Gods and movie aliens

 Did you see the lunar eclipse a few nights ago? It's always an amazing sight. Here the sky was hazy at first and I couldn't see anything until a brick-red ball emerged eerily from the murk. Later, when the eclipse was over, the sky was totally clear and the full moon was very bright, illuminating everything in its characteristic milky light. 

For thousands of years the moon was associated with femininity in most cultures. Then Galileo had the idea of pointing a new-fangled device called a telescope at the moon 400+ years ago and realised that the features were mountains and craters, not some arcane pattern of patches with divine significance, and so we entered the age of science, which was great for reducing superstition. Yet I couldn't help recalling the association between the moon and femininity, and as it was a warm night and I was dressed just in a T-shirt and light skirt, I imagined how a MtF trans person in an age before Galileo might have appreciated the moonlight shining on them. Maybe as a divine endorsement or spiritual uplift or blessing for their femininity. Ah well, science has many benefits, but maybe we have lost a little mystique in the process. 

Not to mention some amazing dress sense!

 

This lady, painted in in the same decade Galileo first looked at the sky, may be trying to emulate the full moon! And that's one statement frock she's got. Do you think we've also lost something in the intervening eras now that we're into sweatshop-made tee-shirts, cheap leggings and imitation leather accessories? Possibly.

 

Rocky horror

A news feature this week reminded me that the Rocky Horror Picture Show was first released fifty years ago, in the UK in August and in the US in September 1975. 

It flopped. 

But like a lot of initial flops, it gradually became a cult. Midnight screenings, attracting a more alternative audience, became a phenomenon, with audiences turning up dressed as the characters, bearing props and with their own well-rehearsed heckles. 

Yes, the musical was a tribute to horror and sci-fi B-movies and the glam rock of the early '70s, and the crossdressing/trans element was not initially supposed to be that prominent, but the message of tolerance and freedom to be who you are was always clear. A weird way to celebrate personal authenticity and autonomy, but hey, there's hardly been a more popular stage show or film. The film is the longest continuously running film in history, and arguably the biggest cult movie.

I have the DVD and it's one of my favourites. I've never seen the film at the cinema, but I did go to the stage show with a girlfriend. I wanted to dress as Magenta the maid but this was frowned upon as my girlfriend at the time had her own intentions that way ... and very sexy she looked, too. But no, I had to go as a male - but I thought it was a suitable twist that my role in a crossdressing audience, when I dress as a woman every day, should be to dress male (a sort of vampiric one - she chose my outfit).

Anyway, thanks to fifty years of musical whackiness for helping to get the message across to so many.

 

Another old crossdressing comedy 

In the unique repository of crossdressing history and culture that is Stana's inimitable blog, Femulate, she posted a still the other day from the 1909 short film, How Percy Won the Beauty Competition, a seven-minute music-hall style romp typical of the era, directed by and starring Alf Collins as Percy, which you can watch here:

 

There are innumerable films, plays and stage entertainments from the first half of the twentieth century that include crossdressing and female impersonation, and I have often wondered if the phenomenon was as much connected with trans people finding an outlet for their needs through stagecraft as audiences merely wanting entertainment. 

Anyway, this short movie caught my eye more than most because the second and third scenes show Percy outside the Charles Fox wig and makeup theatrical store in central London, where many of us TGirls have got our supplies such as foundation, beard reducer, makeup brushes, etc. I knew them when they were in Tavistock Street but since first being established in 1878 they have had many other addresses in London's theatre district. I think in this film that this is the shop as it was in nearby Wellington Street. And what a bold frontage and display it had at the time! 

 

There's a characteristic Renault taxi of the era in this still, too. 

Percy doesn't seem to be the only CD in the beauty contest, which has none of the swimsuit and talent rounds that bedevil such competitions nowadays! Percy therefore wins through elegance, femininity and charming the judges, a lesson for every aspiring CD! But then ... The Benny Hill style chase scenes - which the actors and actresses are obviously enjoying a bit too much for realism - are shot in Dulwich, rather a new suburb at the time. 

If you like period costumes and huge bonnets, this is the movie for you. Bring back big hats, I say! For a history of Charles Fox, there's this item online, with photos: Layers of London.

(Ah well, I guess you can take the girl out of London, but you can't take London out of the girl! The theatre district of London was very much my old stamping ground.)

 

Riviera life

Back to nowadays and the riviera where I now live, where we've had a near perfect summer. It's been a wet and horrible summer elsewhere in the Alps but Sanremo Bay is very sheltered and the cool air from the rain-sodden mountains has tempered the heat of summer blowing up from Africa to make the last couple of months a real treat. The official "summer seaside season" traditionally ends on September 15th when the last holidaymakers have returned to work and school, so I'm making the most of the last few days of the outdoor swimming pool. 

I'm glad I rid myself of body hair to be more feminine this year. Despite the maintenance, I've felt a lot happier for it. Tomorrow evening there should be a little party at the pool, although the weather gods feel like spoiling it by scheduling a thunderstorm at the same time. I shall have to get some more bubbly wine and some nibbles for it. I don't keep wine in the house these days because it makes me fat! And after that, when baring my feet in public is no longer a thing, I shall repaint my toenails. I love having painted nails.

The other week's Creature Feature mentioned a gecko who'd moved to my ceiling for some days. I met him, or an identical friend, scuttling under the front door on my return from Milan, and several more outside the back door since. It's either the same one getting about a lot, or there's a whole bunch of them. They're welcome, though. Bugs don't stand a chance!

Have a good weekend.

Sue x 

Trans creativity, March: from punk to opera

 Although transphobia is pretty rampant right now, I don't despair as I see a lot of transpositive things around, especially in the world of the performing arts. Indeed, as transphobia becomes increasingly associated with inhumane, crazy leaders such as Putin and Trump, I expect other better regulated nations to oppose transphobia. I'm coining the term "Posiblogger" for those of us who write positively about trans achievements and progress, which continue apace despite the hate in some corners.

Last month I focused inevitably on pop music because of the massive influence of the Sanremo Music Festival, always an LGBT-positive event. This month I'll focus on alternative types of music, starting with words from a rather different musician, John Lydon, otherwise known as Johnny Rotten, who will be performing in Genoa, Italy, this week. In a long interview in my daily paper he is asked "what is punk according to Johnny Rotten?" His reply: "Punk is fleeing from all those horrible traditions, from uniformity and restrictions, and instead being what you want. ... Punk is being true to yourself and not to a system. That's Johnny Rotten's answer." That did resonate with me as being trans also involves being true to yourself, being what you want and not conforming with the system. 

So as I sit here in my torn fishnets sticking another safety pin in my ear, let me tell you about what gender non-conforming things I've found in the world of the arts this month. Sorry, Johnny, but actually it's mainly about opera this month, which - a bit like British pantomime - has always had a defining tradition of crossdressing roles from its inception. Here are some items I've spotted elsewhere in the music press.

 

Castrato roles

Thankfully, we have banned the unjust and cruel practice of creating castratos but there is a huge revival of interest these days in music from the era when they dominated the musical stage. Such roles are now usually (though not always) taken by women, such as Cecilia Molinari, a leading mezzo-soprano who has shown great interest in working en travesti in male roles as, for instance, Orpheus in Gluck's Orpheus and Eurydice, as Ariodante in Handel's opera of that name, and, of course, Cherubino in Mozart's Marriage of Figaro, traditionally a 'trouser role' for female singers. A female voice and a male voice are never the same even in the same registers so these days there are compromises to be made. There are, of course, high male countertenors who sometimes take female roles. (Whole books are written on this so we'll keep the topic short this brief here.)

 

Islam and the West

Interestingly and encouragingly, a traditional female role, the Duchess of Crakentorp in Donizetti's La fille du régiment was taken by a man in the latest production at the Muscat opera house in the Sultanate of Oman, an islamic state. Islam is uneasy with things that in the West attract little notice, such as open signs of affection or consumption of alcohol, so producers of Western opera have to tread carefully with certain scenes with kissing and booze to avoid local censorship. Nominally at least, modern Islam also disapproves of heterodox sexuality and gender expression (the Koran itself seems to me to be somewhat less squeamish) so given the gender bending that's always been inherent in opera, this recent acceptance seems a positive sign that the less fundamentalist corners of Islam might be mellowing further as regards gendered roles. 

 

Contemporary opera and productions with gender nonconformity

Here's a brief run through other opera productions this season that involve crossdressing/trans/gender-nonconforming roles:

- Olga Neuwirth, a contemporary Austrian composer, whose 2019 opera Orlando, based on the ultimate gender switching novel by Virginia Wolfe, continues to see this acclaimed work of hers performed.

- Romain Dumas, another contemporary composer and conductor, is still awaiting the opportunity to have his opera Les mirifiques aventures du Chevalier d’Eon (The Amazing Adventures of the Chevalier d'Eon) performed. The Chavelier d'Eon is, of course, Charles or Charlotte de Beaumont, Louis XV's diplomat and spy and something of a patron saint of the trans community. 

- Another contemporary composer, Mikael Karlsson, has written the opera Fanny and Alexander, based on the Ingmar Bergman film. Its recent, sold-out world première saw countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen as genderless character Ismael. The opera is in English and here is Ismael's scene (15 minutes):

 

(I'm pleased that modern "classical" music is moving away from the dissonance that was so prevalent when I was younger! I like the background graphics here, too.)

- a new production of Les Brigands by Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880) - best known for composing the can-can! - is in decidedly queer mode in Barry Kosky's "divine" production playing in Paris this summer. Here's the trailer:

 - Just as an illustration of the typical crossdressing fun of opera, Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) wrote a short one-act comic opera Mavra in 1921-22, which a recent production has twinned with the better known one-act comic opera Gianni Schicchi by Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924) - the one with the famous aria O mio babbino caro - as part of last year's centenary commemorations of Puccini's death. In Mavra, a girl smuggles her lover into her home disguised as a female cook. 

So if you're trans and can sing, you might want to consider a career in opera! There's plenty of scope for alternative gender expression just in this season's offerings, as you can see. For more on this theme, I also wrote about opera and musical theatre six months ago here: Trans Creatives, October '24.

 

Nest month there'll be more on the visual arts. If opera isn't your thing and you've been missing painting and sculpture, I can recommend beautiful Franziska from Frankfurt's recent post about her visit to an art student exhibition in Düsseldorf, Germany, here: Weekend trip crossdressed: the class of 2024. 

Sue x

Trans creativity: festivals and carnivals

 You can't put the LGBT community down - we've always been a public presence. This month, my look at queer creativity can't ignore carnival season and the music festival that's just been and gone. It looks like the winner of the newly created Sanremo Festival Queer Prize will be performing at the Eurovision Song Contest.

As I've said here several times before, the Sanremo Music festival dominates the western riviera and the Italian airwaves at this time of year, officially for a week but actually for considerably longer as there's a long preparation period before and a debriefing period after. Life is starting to get back to normal after the 75th edition of this annual media extravaganza! 

This year's winner, who is first call for representing Italy at the 2025 Eurovision song contest in Basel, Switzerland, was Olly but he says he's likely to be too busy giving concerts to participate so the next choice goes to the very close second, Lucio Corsi, who, as I said, won the very first Sanremo Queer Prize. Described as something of a revival of glam rock (and I have a history with that!), his song was Volevo essere un duro ("I wanted to be a tough guy"). The prize is for the artist who has most engaged with the LGBT+ community.

There are several other honourable mentions for the prize, including special guest Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran (remember them?) who spoke in support of LGBT+ persons, or Elodie's music video featuring drag queen Sypario (who actually seems to come off second best here! - judge for yourselves):

 

Call me shallow, but Elodie's dress and nails and hair captured my attention! So despite always having been a carnival of camp as I said last year, this new prize makes it official! 

An interesting development is that the openly phobic bishop who has often attacked the festival itself, let alone the queer community, let one artist use the cathedral as an alternative venue, a concert that was apparently much appreciated. The concurrent Festival of Christian Music the bishop instituted as a direct alternative to the Song Festival was poorly attended and, although officially dedicated to Pope Francis and the Catholic Jubilee Year, there were those who wanted to dedicate it to Donald Trump. For as long as Christians continue to associate themselves with that mendacious narcissistic fraudster they will be tainted by him. 

Sanremo Pride is on April 5th.

Carnival

I wrote about carnival season last year. It's a pity that what used once to be local events to welcome the spring or the first fruits have been so commercialised that if you want to see the main parade you have to pay quite a lot for a ticket and sit in a seat. There are the performers and the audience, a novel segregation that never existed when these events first developed centuries or millennia ago. The connection with the land, the seasons and the local people is largely lost. But I mention carnivals as they have always been a godsend for trans people who want to be themselves under the license of accepted public celebrations. You could be anyone under a mask or disguise and that tradition at least continues, mainly in countries of Latin tradition, at this time of year. Our biggest local event is Nice Carnival.

Other local crossdressed events

Spotted just reading the press in my area this month ...

(1) There's a production of Anton Chekhov's masterpiece The Cherry Orchard ... performed in Savona by Nina's Drag Queens, a troupe from Milan. Chekhov (1860-1904) is an exceptional playwright in my view (not to be confused with Chekov of the USS Enterprise). An interesting take on a play with significant female characters.

(2) The Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo ("The Trocks"), that well-known spoof drag ballet company, will also be performing in Italy and France in March. They're not actually from Monte Carlo but New York so I'm guessing the name is part of the spoof. I've never seen them but then I'm not much into classical ballet to appreciate the full comedy, despite always having been fascinated by ballet costumes. Anyway, they always get rave reviews ... and who doesn't envy their floaty feminine workwear?

(3) French DJ, LGBT+ advocate and Drag Race France panellist, Kiddy Smile, will be performing in Toulouse, France in May-June, bringing a bit of glam to the streets there.

 

Visual arts

In Britain, Tate St Ives in Cornwall has an exhibition (to May 5th) of surrealist artist Ithell Colquhoun (1906-1988) who became fascinated by androgyny and whose oneiric landscapes are full of - how shall I put it? - suggestions of male or female objects, freestanding or in fusion or approaching it. Maybe Freudian but certainly fascinating, dreamlike and spiritual. 

The website here: Between Worlds which also has a discussion of other artists: Queer Cornwall

Keep being fabulous.

Sue x

Cinderella time

 As a teenager, I was spellbound by a certain stage production of Cinderella: the ballgown to die for, the gorgeous wedding dress, the  wonderful set, the costumes, the delightful music ...

No, not a pantomime or a film, but the opera by Rossini performed at La Scala opera house no less, which some kind and generous soul had given us tickets for.

I wrote more about this here: Frocks to make your heart sing.

At the weekend, they showed the video of that very production on TV and I sat as delighted as I had been all those years ago. I laughed at the gags, cried at the mistreatment of the heroine, sang along to the music and rejoiced at the justice of the ending.

Ponnelle's production for La Scala of Rossini's La Cenerentola with Frederica von Stade in the title role. Uncredited photo from IMDb.

 

As I said last time I wrote about this: isn't every TGirl a little Cinderella, really? She has to fight for her right to take part in the social life of her country and be treated with respect. Frankly, I think we all merit a lovely dress for every big outing... And, frankly, whenever we feel like wearing a lovely dress just for the sake of it, too.

The weather has turned to spring and I've been able to eat my lunch outdoors again. Last night I heard the first frogs of the season. And the first mosquito of the year paid a visit to my bedroom. I heard it quite loudly by my ear. No wonder it was loud as I had rolled my head over onto it and it was trying to get out of the tight embrace it was in between my face and the pillow! I have also been doing a lot of spring cleaning, throwing out old stuff and generally tidying and rearranging. Except that dust and/or cleaning products have set off an allergy and I have been sneezing for a week. I even had to take an antihistamine today. But I've been enjoying my Cinderella time: an old comfy dress and house shoes, nothing attractive obviously or it might get spoilt. I have always delighted not just in the fancy TGirl parties but in the everyday humdrum life of a trans women getting on with her household chores or relaxing with a book. I don't have to be preening in front of a mirror or strutting on the dance floor to feel comfortable in myself.

 

I was hoping to take a photo of myself as it's been ages since I last did so, but this constant blowing of my nose has put paid to my makeup! Another day soon...

Sue x

A carnival of camp!

 I’ve had a surprising amount of interest in comments on my last post, on Facebook and elsewhere, on the camp funfest that is the annual Sanremo Music Festival, so I thought I’d expand on that. 

Here Storm Pulcinella is bucketing down as I write but that doesn't stop the loony tunes festival. I'm not prepared to watch all 5-6 hours of TV every night just to report back, but it's proving quite fun, even if Sanremo town centre is virtually off limits to ordinary mortals. 

The main venue is the Ariston theatre, that for much of the year operates as a four-screen cinema:

(c) Fotogramma : adnkronos

2024 sees a fabulous stage, an outstanding presenter, varied music, lovely flowers (all grown locally through the mild winter), and lots of peripheral events... I'm not sure that John Travolta's rendition of the birdie song accompanied by fluffy dancing ducks was the high point of his career, but hey!

 

(c) Il Gezzettino.it

 

Big Mama, twerking in tomato-red tights with trans symbols on, dedicates her song to the queer community (thank you). Alessandro de Santis, one half of Santi Francesi, performs in a rather lovely glittery floor-length black evening dress. Ghali has sparkly bracelets and earrings that look very feminine. Marco Mengoni wears leather culottes by Fendi that look like a skirt. And is that a skirt that one of the boys of BNKR44 is wearing? Or some kind of Tarzanesque loincloth? Who cares, it’s not boring trousers, so that’s good.

Of course, being a giant national event, it attracts politics, such as Ercolina 2, a cow protesting against the EU Common Agricultural Policy (successor to the original Ercolina who was famously granted an audience with the Pope in 1997 whilst protesting about milk quotas). Ercolina 2 appreciated the Sanremo Green Carpet to the extent of eating some of it! Well, it is organic!  

The carpet tastes lousy, but the flowers are good! Ercolina 2 at Sanremo 2024. (c) Liguria Notizie

The event is heavily mediatized, though, and only about one third of seats in the Ariston theatre are available to music fans; the other two thirds are for radio and TV people, music industry execs and the like. Ditto the vast cruise ship with DJ and outsize LED screen flashing messages to shore all night.

The first festival was held in 1951 in the theatre at the casino, and the huge Ariston theatre was then built to house it from 1977. The event spawned the Eurovision song contest and if Sanremo council had remembered to renew an old contract with the government, Sanremo would have hosted Eurovision in 2022. The winner of the song contest gets a trophy, a guaranteed music career, and, better still, a municipal drain cover with their name and song on it!

(c) Tonino Bonomo: Sanremonews.it

No complaints so far from the local homophobic bishop this year that it's too camp. In fact, a very conservative Catholic organisation, Opus Dei, has just put out a list of pop songs that its faithful may enjoy without guilt. 

Besides, any more anti-queer abuse from the bishop and Big Mama might well crush his head like a walnut between her gigantic thighs! (Only kidding, bishop; though she might not be!)

It's a commercial pop show, so of course it's camp and a bit gender-bending. This is the creative world for you. And that's why everyone loves it.

The winner will be announced at the end of Saturday night's TV marathon.

 

Weight loss

Only half a pound off this week; I've lost focus a bit. And maybe that glass of wine to celebrate January is at fault! It'll be better next week.

Sue x

Transgender arts and culture, January 2024

 Last year I wrote a number of items about art and photography shows, plays, films, etc. with a trans theme or slant. To judge by the number of views, they were popular so I plan to do more of these every month or so. 

Here I aim to show that in the world of creativity, being trans can be a status worth celebrating. This month I have spotted various items in France and Italy, with contributions from further afield.

 

Art

Paraventi: folding screens from the 17th to the 21st centuries at the Prada Foundation in Milan (to 26 Feb) may seem an odd exhibition to include here, but it is receiving much praise. It includes a section on how the queer community has turned a screen for dressing behind into something transgressive. 

From the Mousse Magazine review:

“Painting or sculpture? Art or furniture? Utilitarian or ornamental? Decorative, functional, architectural, or theatrical? This innovative exhibition examines the many questions and paradoxes surrounding the unfolding history of the paravent." (Curator Nicholas Cullinan)

Queer aesthetics are at the center of another series of works that transform this everyday object into an overtly subversive decoration element. From an Omega workshop screen by Duncan Grant from the Bloomsbury haven of Charleston to a rare 1929 screen made by Francis Bacon and World of Cats (1966) by British actor, writer, and collagist Kenneth Halliwell through to works by contemporary artists such as Kai Althoff, Marc-Camille Chaimowicz and Francesco Vezzoli, a culturally disruptive narrative is told. 

There are many online reviews of this exhibition but the most entertaining is this one from Designboom. 

 

Theatre

(1) In the port of Savona, NW Italy, the show Finora [Up till now] performed Anna Giusto and Giancarlo Mariottini, covers the personal search by actor and actress into male and female identities through the exaggerated femininity of drag queens and faux queens, so as to challenge the irrational threat that some people experience if they believe in rigid gender norms. 

Officine Solimano promotional material for Finora in Savona, Jan 2024

(2) Vladimir Luxuria, former member of the Italian parliament and trans actress, continues to tour with Princesa, a show about the difficult life and tragic death of Brazilian trans woman Fernanda Farias de Albuquerque, based on her autobiography. There was also a 2001 film about Princesa.

 

Promotional material for the Princesa tour

Film

Arche de Noé (Noah's Ark), starring Valérie Lemercier, is a French comedy drama about a centre for young LGBT people who have felt it necessary to leave home. They have six months to find their feet. 

There doesn't seem to be an English version yet, though, but the French trailer is here:

 

It has mixed reviews.

I discussed such a centre last year: Like a Box of Chocolates (second item: La Bulle).

 

Obituaries

Vincent Honoré, exhibitions curator at MO.CO. (the unique Modern Arts 'ecosystem' in Montpellier, France) died on November 29th last. His exhibitions included the highly acclaimed 2020-21 Possédé·e·s (Possessed) on the theme of "deviance, performance, resistance", exploring

the relationship between resistant or excluded bodies and esoterisms: a means to reappropriate and perform feminist, queer or decolonial identities.

The centre's pages, including videos and photos of the exhibition and a 32-page illustrated booklet you can download, are on there site here: Possessed.

Especially relevant were: M. Mahdi Hamad Hassanzada from Afghanistan's pictures of Divs, supernatural hermaphroditic creatures from Persian mythology; Pierre Molinier, a surrealist French artist (died 1976) who explored drag and fetish culture in his photography; Antonio Obà from Brazil who explores Afro-Brazilian animist religions, especially the Pomba-gira deity who represents beauty and desire and is seen as protective of the LGBT community; and Apolinia Sokol's fabulous transgender upgrade of Botticelli's Primavera that is the second image in the rolling photos on MO.CO.'s exhibition page (link above).

Incidentally, Montpellier is a pleasant and interesting historic city, worth visiting anyway. I was there a year ago: French holiday

 

Wishing you a good transition to February, with its lengthening days, Valentine's Day, Carnival and leap day.

Sue x

Trans positive performing arts and sciences

 I went to Liverpool with a friend the other day. We saw a bit of the Walker Art Gallery but mainly the World Museum, which is like a smaller version of the Natural History Museum and British Museum in London. Both Liverpool museums are free (and I hope the London ones still are). It was half term and so the World Museum was full of children, especially where there were dinosaurs to see. We all love dinosaurs!

But I was particularly struck by an exhibit in the aquarium, which was about LGBT creatures, like gay penguins and gender flexible fish. I though the lesbian, trans and other flags in the backdrop were irrelevant to the animals concerned, and rather anthropomorphised them, but education on the realities of the world is what museums should be about so I was very pleased to see the feature. Children will go away more knowledgeable and aware that being trans or gay is natural and is observable all over the world.

I was also encouraged by the support I read in Musicals magazine this month. I do like stage musicals. I guess the campness and spectacle has always appealed and it's clear that the LGBT community has always provided a very significant portion of the performers, producers and backers.

In Britain alone, musicals currently or recently on that are about trans, gay or drag subjects include Everybody's Talking About Jamie, La Cage aux Folles (just ended), Mrs Doubtfire, Hairspray (that traditionally has a drag role) and, of course, the Rocky Horror Show. 

Lisa Martland (founder and editor of Musical Theatre Review) ended her review of La Cage aux Folles thus:

La Cage is often complimented for the razor-sharp wit of Fierstein's book, the memorable anthemic tunes from Herman, and the eye-catching drag queens - and all of those elements are here. But most important of all is the message that if a life is lived with kindness, care and tolerance, then no-one has the right to respond to that with prejudice and hate.

Sadly, in the light of recent homophobic and transphobic hate crimes, this show is as relevant now as it ever was.

That really struck a chord with me not only because of the unequivocal support from this kind ally but because La Cage means a lot to me personally. I saw a London production of it in 2009 with the superb Roger Allam in the role of Albin/Zazar at just the time when I was getting serious about coming out and living openly as a trans woman.

"I am what I am", the show's best-known number, was almost anthemic for me at the time. Here's my favourite version, sung for Harvey Fierstein by Ginger Minj:

 

Most musicals are uplifting and the others I've mentioned are also about overcoming prejudice to be oneself. "Don't dream it, be it." Ah yes, the ever wise Dr Frank N. Furter there!

 

Packed and ready to go

I've packed my bags and I'll be leaving England tomorrow to return to my home in Italy. All shoes except the booties pictured in my last post are in my cases. And there are all sorts of pretty goodies alongside them. I'm glad to have my own stuff again.

Sue x

A woman trapped in a dog's body

Thanks for your kind comments on my anniversary post. 

Now, what's the difference between a beautifully dressed woman and a tired dog?

The woman wears an evening gown, the dog just pants!

Today, I am like the dog. The North Africa heatwave is back and it's best to do little, just aestivate. I'm still recovering from this bronchitis thing (I'm sure it's not Covid) and I didn't have a good night last night with the heat and the coughing. However, in the last few days I've felt able to go back to the swimming pool, where the water has been beautifully refreshing and the exercise has done me good. There are no mosquitoes this year, thankfully, but there are a lot of cicadas making a racket in nearby trees. I do like the hot summer and maybe I'm just lazy at heart. My girly swim shorts and bikini top are enough clothes for today! So, like the dog, I'm sprawled out, panting.

Image Credit: Liliboas/iStock/GettyImages

What's good, though, is that when it's very hot I eat less and better. Yesterday, for instance, I just had a big bowl of mixed salad and some fruit for lunch. I've lost over 6 kg (1 stone) since 1 June so that's all for the good.

"Gary" review

I'm pleased to hear from my friend Grace that the play Gary she was performing in at the Cockpit Theatre in London went well and there are two more performances at the Etcetera Theatre on 3 and 10 September. Here's one review of it that gives it 3.5 stars out of 5: Luvvie with a Rollaboard review.

I hope to be in London in October and if they still have performances then I will try to catch it myself.

What, me worry?

I see MAD magazine is still going. As an occasional reader I used to enjoy the film parodies most, and the fantastic work of cartoonists like Mort Drucker and Don Martin.

I found this page in an archive site and I'm sure Mad won't mind my copying it.

I'm not sure Miami was ever quite like this. And sounds even less so right now. But it made me laugh.

(C) Mad magazine

Sue x

Raising the trans profile

 Despite all the anti-trans hate these days, I am not inclined to despair. You see, there's good news from two of my friends this week, and from others similarly promoting the profile of trans people. Many fields of endeavour accept alternative people readily, such as performing arts and academia. 

 

Trans theatre this summer

There are quite a number of trans themed theatrical performances this summer. Starting with my friend Grace Statton's performance in Gary at the Cockpit Theatre in London on 10 August.

Gary tells a story of love, self-hate and identity confusion when you realise you are what you fear. Looking at bigotry, identity, trans narratives and community, this show will resonate with some and hopefully bring joy to all.

Things are going to change... Just not in the way Gary expects. He wants your vote to make his little piece of London great again. However, after a protest gets out of hand outside a library hosting a drag queen story time, Gary wakes up in hospital. With no memory of who he was, how does he tell the world who he really wants to be? And how will the world around him react? How will HE react when he finds out who he was - someone who would hate everything about the person of the present. And how does he deal with the fact that he is now perhaps she!

Gary has a lot of thinking to do and a very short time to do it.

More info and to book a ticket: Gary

 

Gary is not the only trans play on this summer. Vladimir Luxuria, a very well known trans person here in Italy as she was a member of parliament, is performing at the nearby Borgo Verezzi Festival in Princesa, a play about the life of a controversial Brazilian transwoman, Fernanda Farias de Albuquerque (1963-2000). 

Vladimir Luxuria by Sergio D'Afflitto

The Avignon Festival in France has just hosted a long-running play Giovanni! Awaiting the Bomb, a somewhat surreal solo performance to music about outsider artist Giovanni Galli whose troubled mental state and gender dysphoria is reflected in his life and art. 

Giovanni! En attendant la bombe. Promotional image.

 

Trans academics

The other friend I mentioned, Jan Eldridge, has now become full professor of astrophysics at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and heads the physics department there, as well as being a visible advocate for trans rights. Her inaugural lecture aimed at non-specialists, "Exploding Binaries", referring to both stars and genders, can be watched here (53 mins):  

Few of my readers will be experts in binary stars but most will know enough about the gender binary already. Jan does emphasise the importance of great hair and pretty nails here, and I'm sure we can all relate to that! I hope to see Jan again next time I visit New Zealand. Here's us in 2011.

So it's good to have another leading academic who is trans. Another professor I know is Sophie Grace Chappell of the Open University in Britain who has a lot to say about being trans (take this in the Guardian newspaper, for instance: Harry Potter helped me become a woman.)

I notice that a new Professorial Chair of LGBTQ+ History has just been created at Oxford University, the first such post in the UK. This is exciting news, too.

Thanks to all these folk for presenting trans life to the real world. And for arts and academic worlds for offering plenty of scope for trans people to lead their best lives. 

Sue x

Fancy frocks to make your heart sing

 Now that it's December I'm going to write about Cinderella, that stalwart of the pantomime season. And not just about her. I saw a number of pantos as a kid, but when I was in my teens a family friend gave us tickets to La Scala, the temple of opera in Milan, and we saw a production of Rossini's Cinderella. Take out the supernatural elements of the fairytale, set it in the early nineteenth century, and you have a fun musical piece for stage. I'm no opera buff but I really enjoyed it. And when Cinderella appeared, veiled, at the Prince's ball wearing the most sumptuous full-length black dress, my mother noticed my delighted reaction. Oops, keep the gender interests strictly private there, kid.

I believe this recording is of that production. The dress seems much as I recall it.

(c) Deutsche Grammophon

Wow! Isn't every TGirl a little Cinderella, really? She has to fight for her right to take part in the social life of her country and be treated with respect. Frankly, I think we all merit a lovely dress for every big outing. Any fairy godmothers, please take note. (And Santa, too!)

I went to the La Scala theatre museum last week. I've always had a love of live theatre. I thought I'd share some photos of the special exhibition of the amazing costume dresses that were made for Franco Zeffirelli's productions in the 1960s to '80s.

Four dresses (four!) for the legendary Maria Callas for Rossini's The Turk in Italy. I'd like any one of these, but preferably all. I think the pink one is my favourite.

 

Sicilian peasant women's dresses for Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana. I'd be a peasant for one of these!

A much duller dress below, but it was made for Mirella Freni who played Mimì in Puccini's La Bohème, a role she made her own.

 

It's not opera without Verdi's Aïda! I'm sure any of these would be ideal for a trip round the supermarket. Probably made of Nile-on! (geddit??!!)

It's not all clothes, though. Here are crown jewels, all made of glass.

 

As for this spinet, the Latin inscription reads "Do not touch me with unpractised hands". In the light of my last post, I think we could all request the same!

In the days before film and TV, quality live stagecraft could transport the audience with emotions of all kinds and present a spectacle of exquisite beauty, a feast for eyes and ears. There is something very immediate about the interaction of the actors, dancers or singers on a stage with their audience and with each other, and the audience's collective reactions, compared to the very studied shots and detachment of screen entertainment. Both have their place, but to appreciate how important live spectacle was to people before we had screens, the production I saw twenty or so years ago of The Mikado, using Gilbert and Sullivan's original production notes, with costumes, scenery and props that matched those of the first production, was the best thing I have ever seen on stage and really showed, through it's wonderful spectacle, how people used to be very well entertained when out for an evening. It worked for me: here I am twenty years later still talking about it!

Anyway, enjoy the frocks, and we'll talk about this pink item in my last post another time. It's had varied reactions so far ...

Sue x

'Twas the week before Sparkle

Catching up with writing up my holiday earlier this month, which I'll present in two parts, pre-Sparkle and Sparkle itself.

Although I had cancelled many engagements thanks to all the abuse I got in June (and concentrated on work instead, so maybe the idiot trolls did me a favour), I wasn’t going to let down two friends who were visiting.

First I saw Carol Evans who came for her second makeover and dressing session. She had brought bags of stuff that were being thrown out by the women in her life. So many items fitted and suited me that I was very pleased to accept them. The trouble is, my house is now overflowing with clothes! It was good to practise makeup on someone else and watch Carol enjoy trying out wigs and clothes to see what styles suited her. I think we ended up with some good looks. And we certainly had a fun day together talking clothes and makeup and trying things on.

Then Emma Walkey came to stay for a few days before we went to Sparkle. Our first day out saw us sightseeing and shopping in the West End. There are several big new features in London just opened this month: the Shard skyscraper at London Bridge, the Bomber Command memorial at Hyde Park Corner and the Olympic flags of all nations in Regent and Conduit Streets. We also met an Aussie digger at the Australian War Memorial who seemed totally unbothered at regaling two TGirls with tales of his days in Vietnam – I guess we didn’t pass for proper sheilas! Oh well, it was quite interesting!

The new Bomber Command memorial in Green Park.

We enjoyed a long, lazy lunch at the Old Express in Shepherd Market in Mayfair, sitting outside but nicely covered by an awning that kept off the occasional heavy showers. Emma visited the Mac and Benefit shops just off Carnaby Street for some of their excellent products and processes. A drink in our favourite pub in the area, the Mason’s Arms in Maddox Street, preceded a good value dinner at our favourite Bistro 1 in Beak St (I really must write an eatery blog). 

(Note to self: Choccywoccydoodah cake and chocolate shop in Fouberts Place is something to be revisted … often.)

Our second day saw us revisit Camden Market which is a TGirls’ paradise. We spent ages and much money in a burlesque outfit shop and enjoyed browsing everything else. Burlesque was on our minds most, though ...

We went home to change into posh evening wear as we had tickets for the Hurly Burly Show. Such a fun show, a modern take on burlesque. Saucy, witty, imaginative, with plenty of laughs and providing inspiration for the aspiring TGirl. Miss Polly Rae and her curvaceous Hurly Burly Girlies were outstanding performers. We were only a handful of people who had made any effort at all to smarten up for the occasion and so had our photo taken by the theatre’s photographer which we hope to find on Facebook soon. Why did so many people come totally scruffy in jeans? Beats me.

http://hurlyburlyuk.com/ [Update 26/3/25: The link is redundant.] Enjoy their teaser trailers with short exerpts from this and previous incarnations of the show.

Miss Polly Rae and her Hurly Burly Girlies - aspirational! (Credit: Exposay.com)

Well, after that. what better way to end the evening than dinner at our well-tried favourite, Salieri, close by and where they are always so welcoming. And a stunning view of London’s river by night.

Thursday, however, we piled our girly baggage into Emma’s car and headed up North for Sparkle, the best event in the trans calendar. That merits a separate post.

Sue x

TGirl, accepted everywhere (in the West End)

It's been a quiet week on the work front so a girl needs to occupy her time with a little retail and the occasional spot of lunch.

It's taken a bit of effort this time to organise the Angels London lunch for reasons too tedious to describe here but I decided to book us into our old favourite, Salieri on the Strand. So I went there on Wednesday to do this. I was a bit grumpy as it had taken me all morning to get ready. As soon as I walked in the staff greeted me with much fuss and were delighted to hear I'd be bringing the girls again. As it was about lunchtime anyway, I decided I might as well eat there anyway.  But when I asked for the bill the waiter said, "Madame, this is with our compliments", and tore the bill up in front of me. I felt overwhelmed by their gesture and got almost tearful. It's so nice to be seen as one of their regulars and to be welcomed so kindly.

I spent an afternoon, which was very wet, looking for possible alternative makeup. I use Mac and Kryolan foundation, with eye makeup from Benefit. None of it is cheap and I've been wondering about alternatives. So I popped into my regular makeup haunts, Charles Fox in Tavistock St and Mac in Neal St and Fouberts Place, but also visited Screen Face in Mercer St and the Make Up Store in Carnaby St. They all offer makeovers and I may try out all their various foundations over the summer and decide if any other works better for me. But the point is that none of the staff in these shops bat an eyelid when a TGirl walks in: she's just another customer. Make Up Store weren't even bothered by my leaving very wet footprints all over their floor! (NB, don't wear ballet flats in a rainstorm as the gunwales are not high enough to prevent water sloshing into them - squelch! squelch!)

I was also delighted to find a fab pair of tights with London skyline pattern on the faux stocking top design in M&S. The cashier was very friendly and chatty.

I suppose I'm mentioning all this to show that a TGirl about town who's gained the confidence just to get on with her business is accepted without any fuss. It takes a while to realise that, and it's something that every TGirl has to work out for herself as no amount of information from more experienced girls will convince her of it.

At the weekend, for my part, there was more acceptance, from very long-standing friends who, until recently, only knew me as a man. A lovely female friend, who is a true jewel of humanity, came to stay and we had a nice time on Saturday trolling round local boutiques and stalls even though I was in male mode, and giving suitable views on the contents of my wardrobe. She had once had a long-term boyfriend who crossdressed, I learned, though she is anyway a very kind, open-minded and accepting person. On Sunday she saw me as a woman in the flesh for the first time and was appropriately complimentary, making good suggestions about toning down my eye makeup and blusher but also complimenting me on my legs (I do have good legs, and that's not a vain boast).

I took her to catch her train home and then went to a nearby terminus to meet Tina, who was leaving her home dressed and travelling by train for the first time. Tina's blog is one of those I regularly follow and she's a brave girl and a lovely person. We met, took the tube to the Strand and went to the restaurant where we met Angela H (on an all-too-rare visit to SE England), Helena, Kimberley, Ange P, Stella and, later, one of my oldest male friends, Richard, who, despite having known me for 25 years as a man, was surprised but totally accepting when I told him about my being trans last year. Although definitely the odd man out, it was a delight for me to have him with us (and be our photographer).

Salieri in the Strand, l-r: me, Tina, Ange; 

(unknown bloke on another table), Kimberley, Helena, Angela, the better side of Stella. 

After lunch, none of us visited the Savoy Taylors' Guild (gents outfitters) opposite.

Angels Sunday lunches are long, lazy affairs but eventually we heaved ourselves out of our seats and Tina, Stella and I went for a stroll round Covent Garden. The 350th anniversary of Punch and Judy (first recorded here by Samuel Pepys in 1662) was being celebrated and we caught the tail end of the shows in St Paul's churchyard. A stroll through the crowded streets (just a few mildly cheeky comments from the less inhibited folk about, but nothing abusive) and some contented shopping amongst the stalls of the piazza and the shops of Neal Street. We all met back up with Kimberley and Ange in the Globe pub on Bow Street (just down from the famous magistrates court building) for a drink and a further natter. Tina had stretched her wings so far as to feel confident in making her journey home on her own. She did brilliantly on this big outing. So we're planning to organise another Angels lunch jointly at Sparkle in Manchester in July.

A week of doing normal stuff with normal people and being treated as normal. It's so satisfying.

Sue x