A flamboyant character who lives for acting, singing, or performing in general. They love the spotlight, have memorized every line from their favorite musicals, took modern dance or ballet at some point, and are constantly trying to break into theater. The female variety is invariably straight, but unlike the male version, stands a good chance of also being a Soapbox Sadie.
The association of live performance with Camp Gay is well enough known that the expression "he's into musical theater" is a well-known euphemism for being "gay."
Compare the Distaff Counterpart Lesbian Jock, where "she's into soccer/tennis" is a well-known euphemism for being "lesbian."
Examples
- Nathan from Blood+ lives for the stage and is the producer/manager/whatever of Diva's musical debut. Of course, the performance he most wants to direct and present to an adoring audience is Saya's death at Diva's hands. God help you if you try to screw it up by doing something silly like killing Saya before he sets the perfect stage for her and Diva. Lights, camera, action!
- Tomo from Fushigi Yuugi. Justified, as he was raised by a troupe of performers.
- Ryan Evans from the High School Musical movies has starred with his sister in all the school musicals before the first movie. The subtext is allegedly unintentional.
- Annie in Annie on My Mind is a rare female version of this trope, being a keen and talented singer with a passion for the dramatic.
- In Loveless, Pip and Sunil are flamboyant in their own ways and are big fans of theatre. They immediately sign up for Shakespeare Soc.
- Tiny Cooper in Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan. Even to the point where one of the book's major subplots is the direction/casting of the musical he wrote about himself.
- Degrassi: When Marco and Ellie have to film a commercial for their product advertisement he plans a bright, Bollywood-inspired version. She's the director and he's the actor. She rags on his version, calling it "flaming." He also loves pop music and fashion.
- Interview with the Vampire (2022):
- "No Pain": In 1795, Lestat de Lioncourt performs as Harlequin in a French play, and he fits the camp stereotype for male actors because he's a flamboyant bisexual Drama Queen. Armand describes to Daniel Molloy his first impression of Lestat as a thespian.
Armand: And here he was, prancing and preening in front of 500 mortals a night, like some patronized, tarted-up dervish. [...] How else could you explain his hand feeding the audience? How words came out like canaries, summer fruit in the dead of winter. They were all in love with him. He had that effect on everyone.
- Santiago embodies the male actor cliché of being hammy and bisexual. He's both the star and the master of ceremonies of the Théâtre des Vampires who gives grandiose introductions
to the spectators, is over-the-top when he consumes his victims onstage, and during rehearsals, he'll throw a hissy fit (and toss away the script) if he disagrees with the direction of the show. He's also incredibly conceited because he holds a grudge against Louis de Pointe du Lac simply because the latter fell asleep while Santiago was performing. Santiago knows he's a great actor because "I'M A FUCKING PROFESSIONAL!"
- In the Season 3 "Meet the Vampire Lestat" trailer,
Glam Rock-influenced Lestat is an arrogant and vain rock star who shows up late for the filming of his own documentary (he was apparently "entertaining" someone in his car while in the parking lot for hours). He must be one hell of a performer onstage, though, because Daniel — the director of said documentary (one would assume that he'd be frustrated by his interview subject's tardiness) — thanks Lestat for the tickets he got for last night's concert and compliments it as a great show. That's high praise coming from Daniel because he's a Grumpy Old Man who doesn't believe in politeness, and it's honestly surprising that he's so forgiving of Lestat's lack of punctuality considering how ill-tempered he was while interviewing Louis and Armand. In Real Life, Lestat (a fictional character) had provoked the ire of Swifties (fans of Taylor Swift) because they've attacked him on social media.
- "No Pain": In 1795, Lestat de Lioncourt performs as Harlequin in a French play, and he fits the camp stereotype for male actors because he's a flamboyant bisexual Drama Queen. Armand describes to Daniel Molloy his first impression of Lestat as a thespian.
- Jack ("Just Jack!") of Will & Grace. He does a lot of one-man shows because — at least early in the series — he's pretty much unemployable as an actor.
- Yellowjackets introduced Crystal in season two through her consistently humming and singing theatre songs. She ends up befriending Misty and introducing her to the theater.
- JJ Caucus from Doonesbury tries to work every aspect of her life into performance and video pieces, which may have contributed to her divorce from Mike.
- A running gag for Gonzo from The Muppets, particularly The Muppet Show, where Gonzo would introduce his bizarre stunts with a random assortment of Noodle Implements like a rubber tire, a highly explosive bomb, etc. while simultaneously performing a classical musical number, reciting poetry or a Shakesperean soliloquy, etc.
- Averted with pretty much all the musicians in Melody. The title character in particular has to be convinced to start performing in public.
- Squidward from SpongeBob SquarePants has a fondness for all manner of theater and high art, and is Ambiguously Bi to boot.
- The fusion gem Sardonyx (Garnet and Pearl) has this vibe in Steven Universe. She's big, she's boisterous, and she loves to show off her talents. "Know Your Fusion" shows that she can let this get out of hand by overshadowing everyone around her.
