Is Costa Rica expensive to live in?

Costa Rica isn’t the cheapest country in Central America, but it’s not outrageous either. Daily life costs less than in most major U.S. cities — especially if you adapt to local food and lifestyle. Where it gets pricey is rent in beach towns, imported goods, and electricity if you blast the A/C all day.

What is the average rent in Costa Rica?

Rent depends on location. In San José, a two-bedroom apartment runs $600–$1,200/month. In popular beach towns or suburbs, expect $800–$1,800/month. Rural areas can be as low as $400/month — but you’ll trade off some conveniences.

How much money do I need to live comfortably in Costa Rica?

A single person can live modestly on $1,200–$1,500/month. For more comfort (A/C, private healthcare, imported snacks), budget $2,000–$3,000/month. Couples usually spend $1,500–$2,500+ depending on lifestyle and location.

What’s the cost of food in Costa Rica?

Local produce, coffee, and seafood are affordable (think avocados for $0.50, pineapples for $1, fresh fish at local markets). Imported items, though, are expensive — a jar of peanut butter can be $8 and wine can sting your wallet. Sticking to the local diet saves money and makes you healthier.

Queer Broadway Longing: Love in the Shadows (and the Spotlight) That Refuses to Hide

Waymon Hudson
Oct 25
6 min read

Updated: Nov 19

There’s a lie that theatre has been telling for a century —

that queer love is only beautiful when it breaks your heart.

Two queer actors share a passionate kiss onstage in & Juliet, the hit pop jukebox musical that reimagines Shakespeare’s tale through queer joy and gender freedom. A sparkling backdrop and warm stage lights celebrate LGBTQ+ love in this scene. — 💋 Love takes center stage. *& Juliet* reimagines Shakespeare’s tragedy with glitter, gender freedom, and queer joy — because everyone deserves a pop-powered happy ending.

It’s not.

It’s beautiful because it dares to exist.

For decades, Broadway has turned queer longing into metaphor — coded, tragic, elevated or neutered. The sassy best friend, the lonely dreamer, the dazzling emcee who never quite gets the spotlight. But that’s changing.

Because queer love isn’t just noble suffering. It’s desire, devotion, defiance, and joy.

It’s messy. It’s human. And it’s finally demanding to be seen.

💔 The Lineage of Queer Broadway Longing

For so long, queer love lived between the lines — coded, tragic, whispered.

But that’s changing.

Queer Broadway is done waiting for permission. It’s not apologizing, not hinting — it’s headlining.

You can feel that same pulse that runs through Merc and Speakeasy in the new generation of queer-centered shows lighting up the stage:

Scene from A Strange Loop featuring a Black queer lead surrounded by an energetic ensemble. The central actor, wearing a green flannel and expressive pose, embodies Michael R. Jackson’s groundbreaking, Pulitzer Prize-winning musical about identity, queerness, and self-expression. — 🎤 Michael R. Jackson’s *A Strange Loop* broke Broadway open — a raw, funny, meta masterpiece about a Black queer writer writing himself into being. No metaphors. Just truth.

🎭 A Strange Loop – Michael R. Jackson’s Pulitzer-winning masterpiece where a Black, queer writer literally writes himself into existence. No metaphors. No tidy endings. Just a full, sweaty, beautiful loop of desire, doubt, and truth.

💋 & Juliet – What if Juliet didn’t die for love — and what if queerness wasn’t tragedy, but glitter-fueled freedom? This pop musical reclaims a straight love story and queers it with pure joy.

✨ Everyone’s Talking About Jamie – A working-class kid dreams of becoming a drag queen, and the world finally gets out of his way. It’s not about tolerance — it’s about triumph in six-inch heels.

Two young men in Catholic school uniforms lean in for a kiss in Bare: A Pop Opera, a cult-favorite musical exploring forbidden love, faith, and queer identity. Warm lighting heightens the intimacy and emotional tension of the moment. — 🔥 Decades before mainstream queer musicals, *Bare: A Pop Opera* told a love story too honest for its time — two boys, one secret, and a choir of heartbreak.

🔥 Bare: A Pop Opera – Decades ahead of its time, this story of two boys in a Catholic school dared to tell the truth about love, faith, and shame — long before Broadway was ready to listen.

🎸 Hedwig and the Angry Inch – The rock musical that kicked down every wall. Gender, identity, heartbreak — all screaming into a mic under one glittering spotlight. Hedwig doesn’t just survive; she becomes.

And you can trace their bloodline right back to the same heart that beats inside Speakeasy: the queer character who refuses to stay quiet, who laughs too loud, loves too deeply, and takes up space anyway.

Merc isn’t an exception — he’s the next verse in a song Broadway has been learning to sing for decades.

Because queer longing doesn’t need to whisper anymore.

It gets a microphone.

💚 🩷 Wicked’s Queer Magic

Wicked isn’t labeled a queer musical, but honey, we know better.

(Sorry, Fiyero- but we still love you, Jonathan Bailey.)

Stage photo of Wicked featuring Elphaba, with green skin and dark hair, gazing tenderly at Glinda, dressed in pink with a flower in her hair. The lighting and posture evoke the deep, emotional bond that many fans interpret as romantic tension between the two women. — ✨ Before Elsa told us to “let it go,” Elphaba and Glinda were already rewriting the rules. The subtext in *Wicked* isn’t subtle — it’s practically a love duet in emerald and pink.

Glinda’s love for Elphaba has always been the quiet heartbeat of that show. Not in a coy “gal pal” way — but in that deep, terrifying way of seeing someone who embodies everything you’ve been told to suppress.

When Elphaba takes flight in “Defying Gravity,” Glinda’s heartbreak isn’t about losing a friend. It’s about watching the woman she loves become free in ways she can’t yet imagine for herself.

That’s queer longing: not wanting to own someone, but wanting to be seen by them.

But some of the most powerful queer longing onstage isn’t coded anymore — it’s claimed.

💜 The Color Purple and the Freedom to Feel

Emotional stage moment from The Color Purple musical, showing Shug Avery (in red) holding Celie (in blue) close in a moment of tenderness. The embrace conveys queer love, healing, and empowerment between the two women. — 💜 When Shug Avery held Celie, she didn’t just hold her heart — she handed her freedom. *The Color Purple* gave Broadway one of its first openly queer love stories between Black women.

In The Color Purple, Shug and Celie’s love is revolutionary not because it’s hidden, but because it refuses to be.

When Shug tells Celie, “You got to get up on out the bed and learn how to live,” she’s preaching queer gospel. Their love doesn’t fit polite categories. It’s tender, sensual, holy. It saves them both.

And that’s what Merc does in Speakeasy.

When he takes Jules into the Velvet Boot in Inside, he isn’t just showing her a club — he’s baptizing her in freedom.He’s saying, “You belong here. You belong in joy.”

🔥 Merc: Lover, Liberator, Legend

Portrait of Merc, the charismatic queer emcee from Speakeasy: A New Musical, wearing a dark vest and standing in front of red velvet curtains. He exudes confidence and warmth — the beating heart of the Velvet Boot speakeasy. — 🎭 Meet Merc — the velvet-voiced heart of *Speakeasy*. He’s the queer emcee, the crowd’s confidant, and proof that survival can still sparkle under the spotlight.

Merc is Speakeasy’s pulse — the first voice we hear, the one who makes the room shimmer.

He’s not hiding who he is.

He doesn’t need permission to be fabulous.

But behind the jokes and glitter is a man in love — with Rome, his best friend and found family. And it’s not a secret. Everyone sees it.

He flirts. He teases. He aches. And yet, he never apologizes for it.

Because Merc’s queerness doesn’t live in the margins. It owns the stage.

He knows Rome will never love him the way he wants. But his love still matters — because it’s real.

It’s not tragic because it’s unreturned. It’s heroic because it’s honest.

That’s what queerness looks like when it’s not sanitizing itself for sympathy — love that burns even when it can’t win.

🌈 Learning from Jules

Promotional image from Speakeasy: A New Musical showing Merc, dressed in a sleeveless vest, leaning affectionately against Officer Ty, a handsome policeman in a dark uniform. Their subtle smiles hint at the secret, tender love between them. — ⚡ Love behind enemy lines. Merc and Ty’s bond in *Speakeasy* isn’t just forbidden — it’s defiant. Tenderness becomes rebellion in a world built on silence.

Jules changes everything for Merc.

Through her defiance — her willingness to break rules for joy — she teaches Merc that freedom isn’t just for other people. It’s for him, too.

And that’s what leads him toward Officer Ty — the closeted cop drawn to Merc’s courage. Their connection is dangerous, tender, and real. It’s the kind of love story Broadway still hesitates to tell: two men, both terrified, finding truth in a stolen moment.

Merc knows it might break his heart. But he finally decides he deserves to feel something real.

⚡ Why This Matters

Merc stands beside Miss Addie and other Velvet Boot patrons, raising their fists in solidarity under moody golden stage lighting. The image captures themes of queer resistance, found family, and survival from Speakeasy: A New Musical. — ✊ Queer, Black, Brown, brave, and unbowed — the patrons of the Velvet Boot raise their fists and their voices. In *Speakeasy*, resistance isn’t quiet. It swings.

For too long, Broadway told queer people that our love was best when it hurt — that our stories were metaphors, not flesh.

But Merc’s story says: no.

Queer love is not symbolic. It’s not a subplot. It’s not a secret.

It’s the story.

He’s a lover, a liberator, a friend, a flirt, a fool, and a fighter — the full, glorious mess of a man who refuses to be a supporting character in his own life.

And that’s what makes Speakeasy — and the lineage of Queer Broadway — so powerful.

It’s not about being tolerated in the wings.

It’s about taking center stage and saying:

We’ve always been here.

We’ve always been in love.

And this time, the spotlight’s ours.

📺 Watch all the “Behind Broadway” video episodes: Step into the spotlight behind the spotlight. Behind Broadway is your backstage pass to how musicals really work — from iconic song structures to emotional arcs, queer storytelling, and the hidden craft that makes theater magic. Whether you’re a theater kid, a casual fan, or a future Tony winner in disguise — welcome to the show behind the show.