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CLEAN SLATE ↳ S1E2 Spark Joy

#clean slate #cleanslateedit #laverne cox #desiree slate #jay wilkison #mack...?#still no idea what his last name is. someone help a girl out with that if you caught a last name anywhere #love these two together ngl #my gifs

real chemistry is back on our tv screens baby!!!

#STREAM CLEAN SLATE #need a season 2 renewal announcement immediately #clean slate #laverne cox #jay wilkison #REAL LOVERS ONLY

Can we also talk about the romance in Clean Slate? Because besides the ridiculous amounts of chemistry between Desiree (Laverne Cox) and Mack (Jay Wilkison) and the really fun and flirty progress of their relationship through the season, there's also some interesting commentary here about Southern racial dynamics and trans women's experience with cis men.

Mack is introduced to Desiree as one of her father's employees with an intriguing past, and that spark between them is in evidence right from the beginning. Like the rest of the characters in this show, there's a depth and vulnerability to Mack, a desire to reconnect with his daughter and be a devoted and present parent. He both mirrors and provides a sounding board to Desiree's own dad, who gradually learns how to be the father his daughter always wanted.

Desiree tries her best to resist, but he's persistent and clearly down bad.

Later on in the season, Desiree and Mack are working the car wash alone, and their curiosity about one another leads them into a game of truth or dare. It's interesting that she asks him if he's ever dated a trans woman, because she's clearly feeling out whether he's one of those cis men who fetishize them.

This exchange later on in this episode is fascinating to me, because it's so unusual - and powerful - to see a Black trans woman character telling a cis white man that he is not good enough for her. Yes, on an individual level she feels shitty about it afterward (as she should) and apologizes, but this feels like a significant moment. Explicitly stating that she doesn't owe him her time, attention and body simply because he's a cis white dude who's attracted to her shouldn't be groundbreaking, but it is.

But in the end, Desiree is not immune to Mack's - uh, finer qualities.

And finally, a line I utterly love is in the last scene of the season when Mack says "I want to dance with you in a crowded room" because that choice of phrasing sounds very deliberate. Many trans women have far too much experience with being the dirty little secret, the woman that you keep on the down low. However, Mack clearly worships the ground Desiree walks on, and it's beautiful to see.

#clean slate #laverne cox #jay wilkison #trans joy

The Book of Mormon has revealed new Broadway principal cast members. The nine-time Tony Award-winning musical is playing at the Eugene O’Nei

Lots of Broadway news for the end of the month!

Starting Tuesday, October 28, 2025, the Broadway company will welcome Diego Enrico (Broadway debut) as Elder Cunningham, Sydney Quildon (Broadway debut) as Nabulungi, Charlie Franklin (Broadway: The Book of Mormon, Floyd Collins, Tina – The Tina Turner Musical) as Elder McKinley, and Jay Wilkison (Broadway: Rent; Off-Broadway: The Whipping Man) as Joseph Smith/Mission President. On October 26, the company bids farewell to longtime cast members Cody Jamison Strand (Elder Cunningham), Keziah John-Paul (Nabulungi), PJ Adzima (Elder McKinley) and Lewis Cleale (Joseph Smith/Mission President). Strand has played Elder Cunningham for over 13 years on Broadway, on national tour and in London, amassing more performances in the role than any other actor in the show’s history. Cleale, an original cast member, has played the roles of Joseph Smith/Mission President for over 14 years, and over 5,000 performances – more than any other actor still performing in their original principal role in the show’s original Broadway production.