TransTainment! Transgender in the Arts

Kim Petras

Greeting TransTainment fans! We’ve got a lot of news about trans people in the world of entertainment so we won’t waste another second, but get right to the news.

For the majority of her singing career Kim Petras released her music through her own record company, BunHead Records. Now we learn that the 29-year-old performer has just signed a deal with Republic Records. To celebrate she has released a new song. It’s called The Future Starts Now and that’s appropriate since she’s at the beginning of a new relationship with a new record company. Check out the video right here.

The fourth Matrix movie, titled The Matrix: Resurrections, sees the return of Lana Wachowski writing, directing, and producing. This time around she won’t be assisted by her sister Lily who explained it thusly, “There was something about the idea of going backwards and being a part of something that I had done before that was expressly unappealing,” Wachowski made the remark at Showtime’s TCA panel on August 25. For more of her thoughts on opting out of the new film visit Pink News.

Leo Sheng, a transgender actor, is one of the stars of the The L Word: Generation Q. He plays the character Micah Lee, a trans man of color. Season two of the hit series returns to Showtime on Sunday, August 8 at 10p.m. EST. Get more info on Sheng and the show from KDKA 2.

Frankie Grande

Frank James Michael Grande Marchione, known professionally as Frankie Grande, is the older half-brother of singer and actress Ariana Grande. He appeared on Broadway as Franz in the musical Rock of Ages and in Mamma Mia! His latest role is played in a music video for a new song by Macy Gray. Grande lip syncs to the tune while doing a strip routine in which he sensually removes his femme attire. The song is called Undone and the jazzy, slow-sensual tune is the latest release from Gray’s new R&B/funk collective, California Jet Club, and the music video features Grande mouthing the lyrics to the song while performing a burlesque-style striptease alone in a smoky bedroom. The drag strip tease was Macy Gray’s idea and when she presented it to Grande he said he’d love to do it. In an interview he said, “I was extremely excited and comfortable with this role and this project, as well as unbelievably honored to be asked to star in this video.”

This video isn’t Grande’s first turn in a dress. He starred as Frank-n-Furter in a Los Angeles production of The Rocky Horror Show, and has appeared in videos with stars from RuPaul’s Drag Race. For more on the video visit Rolling Stone. Watch the video right here.

Kayleigh McKee

Set within the Warcraft universe, Hearthstone is a digital-only, turn-based collectible card game. As of November 2018, the game reportedly had more than 100 million players. Recently Hearthstone added its first nonbinary character, Varden Dawngrasp. The voiceover artist who performs the character is trans woman Kayleigh McKee. McKee is no stranger to voicing video game characters. She has done both female and male character voices in Genshin Impact and the just-released NEO: The World Ends With You. In an interview with Pink News McKee explains why voicing Hearthstone’s first non-binary character was so important to her.

Canadian casting director Dove & Milo Casting are searching for transgender women for the Dove shampoo Hair Trial Campaign. The women they are looking would have to love the idea of styling and/or coloring their hair for the Hair Trial Campaign and appear in a video which will be used for TV, online or both. Sorry but this opportunity is only available to Canadian trans women. Get all the details from Proud FM.

Jason Rodriguez

Here’s an item that isn’t restricted to Canadians. Pose actor Jason Rodriguez has formed a new talent agency that is focused on developing queer and transgender performers of color. Rodriguez, who played the character Lemar Khan on Pose, unveiled the arraygency early this month. He wants to support Black and brown queer and trans performers who have in the past been ignored or stuck playing stereotypical roles. Visit their website to learn more or check out this article in The New York Daily News.

Don’t teenage auteurs get on your nerves? Sure we all know we could have owned our own production company and wrote and produced our first feature film at the tender age of 17. But, we didn’t, did we? On the other hand, Alice Maio Mackay did. She’s an award-winning transgender 17-year-old filmmaker based in Adelaide, South Australia. While most teen trans girls are coping with the mean girls at school and fighting to use the girl’s room Ms. Mackay has been working with many of Australia’s noted actors. Her latest film is titles So Vam. “Vam” being short for vampire. The lead character, played by drag artist Grace Hyland, is Kurt, a young man who sets out for the big city with dreams of becoming a drag queen. On his way he’s kidnapped by an old vampire who kills him. Before he revives as a member of the living dead the old vampire is chased off by another group of vamps who only feed on bigots and abusers. Now he suddenly has friends. Of course there’s more and you can read about it and Ms. Mackay’s other work on the Broadway World website. So Vam is in post production.

Before 2021 Lucas Bouk was a transgender opera singer performing as a mezzo-soprano. While knowing they were a trans man and wanting to transition they had anxiety about taking testosterone and the changes that would make to their singing voice. During the first half of 2021 Bouk began hormone therapy and made his debut as a baritone on August 14. For more information on Mr. Bouk and his career visit his website.

That’s our trans entertainment wrap up for this month!

Tags: featured, film, opera, Transgender

Category: Transgender Community News, Transgender Fun & Entertainment