Merry Christmas everyone! Even though it’s the holiday we bring you TransTainment with all the showbiz news we could find at this festive time. Enjoy!
Suzi Eddie Izzard
One might think that Suzi Eddie Izzard doesn’t play well with others. She has made it a practice to appear in multiple roles in adaptations of classic works. Her first foray into being the lone cast member portraying all the characters was Great Expectations. Izzard’s next one person adaption will be Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Izzard will again be all the characters. Twenty three to be exact. The shows will run from January 25 until March 3 at Greenwich House Theater in New York. When asked in a recent interview about her motivation for taking on all the roles in the play she said “I have always gravitated towards playing complex and challenging characters and Hamlet is the ultimate.”
In England it’s pantomime season. Often referred to as “panto” it is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It includes drag queens, music, slapstick, dancing and topical humor. Most pantos are based on a fairy tale or fable. December 1 saw the premier in London of a show titled A Very Very Bad Cinderella. The show stars RuPaul’s Drag Race UK winner Veronica Green. It runs to January 7, 2024 at The Other Palace Studio. While panto in general is family friendly they’re not kidding when they say Cinderella is bad. It’s not for children under 16.
Alex Newell
Alex Newell is no stranger to breakthroughs. She became a regular cast member on Glee in 2012 and that was considered her breakthrough role. She debuted on Broadway in Once on This Land in 2020, and played a gender-fluid character the NBC TV series Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. Then, she starred as Lulu in the Broadway show Shucked and won a Tony. Her latest breakthrough is being picked as TIME magazine’s 2023 Breakthrough of the Year. Learn more about Ms. Newell in a TIME interview.
The upcoming world premiere of Charles Busch‘s Ibsen’s Ghost: An Irresponsible Biographical Fantasy finds Busch himself playing the wife of the playwright Suzannah Thoresen Ibsen. This new work lands at the New Brunswick, NJ George Street Playhouse, co-produced with Off-Broadway’s Primary Stages beginning January 16, 2024, ahead of a January 19 opening night. The limited run will continue through February 4. Playbill magazine says the new play is a “…tall tale about the wife of the Doll’s House playwright, taking place the week after his funeral. Suddenly among her new predicaments are her husband’s long-lost illegitimate son, a libelous so-called diary being shopped around by a former protégée, and a mysterious exterminator.”
After its out of town New Jersey shows Ibsen’s Ghost will move Off-Broadway, playing 59E59 Theaters March 2-April 14, 2024.
Farrah Moan
Farrah Moan, a competitor on RuPaul’s Drag Race in season nine and in RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars season four, has come out to the world as transgender. She secretly stopped presenting as a male in her day to day life in 2019. She said that when she was in the closet about her gender identity dressing and acting like a male felt like doing drag. She delayed coming out for fear of not being able to do the things she aspired to, like appearing on Drag Race. On the Maddy Morphosis podcast Farrah said, the only time she felt comfortable was when she was in drag. “It was the only time I could really feel at home in my body,” she said. “It was always there, I just needed to feel free.”
That’s the trans showbiz news for today. May your Christmas be merry, happy Kwanzaa, and happy New Year!
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Category: Transgender Community News, Transgender Fun & Entertainment
