New York is seeing a vast array of gay-themed plays this spring. This surprising theatrical trend covers historical topics, as depicted in The Temperamentals, and The Pride, as well as a new environmental production of Mart Crowley’s 1968 groundbreaking hit The Boys in the Band. In addition, last year’s Off-Broadway hit Next Fall, which concerns a modern gay couple and their conflicts over religious differences, is currently in previews on Broadway. And then there’s YANK! A WWII LOVE STORY, a sensational musical drama about soldiers who fight not only the Axis but also their powerful feelings for each other amidst the turmoil of the war.

A modern-day young man (Bobby Steggert) discovers an old journal in San Francisco rummage shop and is drawn into the saga of Stu (Steggert again), a scared 18-year-old kid undergoing basic training to fight in World War II. Stu clearly doesn’t fit in with the rest of his squadron, a jocular bunch of guys who boast about their girls back home and give their bumbling mate the nickname “Light Loafers.” Only the alpha male, Mitch (Ivan Hernandez), encourages Stu, beginning with an inadvertently seductive lesson in boot-polishing. As the two men clandestinely discover their growing attraction for each other, they react in their own ways, with Mitch retreating emotionally and Stu transferring to another unit to take photographs for Yank, a servicemen’s magazine that gives the musical its title. Circumstances soon reunite them as the squadron prepares to invade Japan on the front line.

For YANK!, fraternal writing team Joseph and David Zellnik have created a full-bodied, emotional score (just wait ‘til you hear the glorious men’s choral sound!), blessedly free from much of modern musical theatre’s “wink-wink” irony. The story sets out to homage then subvert the “we’re-all-in-this-together” mentality of vintage war movies, while the songs are clearly influenced by 40’s era pop songs, with a harmonic complexity that Rodgers and Hammerstein wouldn’t have dreamed of.

In a way, YANK! takes place in an alternate universe to their shows: the Seabees of South Pacific might well have fought alongside these soldiers. And just as a farmgirl took smelling salts to make her mind up in Oklahoma! via a dream ballet, Stu’s sip of homemade moonshine initiates a similar pas de deux waltz-like hallucination, beautifully performed by Jordan Medeiros and Denis Lambert, and choreographed by Jeffrey Denman. Denman also portrays Stu’s magazine writing partner who mentors his young charge in the covert signs of homosexuality through the brilliantly conceived tap number, “Click.”

The whole cast is fantastic. Hernandez’s physique and impossibly dimpled cheeks bring to mind Mario Lopez, while his gorgeous voice recalls the robust musical theatre heroes of yore. Nancy Anderson scores as all the women in the show, from pin-up girls and chanteuses (deftly paying homage to 40’s era female singers in a dizzying variety of styles), in addition to a tough-as-nails senior lesbian military officer who warns Stu about his recklessness. As Stu, Bobby Steggert is the heart and soul of YANK!, rarely leaving the stage throughout director Igor Goldin’s elegantly seamless, swift-moving production. His climactic duet with Hernandez, “Just True,” brought tears to the eyes of many audience members at the performance attended, and the sniffles continued through the show’s well-deserved rousing ovation.

YANK! has been kicking around for a number of years, originating in the 2005 New York Musical Theatre Festival and evolving through subsequent productions in San Diego and Brooklyn. It’s serendipitous that its Off-Broadway bow at the York Theatre coincides with national debate over the United States military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. The show’s characters admit that “maybe it won’t be until 1948 or 1950, but things will change,” and Steggart’s modern-day character wonders if he would have been as brave as Stu. YANK! is a stirring tribute to the less publicized members of the Greatest Generation – if it were not for them, would we even be able to have this debate today?

Please visit www.yorktheatre.org for the complete performance schedule. Tickets are $67.50 and are available online at www.yorktheatre.org, by calling 212-935-5820, or in person at The Theatre at Saint Peter’s box office (enter on 54th Street, just East of Lexington), and are currently on sale through Sunday, March 21st. Running time is 2 hours, 30 minutes.