it’s official: I just passed my dissertation defense and completed my PhD. I’m Dr. Christian Lewis now. I cannot believe it. I did it y’all. My queer trans nonbinary disabled self has a PhD.
while walking my dog, Holland Taylor and Sarah Paulson walked by and said “that’s a great dog,” which is perhaps one of the highest forms of praise I could imagine. so proud of my daughter
changing the gender of a character / casting an actor of a gender different from the original actor *during a run of a show on Broadway* is a real great thing. I hope this encourages other shows to expand how they think about their characters’ genders and gendered casting.
We are ecstatic to welcome the beloved Tony and Grammy Award-winning legend, Lillias White, to Hadestown on Broadway as our new Hermes beginning September 13th!
Mrs. Doubtfire is closing and only got nominated for 1 Tony. I’m sad for ppl losing jobs. I also hope that this is a learning experience for producers + writers: you can’t get away with transphobia on Broadway. We won’t let you. No one wants/needs another man in a dress comedy 🧵
I wish The Gilded Age was actually a daily soap opera because I would so happily watch a new episode of this beautiful, low-stakes pettiness every single day.
MAJOR news: Stephen Sondheim on Colbert just said he’s hoping to have his new musical, Square One, which had a reading last week, on Broadway next season
I have never read an interview by an actor—during a broadway run!—that is this candid. fully admits disliking many directorial decisions, harm done to the cast, + lack of dramaturgical research/consideration of intersectionality
while I absolutely love the Tony Awards and am very excited to attend tonight, everyone remember: the Tonys celebrate a very specific type of theater, but we should take today to celebrate all types of theater and all the different people who make theater possible.
I cannot believe KPOP is closing two weeks after opening. only 17 regular performances (and 44 previews). this has to be one of the quickest and most abrupt closings in recent Broadway history. KPOP deserved a lot better. this is devastating for them.
I honestly can’t believe this. I saw him in person 12 days ago, tapping his foot along to opening night of Assassins. Today we lost a titan of the industry, a major piece of musical theater history. He will be missed. An entire industry will feel this loss.
every time I’ve taught jane eyre my students are mad at the ending (I get it) and last semester when I asked them “what do you think she should’ve done instead?” one student said “I don’t know, girlboss?” and let me tell you, reader, I cackled
if this is real this is too much. glinda dating boq?? reminds me of when I was in high school during beauty and the beast the girl playing belle was dating that guy playing gaston, but during rehearsals broke up with him to be with the guy playing the beast.
Ain’t No Mo’ also closing. it’s brutal out here. so telling that shows like The Music Man are thriving while shows like KPOP and Ain’t No Mo’ that center BIPOC artists and stories are closing prematurely and abruptly. Broadway needs to change, this is unacceptable.
I wrote a piece about Jagged Little Pill and nonbinary erasure in the theater industry. This is a very personal piece for me and an issue that I care deeply about. Thank you to
@AyannaPrescod
and
@wjmcentee
for publishing this and being such great editors.
well it happened y’all. JLP admitted to lying, gaslighting, perpetuating nonbinary and trans erasure, and mistreating their nb+trans cast members and audience. They legitimately apologized, and they are committing to major changes in the script, in casting, and backstage. wow. 🧵
Beanie may not be perfect for this role but the way she has been treated throughout this entire process is not acceptable at all. These producers are MESSY
thoughts on Dear Evan Hansen trailer: Ben looks so old, that wig is terrible, they gave away they entire plot and showed the whole musical in 3 minutes, the only thing I care about is Julianne Moore and Amy Adams. also this is still an ableist, problematic, unethical musical 🙃
very disappointed that in a season with multiple nonbinary actors in major roles on Broadway, the Tony committee still didn’t move to nongendered acting categories. This leaves no comfortable space for the nonbinary actors, and forces them to be submitted under actor or actress.
if you think "Broadway is back!" only as of last night because Hadestown + Waitress then you should do some research. Broadway actually came back 8/22 when Pass Over opened. give credit where credit is due. a play by a Black woman
@anwandu
opened Broadway back up. that matters.
Realy love to read a piece exploring Anybodys as a trans character in the recent West Side Story. Great to hear
@hi__im__iris
’s perspective. And also wow seeing all those he/him pronouns for Anybodys really made me get emotional 🥺
one big takeaway from Nora, Karen, and Celia today is that Broadway has *major* issues happening backstage, behind the curtain that we cannot even see, and that we must demand better. Broadway has to change, things cannot go on like this anymore. this is not acceptable.
I cannot believe what Jeffery Page, one of the directors of 1776, posted on facebook about the interview. this is shocking and appalling and I am in disbelief that he posted this on his public fb page.
I have never read an interview by an actor—during a broadway run!—that is this candid. fully admits disliking many directorial decisions, harm done to the cast, + lack of dramaturgical research/consideration of intersectionality
115 minutes no intermission is not the same thing as 90 minutes no intermission. this is the 3rd show that did this. this is a major disability and work scheduling issue. people need to know how long they have to sit without getting up and need to know when the show will be over.
if they were cutting songs anyway how on earth did Stupid with Love make the cut? as a reminder this song features the lyric “I'm astounded and non-plussed / I am filled with calculust.”
Here it is y’all, the piece I’ve been talking about and teasing on here for over a week now: an essay on the state of gender and sexuality on Broadway, looking at Jagged Little Pill, Company, and Mrs. Doubtfire.
…
Ok Broadway community/industry, you have 4 months, you better do a lot of work before reopening: racial justice, prioritizing diversity+inclusion, fair wages and labor demands, accessibility, accountability, responsible representation. We cannot just go back to business as usual.
hi
@broadwaycom
, you should not be putting nonbinary performers into gendered categories without their consent, this is very not ok. also it’s 2023 get rid of gendered categories already.
It’s time to nominate your favorite shows and performers for the 2023
@broadwaycom
Audience Choice Awards! Ballots are open NOW through Sunday, May 7, so let your voice be heard!
I’m honestly shocked that so many non-theater people thought Dear Evan Hansen was about a gay teen. The musical is in fact aggressively heterosexual—and arguably homophobic, not to mention the ableism, gaslighting, and general unethical behavior!
I’ve said it before and i’ll say it again: Dave Malloy is our next Sondheim, and no one else experiments and plays with the form of the musical as much as or as creatively as he does. I feel so lucky I get to keep experiencing his work, and I’m always in awe of his brain.
within one week the world lost the longest reigning British monarch and the longest running show on Broadway. which of those makes you sadder says a lot about you as a person!
this production (which is a delight, btw) is such a great demonstration of dynamic and exciting casting that keeps things fresh. doesn’t feel as stunty as something like Chicago, but enough to get theater fans coming back to see it again. I know i’ll be coming back for this duo
for colored girls extends through June 5, such great news! a huge thank you to
@AyannaPrescod
for her extraordinary grassroots social media campaign that got people to donate tickets. so happy more people will get to see this show.
Did you wake furious that Tootsie won Tony awards last night (for the transphobic writer and the problematic lead actor)? I did. Feel free to share this to help educate people why, despite it being a “tony-award winning show” they should NOT go see it.
I can’t believe this is really happening. I’m teaching Intro to Queer Studies at Vassar next semester. Seeing my name here is surreal. Teaching at Vassar has been my academic career goal since the moment I stepped foot on that campus. This is a dream come true and I am so excited
would it be so hard for Some Like It Hot to actually invite some trans and nonbinary people (hi! 👋🏻) to this workshop and get input from us to help make it not transphobic?
so I was supposed to be a groomsman in my brother's wedding, but I've since come out to my siblings as nonbinary and so now instead I get to officiate my brother's wedding 🥲 I feel so honored and also just so loved and validated.
Given both the subject matter and the wider context of attacks on trans ppl and drag performers across the country, I felt we needed more discussion of Some Like it Hot, particularly from trans people. so here’s my trans perspective on the show:
The tides have finally shifted. A transphobic man in a dress show, even one built on a nostalgic movie people love, will not sell (enough) tickets or make (enough) money or win awards. Audiences and critics and voters all don’t want it. So stop.
Dear Evan Hansen is an ethical dubious musical rife with ableist tropes. I’ve given talks about this at academic conferences, but hopefully I’ll get a journalism editor to pay me to write more about this point in time for the film release!
Today was my first day in person teaching intro to queer studies at Vassar College. I cannot believe I am back on campus, this time as a professor. This is such a dream come true.
It’s a terrifying time to be a trans person right now with all the increased legislation against us. Transphobic shows like Tootsie and Mrs. Doubtfire are dangerous for trans people. So yes, I am glad it will no longer be on Broadway and wasn’t given much awards recognition.
The long-rumored Broadway revival of Funny Girl seems to finally be happening in 2022! According to an Equity casting call, the production is aiming to begin performances on April 2, 2022.
Demi Lovato comes out as nonbinary and Sara Ramirez joins the new Sex and the City as a nonbinary character. Nonbinary people are winning today!!! 🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️🏳️⚧️
I did it. I just officially submitted my dissertation. I cannot believe it. 337 pages. 835 footnotes. 377 sources in my bibliography. the most time-consuming, stressful, rewarding(?) thing I’ve ever done. it’s my biggest accomplishment to date and I’m really proud of it. whew.
Despite having issues with JLP, I’m feeling conflicted about it closing. It’s so upsetting that after they released their statement, a nonbinary actor never got to play Jo. This was a chance for authentic nonbinary representation that now won’t get to come to fruition on Bway.
"Jagged Little Pill" has closed on Broadway — the first big show felled, in part, by the Omicron variant. Producers cited "the extreme uncertainty ahead of us this winter."
Some Like It Hot is having a workshop presentation so it looks like it’s time to share this again and repeat: if a show is rooted in drag that is only man-in-a-dress jokes, it will always be transphobic.
everything Jagged Little Pill thought it was doing Sex Education actually does, and does better. It’s not (just) that JLP was “doing too much” but that it was doing all of its plots poorly. Sex Education proves that a work can explore many, many complex themes and do so well
LESLIE ODOM JR AND AUDRA MACDONALD. I repeat: LESLIE ODOM JR AND AUDRA MACDONALD. The American Theatre Wing finally did something right for these Tonys!!!
today is the final day before Tony ballots are due, so I will share this again and ask that anyone who is mad as I am share it as well--hopefully we can change some people's minds. Dear Tony voters: please read this, and please do not reward transphobia.
I was trying to not sour anyone's nomination joy, but Some Like it Hot announced a national tour, so I feel compelled to say that I think this show has transphobic tropes, a poorly written nonbinary story arc, and could do real harm, especially in our current political climate.