- By June 23, the musical Head Over Heels will start its Broadway run at the Hudson Theater and Peppermint, a trans woman and the principal actor, would be etched in history when she will reprise her role.
- Head Over Heels is based on a poem written by Sir Phillip Sidney in the 1580’s.
- It will also include 19 songs from The Go Go’s, an all-female rock group who wrote all their songs and played their own instruments that made waves in the 1980’s.
Broadway may soon witness history in the making as a new show top-billing a trans actress is slated this June.
For the moment, audience would need to wait as the performance will be held first in San Francisco, offering a sneak peak to the first openly transgender woman in an original principal role on Broadway according to the transgender news stories update posted on ABC News last March 30.
Head over Heels
The cast of the musical Head Over Heels will debut on April 10 in San Francisco.
By June 23, it will start its Broadway run at the Hudson Theater and Peppermint, a trans woman and the principal actor, would be etched in history when she will reprise her role.
First known for joining the 9th season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, a reality TV show featuring drag queens, Pepermint is no stranger to the spotlight. It was also during that show that she came out as transgender.
“I had the opportunity to come out and share my story and it seemed to resonate with a lot of people,” she said in an interview in between breaks of the rehearsal.
“Inclusion of trans folk is an issue that should be talked about in every job, on every TV show, on every set,” she said upon the remark that she would write history. “Inclusion of trans folk is an issue that should be talked about in every job, on every TV show, on every set.”
Updating the message with LGBT characters
Head Over Heels is based on a poem written by Sir Phillip Sidney in the 1580’s. It will also include 19 songs from The Go Go’s, an all-female rock group who wrote all their songs and played their own instruments that made waves in the 1980’s.
The musical would update the message of the story with the inclusion of LGBT characters, something that made the members of the The Go Go’s agree to let their music be part of the production.
“It’s definitely got female empowerment going on. I like that is it super inclusive, that it is super funny and it is also really touching,” said Jane Wiedlin.
More details from PinkNews revealed that the show was described as an Elizabethan love story turned on its head. The cast would include Rachel York (Disaster!), Jeremy Kushnier (Cirque Du Soleil), Alexandra Socha (Spring Awakening) and Ricardo Zayas (Hamilton).
Coming out in a drag show
When Peppermint came out during the series of Drag Race, she faced challenges from people who refused to believe that drag queens and transgender people can cross over.
“It was actually though my drag that I realised my transness. I’m trans. I’m a trans woman,” she explained. “There’s a lot of people who think drag queens are not trans and shouldn’t be.”
Sharing her story, she said that her journey was protracted and ongoing.
“And there’s a lot of trans people who think that drag queens have no place in the trans community. I wanted to really get to know the girls before I came out to them. I was afraid,” she stated. “It took me a long time to really sort out gender and at a really early age, I was able to latch on to drag, and that was how I was able to express my femininity.”
She also remarked about the level of acceptance she received from other contestants in the show.
“But I kind of evolved to realise that all the drag things that I wanted to do, it always led back to the realisation that I’m a trans woman,” she continued. “It feels so good to feel fully accepted. I’m so happy right now.”
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