Single All the Way, Netflix’s first original gay Christmas movie, will delight you. Instead of leaning into obvious tropes, it’s an unapologetically queer film that doesn’t pander to any particular audience. And yet, the movie is chock full of smart LGBTQIA+ references that you might miss on first viewing. To help shed some light on a few of these Easter eggs, we asked the film’s writer, Chad Hodge, to offer a little (expert?) background. Some may surprise you, others might require a doctorate in Madonna studies. Happy hunting!

You named the bar in the movie Lisa’s Crisis Cafe after the legendary gay NYC piano bar Marie’s Crisis Cafe. Are there other queer Easter eggs fans should look out for?

Sure. I’m not gonna remember all of them, but there are [a handful]. One of my favorites that approximately 17 people will get is Jennifer Coolidge’s character, Aunt Sandy, who had a very short Broadway career, the highlight of which was playing the understudy for Audrey in the original off-Broadway production of Little Shop of Horrors. Ellen Greene played Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors off-Broadway, and then she was cast in the movie as well, which was amazing because she wasn’t famous. Anyway, the point is, the backstory of Aunt Sandy is that she was Ellen Greene’s understudy for Audrey in the original production of Little Shop of Horrors, and that’s about as far as her career went. Now she has a big career directing Christmas pageants in this tiny town in New Hampshire. Toward the end of the movie, when her pageant is a big hit, and she’s convinced that it should go on tour, she says, “And now Ellen Greene can be my understudy!” 

That’s hidden!

Another one is, well, just some of the music. Gays love the girl group Girls Aloud. And [Girls Aloud’s “Not Tonight Santa,”] is the song that opens the movie. Whitney Houston is my all-time favorite, so I was going to figure out a way to get a Whitney Houston song into this movie, no matter what. So we have that. We have a Britney Spears’ [song, too.]

One other Easter egg that a lot of people won’t get: Have you ever seen Madonna’s documentary Truth or Dare? When Aunt Sandy does her preshow speech to the whole cast, it’s literally, word for word, Madonna's pre-show prayer from the Blonde Ambition tour in Truth or Dare. It's funny, because when I was writing, I remember exactly my thought process. I was like, “Okay, Aunt Sandy, I want her to make a speech. Everyone’s holding hands. She’s gonna make a really over-the-top, pep-talk speech. This is our opening night.” What would she say? And then it was like, “Oh, wait. What if she just completely rips off Madonna?”