance\\
Then I felt his magic\\
And my heart began to dance
** Leo stradling Max shouting 'Give it to me! Give it to me!" The other actors walk into the room and say... "Now, that's what I call celebrating!"
* The most recent Music/StephenSondheim show, ''Road Show'', is his first to feature canonically gay characters: Addison Mizner and Hollis Bessmer are lovers. On top of that, there's a generous sprinkling of barely-subtextual HoYay between Addison and his brother Wilson:
** they snuggle in a sleeping bag in the snow (has John Weidman been reading slash fic?) during the number "Brotherly Love";
** when Wilson's gone off to get supplies and Addison's left behind to work their gold claim in Alaska, Addison mournfully sings "All I want is Willy!";
** there's even a scene where Wilson tries to kiss Addison on the mouth -- in context it's an aggressive move, but it's a ''sexy'' aggressive move;
** and the show begins and ends with the two brothers in bed together.
* Another Music/StephenSondheim show, ''Merrily We Roll Along'', reeks of this trope with Frank/Charlie. The entire show might as well be called "Frank and Charlie break up" - especially the song "Franklin Shepard Inc." in which Charlie not only complains the whole time about Frank not paying enough attention to him, but also lists the reasons he's still "the guy [he] love[s]"
* From the opera ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'', [[ThoseTwoBadGuys the Cat and the Fox]]. It does not help that they are also more or less ''furries''. It's cute, in an absolutely creepy evil way. (No, not because they're furries. Because they're inseparable schemers and con-men who are okay with fleecing an innocent, if somewhat stupid, puppet-boy. And then trying to kill him. And they have some pimpin' musical numbers.) They're constantly at each other's side, Fox is OneHeadTaller (actually, more, being that the Cat is usually short and rotund) and... be fair, they're both [[SissyVillain pretty camp]]. And sharply dressed.
** In the English translation of the original book, the Cat was female, [[HetIsEw disappointingly enough]].
* Hamlet and Horatio from ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'', who are extremely close, so much so that Horatio would rather commit suicide than live without Hamlet.
* ''Theatre/JosephAndTheAmazingTechnicolorDreamcoat'' - never mind that the male leads are brothers, the sexual tension can be cut with a knife whenever they're on stage together. The costuming doesn't help any.
** The lyrics to "Benjamin Calypso," which is sung by the brothers about their brother, Benjamin, to Joseph to protect him.
---->"Oh no - not he! How can you accuse him is a mystery! Save him - take me; Benjamin is straighter than the tall palm tree!"
*** Most of the play can unintentionally be read as straight brothers disapproving of their flamboyant gay brother, getting rid of him, and then repenting.
---->Or maybe not so unintentionally. It's a European piece by a young Tim Rice developed in the 60's and 70's. Besides, some modern Biblical scholars (very liberal ones, of course) actually read the original Bible story this way, noting Joseph's various "effeminate" traits and the way he keeps "finding favor" with powerful men like Potiphar and the Pharaoh.
* Vladimir and Estragon of ''Theatre/WaitingForGodot'' act so much like an old married couple.
** "Hand in hand from the top of the Eiffel Tower..."
** Hugging, one putting his coat on the other while he sleeps, breaking up and making up roughly every ten pages...
--> '''Estragon:''' Haha, he wants to know if we're ''friends''!
--> '''Vladimir:''' No, I think he means friends with ''him''.
** Also, Pozzo, who claims ownership over another man, carrying him on a chain. That's beyond Ho Yay, that's just... ''weird''.
* In Stephen Schwartz' ''Theatre/{{Pippin}}'', the Lead Player can be this with the titular protagonist, if he's played by a man.
* Creator/BertoltBrecht was quite fond of this:
** A relationship between Macheath (Mack The Knife) and his friend Tiger Brown in ''Theatre/TheThreepennyOpera'' is ''almost'' explicitly confirmed in the text. The recent Broadway revival was much less subtle, giving one of Mack's wives (Tiger's daughter) a penis.
*** In the 2016 production National Theatre production, they decided to just skip the subtext of this one and go straight to "text", with both Macheath and Tiger making highly suggestive comments to each other (to the point of basically [[{{Pun}} coming out]] and stating it), and sharing a kiss at the end of the Cannon Song. Actually, that entire production went ''heavy'' on the HoYay, with Peachum being a CampGay transvestite calling everyone "poppet" (especially the male characters) and one of the prostitutes at the brothel Mack visits being male.
** In ''Theatre/MrPuntilaAndHisManMatti'' (Brecht's Marxist reinterpretation of the CommediaDellArte) Puntila's behaviour towards his servant can be as gay as the actors want it to be - because Puntila is drunk all the time anyway. One recent Berlin performance had Puntila yelling at Matti, [[SlapSlapKiss kissing him, throwing things at his head]] and asking him to marry his daughter, all within a couple of minutes.
* ''Theatre/{{Cats}}'': The rather fawning descriptions that the [[LovableSexManiac Rum Tum Tugger]] lay on [[FrozenFlower Mr Mistoffelees]] were rather... interesting. Especially when offset by the less than complimentary tone that Mistoffelees uses in Tugger's own song.
** Depending on the production, it can be less 'subtext' and more 'text'. In some versions they kiss (albeit teasingly), dance together, cuddle, and one famous production had Mistoffelees rather suggestively grinding on Tugger during Tugger's song.
* Riff and Tony in ''Theatre/WestSideStory'', for much the same reasons as [[Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet Mercutio and Romeo]].
* ''Theatre/{{Thirteen}}'' has an AccidentalKiss where the HoYay is piled on thick. Watch it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7w6gEP2f1ng here]] (skip to around 03:10)
* Melchior/Moritz from ''Theatre/SpringAwakening''. Melchior teaching Moritz how to touch himself in "Touch Me"? Oh, yes.
** Interestingly, Moritz [[spoiler: kills himself]] imediately after Melchior and Wendla hook up.
** And Hanschen/Ernst is canon.
** Some versions of "The Dark I Know Well" have Ilse holding Martha protectively in a loving fashion.
* ''Theatre/AvenueQ'': While Rod is in the TransparentCloset in the {{canon}}, it is never mentioned whether or not Nicky is gay. Yet the fact that they live together and [[SlapSlapKiss sometimes don't get along]] is enough to make the fangirls squee.
** Actually, Nicky repeatedly states that he's not gay in "If You Were Gay," but the validity of those statements is questionable.
** [[spoiler: Rod's {{Canon}} boyfriend Ricky looks just. Like. Nicky.]]
*** And [[spoiler: ''Nicky'' helped get them together.]]
* Mark and Roger from ''Theatre/{{Rent}}'' probably have more shippers than the canonical Roger/Mimi. There is a reason for this. Mark is the only character without a love interest and, in the film version especially, he spends a lot of time giving Roger lingering, meaningful glances.
** Roger just had to work Mark's erections into La Vie Boheme. Hmm.
** There's also the fact that Roger effectively "breaks up" with Mark practically simultaneously as he ''officially'' breaks up with Mimi (in a song called "Goodbye Love") and it's implied that the first thing he does once he's back in New York is to go to Mark.
* ''Theatre/MyFairLady'' has stuffy Victorian gentlemen Higgins and Pickering singing a song about how they much favour each others' company to that of a woman. As it's never stated Higgins's feelings for Liza are romantic, the musical often has a [[HasTwoMommies Liza Has Two Daddies]] feel to it.
** In the original play it's more explicit that Higgin's feelings aren't romantic, and Eliza doesn't go back to him in that version but remains with Freddie.
* Mountararat and Tolloller in ''Iolanthe.'' See especially the scene where they're arguing over Phyllis (and seeing as [[spoiler: she's inevitably going to end up with Strephon, that leaves the two lords as the obvious pairing.)]]
** Er, also because said argument ends in their deciding that they care about each other too much to fight over her.
* Operas are good in this.
** Don Carlo and Rodrigo in Verdi's ''Don Carlo.'' If that's not Ho Yay, nothing is. Even though it's 16-century Catholic Spain, Carlo is in love with his (same-age) stepmother Elizabeth, and Rodrigo is a Knight of Malta, even the least homoerotic productions sometimes have them lying on the floor together, clasping each other's faces.
** In ''Il Trovatore,'' depending on the singers, Manrico and Count di Luna's rivalling over Leonora can seem like just an excuse to cover up their incestuous Foe Yay.
** Alvaro and Don Carlo di Vargas in ''La forza del destino'' start out as instant best friends, share a beautiful, lyrical duet when Alvaro is wounded in battle, and they have two more intense duets after Carlo finds out Alvaro's true identity (the man who killed his father and seduced his sister). Eventually Carlo forces him into a duel and Alvaro kills him.
** [[Theatre/DonGiovanni Don Giovanni]]/Leporello. At times, Leporello seems just a little ''too'' devoted to Don Giovanni. And then (depending on the translation), there's the line where Leporello says that Don Giovanni "took his innocence." He then turns to [[WomanScorned Elvira]] and says "You know what it's like." It doesn't take a lot of imagination to imagine what that could mean. Considering this is [[TheCasanova Don Giovanni]], taking it a [[AnythingThatMoves step]] [[DepravedBisexual further]] isn't too hard.
** Eugene Onegin/Lensky. And it ends in a duel because Onegin is an asshole and flirts with Olga.
** Amfortas/Klingsor in ''Parsifal,'' before they lost their, um, instruments.
** Titus/Sextus in Mozart's ''La Clemenza di Tito'' (Tito's Clemency). [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFmvp8Duc_M It's just not possible to interpret this otherwise.]]
** Pick a Britten opera. ANY Britten opera. The fact that Britten himself was gay and wrote most of his leading tenor roles for his life partner Peter Pears made this inevitable.
*** ''Peter Grimes'' has no adult Ho Yay but there's the possibility he's a pedophile. Eek.
*** ''Billy Budd.'' It takes place on a 18th century warship, with an all-male cast. You can pair up anyone with anyone.
*** ''The Turn of the Screw'': Quint/Miles. Jessel/Flora. Jessel/Governess. If you are evil, even Mrs. Grose/Governess.
*** ''Death in Venice'': Aschenbach/Tadzio is canon, although nothing ever happens, but the tension! It needs more love.
* ''Theatre/{{Lestat}}''. Unsurprisingly, given [[Literature/TheVampireChronicles the source material.]] Seriously, just listen to [[http://www.4shared.com/file/88077168/c744768d/1_11_-_Right_Before_My_Eyes.html "Right Before My Eyes"]]. Lestat and Nicki had an intense love affair in the book, and the lyrics make no attempt to disguise this.
** It's not even subtext.
--> ''"Desire drives me to take him now/no force on Earth will ever tear him from my heart... don't waste the chance, and let the night pass by/he's mine to take, he's right before my eyes."''
* Death ("Der Tod") from the German musical ''Theatre/{{Elisabeth}}'' is in love with the titular heroine, but still manages to be rather ...suggestive... with her son Rudolf. As in, most productions have Death taking the guy's life with a kiss that can be anything from a small peck on the lips to something that approaches a full-out snog.
** Not to mention Death and Rudolf's duet, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9hFnlJIMNY Die Schatten werden länger]] (The Shadows Grow Longer). The two [[AlmostKiss Almost Kisses]] and Death practically forcing Rudolf to dance with him don't help matters at all.
* In TheBacchae by Euripides (especially if we go by the Philip Vellacott translation) we have raging suggestions between Dionysus and Pentheus particularly that when Pentheus first meets Dionysus he comments on how good looking he is. Then it turns into a very role-deciding relationship as Pentheus is used to being in control but eventually he [[spoiler:becomes the woman when he starts crossdressing.]] This isn't a romance play... so it doesn't end with a gay marriage but if these two weren't enemies...
** It doesn't help that in the 2010 Edinburgh version they replaced all of Dionysus' female worshippers/followers with young men.
* In ''Music/AmericanIdiot'', St. Jimmy serenades Jesus of Suburbia with "Last Night On Earth".
** St. Jimmy is usually interpreted as a figment JOS's imagination (outright says so in the song "Letterbomb"), and St. Jimmy is only singing this song because JOS is busy making out with his girlfriend, Whatshername. However, despite all this, when St. Jimmy sings this song, he looks pained. As if he is heartbroken JOS is making out with ''her'' and not ''him''.
*** St. Jimmy also calls Whatshername the enemy later in "Know Your Enemy".
* Norm Foster's play ''Jenny's House of Joy'' has loads of lesbian undertones. It's set in a whorehouse in the 1870s; the first scene has one of the harlots talking to another about what to do if the guy's gross and smelly. One of them, Anita, says that she spritzes them with perfume when they're not looking. The other, Francis, says something to the effect of "So you'd be playing around with a big burly backwoods ''woman?''" and Anita replies, "Well, at least she would smell nice!"
** This is turned UpToEleven in a callback joke. When a new woman steps in, Anita's immediately enamored. The proprietor of the whorehouse, Jenny, crudely asks the new girl if she's here for service, "because we don't do girl-on-girl here." Then Anita stops her and says "Wait, wait, don't be so sure!" Jenny asks why and Anita gives as her justification "Well she smells nice!" From then on Anita determines to be the girl's best friend, coming off as being in crush-mode.
** There's also FoeYay between Francis and the new girl, in the form of an extended TakeThatKiss scene after the new girl Natalie asks her what to do with the man (at this point, she hasn't started her job yet).
* In ''The Musical Comedy Murders of the 1940's'' it is HEAVILY suggested (to the point of being stated) that Elsa is banging the maid.
* This happens very often in {{Takarazuka}} productions. Directors seem to have realized the erotic potential of their Otokoyaku (actresses playing male roles) and give them as many homoerotic scenes as their "pure, proper, beautiful" motto will allow. Especially their revues tend to feature extremely suggestive dance scenes between Otokoyaku. Or, leaving the Otokoyaku slash aside for a moment, the classical "het" pairings are homoerotic enough, given that ALL roles are played by women.
* In the obscure Music/MarvinHamlisch[=/=]Howard Ashman musical ''Smile'' there is some fairly heavy lesyay between the two female leads, Robin and Doria, most notably during the song Dressing Room and at the end when [[spoiler: Robin decides not to join Doria at the next pageant]].
* Faustus and Mephistopheles in most versions of Faust.
* Alfred de Musset's ''Lorenzaccio'', anyone? Lorenzo obviously has a serious case of a love/hate crush on Alexander. Comparing himself with a "bride", calling Alexander "mignon" (darling) and talking about "kissing from his lips the remains of his orgies"... And as it is 16th-century Florence we're talking about... sufficient to say they were all BiTheWay there.

* Copenhagen: The play is about how much Bohr and Heisenberg loved each other.The "second draft" of their meeting with the beatific smiling and their eyes lighting up at the sight of each other,Margrethe's creepy insinuations and the "not one, but half of two" comment make this play pure Ho Yay.

* In the (fairly obscure) Rupert Holmes musical adaptation of ''Literature/TheMysteryOfEdwinDrood'' the main male character (Drood) is engaged to a woman named Rosa. Oh and the male lead is traditionally played by a woman (it's a weird show). And yes, in case you're wondering [[GirlOnGirlIsHot they do kiss.]]
* How in Oz have we gotten this far without mentioning Theatre/{{Wicked}}!? Elphaba running away embarassed and confused after Glinda tells her she's beautiful. Elphaba singing about what a babe Glinda is in I'm Not that Girl. Glinda and Elphaba running off to the Emerald City together. One Short Day is very much like a first date. For Good is easily mistaken for a love song. And that isn't even including the original book...
** What Is This Feeling has some heavy elements of {{SlapSlapKiss}}. And ''My pulse is rushing, my head is reeling, my face is flushing, what is this feeling?'' That would be lust.
** Idina and Kristen both ship Gelphie, btw.
** While workshopping the show, which was originally Fiyero/Elphaba centric, the writers declared "This story is about two witches!" It came natuarally.
* Roxie and Velma have some major FoeYay in Chicago.
* Lance and Herbert in Theatre/{{Spamalot}}.
* In Shrek the Musical, Donkey tells Shrek he'll be "on him like a fat kid on cake" in a song called Don't Let Me Go.
* Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow is loaded with this, with such moments as [[DepravedBisexual Dr. Frank N. Furter]] seducing both Janet ''and'' Brad.
* Elder Price and Elder [=McKinley=] have their moments in [[Theatre/TheBookOfMormon The Book Of Mormon]].
** In the West End production, Elder Price grabs Elder [=McKinley=] in excitement, and Elder [=McKinley=] leans in for a kiss.
* ''Theatre/DoctorFaustus'': Mephistopheles and Faustus. What with that part where they discuss marriage and Mephisto pleads with Faustus to stop talking about it, with the way he evades the topic of fetching Faustus a wife by bringing him only ugly (and biologically MALE, disguised as female) demons...
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3HAq0cWu_w Now in song form!]]
* In ''Theatre/StarlightExpress'', Electra's IAmSong "AC/DC" includes the lyrics "[[BiTheWay AC/DC, it's okay by me. I can switch and change my frequency.]]". His equal-opportunity entourage doesn't do anything to discourage the HoYay, either. (The 2012 UK tour increases this even further, as Electra and Greaseball [[spoiler:[[AccidentalKiss almost kiss]]]] in "One Rock N' Roll Too Many"!)
* In ''Theatre/RockOfAges'', Lonny and Dennis have this in spades.
** They actually kiss in the movie version.
* ''Theatre/SeventeenSeventySix'' has John Dickinson with Judge Wilson, who is Dickinson's spineless YesMan. For the independence faction, there's Adams and Jefferson, especially in "But, Mr. Adams." Especially the bit where they confront each other on the staircase.
* This is inevitable in ''Theatre/JerseyBoys'', given that the show is structured much like a boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl romance that substitutes "musical group" for "girl", but a few instances stand out:
** The tensions between Frankie, Tommy, and Bob play out like a jealous ex upset that his ex found someone new.
** Depends on the blocking, but "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" tends to have some serious Frankie/Bob undertones, with Bob watching proudly from atop the scaffolding and Frankie turning and singing directly towards Bob at the beginning.
** Nick and Tommy bicker like an old married couple, with topics of contention including laundry, cleanliness, and a shared room. Yeah.
* Antonio and Sebastian from Theatre/TwelfthNight. Mostly one-sided on Antonio's part.
* ''Theatre/TanzDerVampire'' is a wonderful example. First, you have the Count basically seducing and turning Alfred on at the end of Act 1 (ramped up or not depending on the Alfred), then you have the two nightmare dancers being [[https://youtu.be/iCtrvAGPSEE?t=12m53s very close to each other]] and, of course, you have [[https://youtu.be/NOOB5DIgO0w?t=4m42s Wenn Liebe in dir ist]], with Herbert, the Count's son, trying to "seduce" Alfred.
* Lin Manuel Miranda, the creator of Theatre/{{Hamilton}}, has [[{{WordOfGod}} confirmed]] that there are several "nods" through the show to the title character's bisexuality. Especially during his interactions with John Laurens.
** There is a bit of FoeYay between Hamilton and Jefferson.
** During "I Know Him", King George seemed pretty sad when he learned that George Washington was stepping down as President.
* In ''The Play That Goes Wrong'', the actress playing the female lead in "The Murder at Haversham Manor" gets knocked unconscious during the first act. This forces a female stage-hand to step in and replace her. When the replacement ''also'' gets knocked out, the sound effects guy has to step in ... and enact a kiss scene with one of the male cast, who enjoys the scene rather more than expected.
* How has this page gone so long without any mention of ''Theatre/TheOddCouple''? Just, ''how?''
** First off, there's the friggin' ''title''-it should be noted that before Neil Simon penned the play, the term "odd couple" was used to describe a heterosexual couple where the woman was taller than the man.
** In the original 1965 male and 1985 female versions, Oscar/Olive gives Felix/Florence a neck and back massage. In the 2004 rewrite of the male version titled ''Oscar and Felix: A New Look at the Odd Couple'', Neil Simon tried to downplay the Ho Yay a bit by having Felix make Oscar move Felix's fingers to massage him rather than Oscar directly massaging Felix. Then we get this gem:
-->'''Felix:''' ''(quickly and softly)'' Ooooh, that's good. You did it good, Oscar...That was perfect.
-->'''Oscar:''' I'm beginning to get a picture of why your marriage went awry.
-->'''Felix:''' No, you did it better than Frances. She never did it that good.
-->'''Oscar:''' Yeah? Well, don't look at me like you're falling in love.
** In the original 1965 male and 1985 female versions, after Felix/Florence points out to Oscar/Olive how annoying the latter finds them and asks why they're still inviting them to live with them, the former flat out tells them "For Chrissakes, I'm proposing to you. What do you want, a Goddam(n) ring?"
** Their conversations in the later parts of the play very much come off as being between an unhappy married couple in general. For instance, in all 3 versions of the play the night of their double-date Oscar/Olive comes home much later than Felix/Florence wanted him/her home to help out before their guests arrive and the latter is ''pissed'' that not only is the former late, but didn't even call them to let them know they'd be home late. The two then have an argument where Felix/Florence acts like a frustrated housewife and Oscar/Olive acts like a neglectful husband.
** In the female version, just before Olive (female Oscar) calls to make the dinner date, she responds to Florence's (female Felix) objections by ''putting Florence's hand on one of her breasts'' to illustrate how much in need of intimate contact with a man she is. Granted, she points out to Florence that her hand "isn't enough" and that she needs a "bigger one, with knuckles", but ''still''. Platonic friends don't usually put another platonic friend's hand on their ''chest'' of all places!
*** Even better, the hand-on-chest scene made it into ''Oscar and Felix'' (the 2004 rewrite), rewritten to fit a man needing female contact, as well!
** During their final argument, Oscar/Olive tells Felix/Florence, "We're getting an annulment".
** In both male versions, after Oscar throws Felix out and their poker friends come in asking what's going on, Oscar tells them that he and Felix "broke up!"
** [[InUniverse In-Universe Example]] with the Costazuela siblings, who are brothers in the female version and sisters in ''Oscar and Felix''. Because it's been so hot lately (all 3 versions take place during the summer), the Costzuelas have been sleeping naked and leaving their door open "for the breeze." Apparently there's an old couple living next door to them that see them nude together and assume that they're a same-sex couple.
*** In the female version one of the Costazuela brothers then asks Florence if anyone thinks her and Olive are gay since they're living together and have only female friends visit them (for Trivial Pursuit). Florence is ''very'' quick to ask why anyone would get such an idea, and hilariously wonders aloud why "when men play poker, no one thinks ''they're'' gay." For whoever doesn't know, in the original play Oscar and Felix's (all-male) friend group plays poker.
** Slight example with the Pigeon sisters in the original male version. Their apartment doesn't have A/C (this having been written in 1965 and being set in a building constructed in the 1930s) and the play takes place during a hot and humid NYC summer, so in order to stay cool at night the sisters have been sitting in front of their opened refridgerator "in Nature's own". Think about that for a second. And no, the Ho Yay value doesn't diminish because they're sisters.
** In ''Oscar and Felix'' Oscar [[LampshadeHanging hangs a lampshade on their new situation]] by repeatedly telling Felix that "we're not a couple" and that he's not going to be the "Frances (Felix's soon-to-be-ex-wife) to your Felix". It doesn't work, they later come off as stereotypically married couple-y as ever.
* ''Theatre/WesterosAnAmericanMusical'':
** Ned and Robert. To give an idea of the level at which the play amplifies it compared to the source material, "King Robert Baratheon" ends with Ned calling himself "the damn fool who loved [Robert]" and the narrator calls their relationship "The bromance that won Robert's rebellion".
** When the narrator says that she "ships it" after "First Watch", in which Jon and Sam discuss the latter's crush on Gilly, she isn't specific about whether she's talking about Sam/Gilly or Jon/Sam.
** Davos and Stannis. Contributing factors include Stannis' wife Selyse not getting any kind of mention and Shireen's body language when Davos is re-instated as Stannis' Hand being that of someone who's witnessing a surprise proposal getting accepted. The play also keeps the IntergenerationalFriendship between Davos and Shireen from ''Series/GameOfThrones'', all around making it look like Shireen HasTwoDaddies, as Stannis is her actual father.
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* Hamlet and Horatio from ''Theatre/Hamlet'', who are extremely close, so much so that Horatio would rather commit suicide than live without Hamlet.