Gender is Performative

Resources and Representation for Transgender, Non-Binary, and Gender Non-Conforming Theater Artists

[transtheater-blog]

Has there ever been an *actual* trans person on Broadway, not the role but the actual person?

Peppermint (of Rupaul’s Drag Race fame), Kate Bornstein, and Ty Defoe are all trans people on Broadway right now! The Public Theater’s production of Southern Comfort a few years ago featured two trans actors (and some cis actors in trans roles :/ ). There have been numerous trans actors off-Broadway, and I’m sure there have been more on Broadway, but those are the ones I can think of right now. Feel free to add on if you know of more trans actors who have been on Broadway!

[transtheater-blog]

from @smartassjen “Alexandra Billings did a ton over 30 years in theater, as an out trans woman. Interestingly enough, she never once played a trans character (until she started doing tv). She’s brilliant. Shakina Nayfack has been doing some great theater work in the last few years. They may not be household names, but there are and have been trans actors on Broadway. (But here’s hoping for many more to come!)”

from @eternal-blank-flank “Jess Barbagallo is a trans playwright and actor I've had the pleasure of working with in the past who's currently in the Broadway production of The Cursed Child, we(trans actors)'re around and sometimes do get cast!”

[transtheater-blog]

The Red Shades: A Trans Superhero Rock Opera

Red Shades Official Trailer for 8/25 Show at Starline Social Club! Video and Editing by Amy Cantrell

[transtheater-blog]

Adrienne on trans superheroes, creating a rock opera, & the power of community

“The big project I’m working on right now is The Red Shades, a rock opera about trans superheroes. It comes from a deep part of me — a need for healing and for connection to histories of resistance. It’s set in the sixties and draws on histories of resistance in trans communities in New York and San Francisco. It shows the ways our ancestors resisted and pushed back against transphobia, homophobia, and misogyny in moments where that felt almost impossible. The odds were stacked against them, yet they managed not only to survive but to prevail and create social change that ripples out to the present day. I’m so inspired by getting to learn about those stories. It takes very little exaggeration to turns trans history into a superhero story.”

[broadwayworld]

BWW Exclusive: An Ode in Praise of HEAD OVER HEELS, the Most Radically Queer Show in Broadway History https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/BWW-Exclusive-An-Ode-in-Praise-of-HEAD-OVER-HEELS-the-Most-Radically-Queer-Show-in-Broadway-History-20180812

[projectqueer]

Kit Yan and Melissa Li toured the country as Good Asian Drivers from 2008–2010, a dramatic experience that cost them their friendship for two years.

Now, they’ve pulled from their story to mount a new musical, Interstate, that enjoyed a sold-out and extended run at the 2018 New York Musical Festival before winning four of its seven nominations at the festival’s Best of Fest awards on August 5. 

The production also won a “Special Citation: Representation & Inclusion” from the festival for its largely queer and trans cast. The $85,000 run of Interstate at NYMF was financed entirely through crowd-funding and enhancement by the Musical Theater Factory.

CLICK THE HEADER LINK TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE.

[fuckyeahgreatplays]

Trans Lab is looking for six trans or gnc theater artists who crave creative and professional support to join the 2019 lab! Trans Lab Fellowship is a year-long program devoted to supporting the development of early career trans and gender nonconforming theater artists. Supported by WP Theater and the Public Theater, the Lab provides up to 6 artists with community, professional development, connections to a professional network, support developing a new work and a showcase for the work they develop.

REQUIREMENTS FOR ELIGIBILITY:

Must be a trans or gnc artist who creates theater work as a writer, director, deviser, or solo performer. Must be prepared to create and develop a new work in the lab.

Must be early career or emerging.

Must be able to attend evening meetings at the Public Theater or WP Theater once a month for 2019.

Regular attendance is mandatory and therefore applicants should view the program as a year-long commitment.

Must not be a student enrolled in a degree-granting program.

Must be over 21.

Must be available for an in-person interview.

THE PARTICIPATING ARTISTS WILL:

Receive a stipend.

Develop a new work over the course of the year.

Participate in a monthly lab meeting for sharing work and meeting industry professionals.

Receive artistic support and professional development guidance from the other lab members, alumni and facilitators.

Participate in a showcase in December to showcase the work they have created.

EVERY APPLICATION MUST INCLUDE:

A work sample either written, video, or photography. If written please submit a ten page sample of a longer work as well as the longer work. If video please do not exceed 2.5 minutes. If photography please send 5-15 images with accompanying descriptions.

An artistic statement of no more than 500 words responding to the question: Why do you want to be part of Trans Lab this year? Please elaborate on why this program is a good match for you as an artist and why it is right for where you are in your career now. Responses can also be a recorded video statement of no more than 2.5 minutes.

A resume of past work.

Emailed applications will not be accepted. Hard copy applications will not be accepted.  If you have specific questions, please email [email protected].  No phone calls please. 

Click the link to apply!

[projectqueer]

the importance of depicting “tucking” on screen for trans women

As the 2018 summer heat flares to record highs across the globe, the pressure to "tuck" explodes. For the first time, this simple act played out sensitively on screen in 'Pose'.

[transtheater-blog]

“On screen, a trans woman is rarely, if ever, afforded an independent relationship with her body, where the audience encounters her flesh through her own sensations, and not those of the other -- usually the repulsed heterosexual male.”

[transtheater-blog]

Transgender Actors Roundtable: Laverne Cox, Chaz Bono and More on Hollywood Discrimination

As a transgender woman, Trace Lysette had watched from the sidelines as actors like Eddie Redmayne (“The Danish Girl”) and Matt Bomer (“Anything”) played members of her community on the big and sma…

[transtheater-blog]

Real humans are going to be performing my new play in February 2018! I’m a trans playwright and the titular character of this drama is a trans woman. Here’s how I describe it:

“Doctor Rue Voynich and her apprentice Fade travel the American Heartland dispensing herbal medications. Covertly, they perform abortions, which have been illegal since ‘the Pence days.’ Fade tries to help local youth Hannah complete her abortion, using knowledge from an ancient manuscript, before her mother and the sheriff can nail them for the ‘attempted murder of an unborn person.’ This play about mothers and daughters is poetic, sexy, vulgar, queer, and a little too real.“

It’s playing at Stanford University in February 2018.

[mod note: sorry for posting this after the show opened! this blog was inactive for a bit and I missed this submission]

[transtheater-blog]

Want to be featured on TransTheater?

Hello! TransTheater is now accepting submissions. 

Who can submit?

Anyone who identifies as transgender and/or non-binary and is involved in theater

What do you mean “involved in theater”?

I believe that theater should be accessible and that all kinds of theater are valuable. You do not have to be a classically trained professional actor to submit work. You can be a college theater major, or maybe you took a drama class one time in high school, or maybe you have never seen live theater but you really like watching bootlegs of musicals on youtube. If you have encountered theater in some way at some time in your life, you can submit.

What can I submit?

Original work only, please! Note: your work does not have to be from a production that has actually been performed, you can submit work that you did for practice/fun/etc.

production photos from a show you acted in/directed/designed

an audition tape

scripts

costume design sketch

set or lights renderings

makeup designs

chances are- if it is related to theater in any way, it’ll get posted

Submit here: http://transtheater.tumblr.com/submit 

[transtheater-blog]

Has there ever been an *actual* trans person on Broadway, not the role but the actual person?

Peppermint (of Rupaul’s Drag Race fame), Kate Bornstein, and Ty Defoe are all trans people on Broadway right now! The Public Theater’s production of Southern Comfort a few years ago featured two trans actors (and some cis actors in trans roles :/ ). There have been numerous trans actors off-Broadway, and I’m sure there have been more on Broadway, but those are the ones I can think of right now. Feel free to add on if you know of more trans actors who have been on Broadway!

[transtheater-blog]

Trans Lab is looking for six trans or gnc theater artists who crave creative and professional support to join the 2019 lab! Trans Lab Fellowship is a year-long program devoted to supporting the development of early career trans and gender nonconforming theater artists. Supported by WP Theater and the Public Theater, the Lab provides up to 6 artists with community, professional development, connections to a professional network, support developing a new work and a showcase for the work they develop.

[transtheater-blog]

"I created the show with the desire to bring more visibility to the fact that the theater community is packed full of talented trans and non-binary performers. As more playwrights and theater companies start to tell our stories, we often hear producers or casting directors say 'Well, we just couldn't find any transgender actors!' I'm not sure how to guarantee that trans and non-binary performers get into an audition room, or get the same opportunities as everyone else, but I hope that by creating a showcase that focuses solely on this demographic, theater producers, casting directors, agents, artistic directors, and other higher-ups within the community will take notice that we are here, we are talented, and we deserve the opportunity to tell our own stories, and to bring our talent and passion to the stage." - Donnie Cianciotto

Trans Voices Cabaret

[transtheater-blog]

Trans Voices Cabaret CHI Announces Lineup for Chicago Premiere | Playbill

The New York City concert series featuring transgender and gender non-conforming musical theatre performers is expanding its reach to Chicago.

Produced by Molly Weaver and Lars Ebsworth, who also serves as director and music director, the Chicago showcase is inspired by the sold-out New York City concert series created by transgender actor Donnie Cianciotto (Southern Comfort). Trans Voices Cabaret premiered at the Duplex last fall and continues to return with a rotating lineup of TGNC artists.

[transtheater-blog]

Trans performers are finally making it to Broadway

Transgender performers Peppermint, Kate Bornstein and Ty Defoe make simultaneous Broadway debuts in Head Over Heels and Straight White Men

“Broadway was a dream I thought was impossible,” says Bornstein, a prominent activist, author and performance artist. In Straight White Men, she and Defoe play the Persons in Charge, who interact with the audience and provide a striking counterpoint to the titular characters. “I’m impressed that Second Stage Theater is choosing to do a show that talks about all these intersections,” says Defoe, a Native American performer who identifies as two-spirit. “It’s a play that speaks truth to power, and entertains while opening the perspective of how gender is seen.”

“We’re being cast specifically for our trans-ness within shows that need it,” Bornstein says. “That says a lot about where we are.”

[transtheater-blog]

The first collection of its kind, The Oberon Book of Queer Monologues chronicles over one hundred years of queer and trans performance.

Combining stage plays with spoken word and performance art, this anthology features over forty extracts from some of the most exciting stage works in the English-speaking world. It will be an essential tool for artists seeking monologues for auditions or training; a comprehensive guide through the hidden histories of queer theatre; and a celebration of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Curated by award-winning artist Scottee, featuring work from artists including Neil Bartlett, Mae West, Emma Donoghue, Split Britches, Chris Goode and Travis Alabanza.

[transtheater-blog]

The film follows the titular character (played by River Gallo), an intersex Latino runaway who is employed at a laundromat by day, but who spends his nights as a sex worker while dreaming of escaping suburban New Jersey. A mysterious encounter with a handsome suitor, however, inspires Ponyboi to break free from his past and reassess his future.

“Ponyboi” began its life as Gallo’s master’s thesis project at the University of Southern California. Drawing on his personal experiences, the actor, writer and director told HuffPost he aimed to portray “the complex, painful, beautiful and magical experiences of being intersex” with the film, which will be screened later this year.

“Writing, directing and acting in my film is the first step to remove this cloak of invisibility that the intersex community has worn for too long,” Gallo said. “There is virtually no representation of intersex people in television and film.” (Huffpost)

Interview with creator/star River Gallo