Gender Bender

Musicians are strange creatures. Especially singers, but musicians in general. We could be performing a role that completely defies everything we believe in, but we temporarily forego those values for the love of our art. I once did an opera composed by a local Detroit artist, Cinderella Undone, which was based on the story of Cinderella but with one difference; all the characters were in drag. We had drag kings playing all the male roles, and drag queens playing all the female roles (most of us were not professional drag performers - we were singers first and had drag consultants). Cinderella was a baritone and had a beard, her prince was a mezzo and obviously didn't have a beard. I played the Evil Stepmother, and a very conservative friend of mine played one of the wicked stepsisters. 

My friend, we'll call him Brendon (because that was his name), was from my church and was convinced that all people in the LGBTQ+ community were going to burn in hell. He was very sweet and loving, and eventually adopted the attitude of "Love the sinner, hate the sin" which was really all we could ask of him. My point being that when we finished church choir rehearsal, he would strap on his corset and high heals, and abandon his values to perform in this very queer, very raunchy opera. Because he's a musician, and that's what we do.

Music and Gender: One of my favorite Disney villains is Ursula. My highschool did a performance of Little Mermaid, and I was fortunate enough that the woman playing Ursula couldn't sing to save her life. With a few adjustments, she and I actually sounded fairly similar so they asked me to sing on her behalf! I was very excited because this was the closest I'd ever come to actually playing Ursula. What most people don't know about Disney Ursula is that she was actually based on a famous drag queen named Divine (I promise my whole blog is not about drag queens). But this was not the first time that the performing arts bent the rules of gender. 

In fact, up until the late 1600's women were not permitted to perform at all in the theatre, so men had to play all the roles (read this article to learn more). And even after women were permitted to become thespians, no respectable lady would ever consider such a lifestyle, so men continued to dominate the performing arts. 

Fast-forward roughly 350 years, and the performing arts are still bending the rules of gender! Not three years after my role in Cinderella Undone, my voice teacher did a performance of Cendrillon by Jules Massenet, in which her prince was played by a female mezzo. Please note, my voice teacher was not Joyce DiDonato.

So many people have this grand misconception that women can't play male roles, and vice versa for men. That is simply not the case. Artists, whether you are a musician, director, dancer, visual artist, etc., we all have a weakness for beauty. If it is more aesthetically pleasing to have a woman sing the role of a prince, then so it shall be. And if you think that's radical, wait 'til I tell you about Dr. Frank-N-Furter...