re: Straight guys in theater

In his memoirs Michael Caine wrote that when he was a young actor touring the UK provinces there was a musical called The Dancing Years. Young actors like himself loved to see it playing the same town they were in (it was nicknamed The Dancing Queers) b/c it meant there would be some actresses looking for men who were interested in them.

And FWIW ponder all those badass tough-guy he-men movie stars who got their start in the theatre.