TransTainment 1/23/23
John Bishop (L) and Ian McKellen.
Britain has a tradition around the holidays called pantos, short for pantomime. These theatrical pantos pop up every year and feature larger than life characters, plenty of jokes, and men in drag. The star of a panto playing a female role is known as a dame. The dame usually is in the role of a parent or guardian of the principal boy/girl who is the focus of the story. London theater goers who love a good panto will be thrilled to learn that Mother Goose, starring Ian McKellen as the title character is playing through January 29 at the Duke of York’s Theatre. After that fans from all around the country will be able to catch the show in their own neighborhoods as it goes on tour through April 15.
Famed female impersonator, The Cuban Legend David de Alba, returns to the stage in Las Vegas with his If I Can Turn Back Time show. It’s a retrospective of David de Alba’s personal and theatrical life from his childhood days in Cuba to being a teenager in Chicago, and performing as a female impersonator at the legendary Finocchio’s in San Francisco. The show is set for April 1, 2023 at 3:30 p.m. in the Winchester Dondero Cultural Center in Las Vegas. Tickets are $12.
Jinkx Monsoon
Two-time RuPaul’s Drag Race winner Jinkx Monsoon has taken to the legit stage portraying the character Matron “Momma” Morton” in the revival of Chicago at the Ambassador Theatre. Jinkx will be with the show until March 12. Her appearance makes her the first drag performer to play Momma Morton on Broadway. She is excited to be in the show and told Playbill “he first number I performed in drag was All That Jazz, so this feels almost too serendipitous.”
Speaking of Drag Race; another winner has come out as transgender. Eureka O’Hara, who has been starring in an HBO production called We Are Here with Bob the Drag Queen and Shangela, has announced that she is transitioning. Eureka says that working on We Are Here helped her come to the decision to transition. We Are Here sends its cast to small towns across America where they interact with the local residents and put on a drag show. While filming in Florida
Eureka O’Hara
Eureka met two trans folkx who inspired her. She told People “It’s been really magical and it’s been probably the easiest transitional and coming out journey that I’ve ever been on,” she says. “I hope my story teaches people that gender is a journey, and we are ever-evolving people.”
Bob the Drag Queen is going to be the opening act for Madonna when her tour “Madonna: The Celebration Tour” kicks off. The 35-city global tour begins in North America on Saturday, July 15 in Vancouver, Canada before making its way to Europe. Bob will open all the shows worldwide.
Do you live in Seattle and enjoy participation in choral singing? If so you may want to try out for the Seattle Trans and Nonbinary Choral Ensemble (STANCE). Five years ago, Haven Wilvich had the dream of starting such a group but it was not until recently that she teamed up with Kaelee Bolme who had the experience to put a choir together. The choir offers a place for trans and nonbinary singers to be free from the kind of discrimination they could face in a regular choir. To learn more take a look at the story on the K5 website.
Category: Transgender Community News
About the Author (Author Profile)
Angela Gardner is a founding member of The Renaissance Transgender Assoc., Inc., former editor of its newsletter and magazine, Transgender Community News. She was the Diva of Dish for TGF in the late 1990s and Editor of LadyLike magazine until its untimely demise. She has appeared in film and television shows portraying TG characters, as well as representing Renaissance on numerous talk shows.Subscribe
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