At the time, it was hailed as a trailblazing production in New York.

“The Boys in the Band” was a play about a group of gay men who gather for a birthday party in New York.  It was heralded for revolutionizing how gay men were seen on stage and in popular culture when it debuted off-Broadway in April of 1968.

The playwright behind the production, Mart Crowley, has died in New York of complications from a heart attack.

The play was adapted for the big screen in 1970 and is considered one of the first major American films to center on gay characters.

Mart Crowley was 84.