By Michael Musto

Sex and the City: The Movie will undoubtedly attract so many gays opening weekend that the streets will be completely free of man tans and show tunes. A logical extension of the HBO series about chick bonding at its sassiest, the film brings back the show’s quirky femme quartet—Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Cynthia Nixon, and Kristin Davis—for some more gabbing, shopping, and shtupping, as written and directed by stand-up comic turned writer Michael Patrick King (pictured). Michael Musto sat down with King and the immortal Carrie Bradshaw herself, Emmy-winner Parker, for a lively gabfest of our own.

Musto: Is this gonna be the gayest movie since The Wizard of Oz?
King: The Oz people would be shocked that they made a gay movie. I think this movie is gay only in that it represents the outsider’s point of view -- basically women who aren’t in traditional relationships.
Parker: I think my gay friends -- a majority of my friends -- have enjoyed the show and will have a connection to this movie because of the unique, profound friendships that a lot of gay men have with their women friends. Generally speaking, my gay friends tend not to judge. They’re accepting, forgiving, and deeply honest with me.
King: One thing that’s so great about the four girls is they created their own families for themselves. A lot of my friends have done that.

Musto: Have you heard that the characters are really men in drag?
King: That comment completely died out in season three. The show started with [creator–executive producer] Darren Star and I, who are gay, and that’s a gateway to that kind of negative statement. The media didn’t know how to write about four new types of women, who are independent, smart, sexually in charge, and creative in their lifestyles. Let’s see, independent and strong -- that’s a man -- and caring about clothes is a gay man. But I’m a gay man. I don’t talk like this. When I’m writing the girls, they’re not me. There’s a part of me that’s human and at the epicenter of everybody. It has nothing to do with your genitals but with your heart.
Parker: The entire writing staff is straight women.

Musto: But back to the gays. Carried over into the film are Stanford Blatch (Willie Garson) and Anthony the stylist (Mario Cantone). Now, those guys are cute, but they’re not exactly Jack Wrangler.
Parker: I don’t get the reference.
King: I’m gonna pretend I don’t get the reference.

Musto: He was a hot ’70s porn star. Anyway, it’s refreshing that the SATC gays are not just eye candy.
Parker: We have Jason Lewis, Chris Noth, and David Eigenberg to play the eye candy!
King: Yeah. We switched it up. We make straight men sexy. It’s radical! Over the years, gay guys have said, “These characters don’t represent all the gay guys.” And I said, “Nobody represents all of anything.” Stanford was there from day one -- he was in Candace Bushnell’s columns. With Anthony, we needed a strong friend for Charlotte to push her along. The hard part about writing the movie was including everybody -- and to include Jennifer Hudson too.

Musto: That makes it even gayer. You can’t get gayer than Dreamgirls.
Parker: We’re about to!

Musto: When you were a kid on Broadway, did you notice all the gays?
Parker: I was a ballet dancer first, and I remember vividly the first gay man in the company. He walked differently than the other dancers -- not in an archetypal, cliché way. I asked my parents, “Is that because he’s a dancer?” They said, “No, that’s because he’s gay.” So on Broadway I was very comfortable. I understood it immediately. I auditioned for a huge industrial and they brought in big movie stars like Gloria Swanson...
King: I think you just hit your gay ratio, Michael.
Parker: And some of the chorus would wear shirts to rehearsal saying, GOD, I'M A DANCER, A DANCER DANCES, written in phonetics the way a gay man might say it -- not you two, of course.

Musto: You mean “a danther dantheth?”
Parker: Yes.

Musto: Hmm. How are you as a parent on these thubjecth?
Parker: Once, James [Parker’s 5-year-old son with husband Matthew Broderick] said, “Who are all these men in our house and why did they leave together?” I said, “Let’s cut to the chase. They’re gay‚” and he’s perfectly comfortable with it.

Musto: Wow. Michael, it’s time for your biographical moment. Were you out when you did stand-up?
King: No, and when you’re onstage holding a big secret, you’re not funny. Eventually, I came out and became much more specific to who I am, and I had something to say as opposed to just putting words together to get a sound out of an audience from New Jersey. But I’ll tell you one nightmare story. I was in a comedy team and we played the Billy Jack Café of Comedy. It was a very redneck crowd, and I’m up there thinking, I’m not out‚ and I hear a guy in the front row say, “Look at this fucking jerk-off faggot asshole!” I felt like I fell off the stage. But I learned about being brave.

Musto: God, comedy can be depressing. Speaking of bravery: Your reaction when Cynthia Nixon came out? Yay, lesbian!?
King: Good for her. It never dawned on me she might be gay. It never dawned on me she wasn’t gay. She’s an original. No fuss, no muss, truthful, and loving.
Parker: I was just so happy she was happy. She’s a very astonishing person. Like she just fell to the earth.
King: That we didn’t even know there was a struggle was noble.

Musto: I love a silent sufferer. Bye, guys! Last chance to plug the movie.
King: In addition to the deep emotion, there’s an enormous amount of whipped cream in it -- fashion and fun. There’s a Vincente Minnelli side to it. It’s quite beautiful. Not in a campy way, in an authentic way.
Musto: Sort of like The Wizard of...never mind.