“In late March, I was cast as Ilse, my favorite role I’ve ever had the pleasure to play, in the Deaf West production of the musical Spring Awakening. For those of you who don’t know, I was in the original Broadway production of this show almost ten years ago. But this version incorporated hearing and deaf actors in a breathtaking display of song and sign language. I would have never imagined this show would come back around but the director, Michael Arden, gave me the gift of revisiting it. At my lowest opinion of myself, he gave me an opportunity to shine, to feel useful, to step outside of my own pain and into the beauty of a new world. We incorporated my baldness into the character which allowed me to be brave with my appearance. My weight began to decrease steadily as I threw my body into performing. It was a glorious feeling. I could almost feel the old me waking slowly after spending the winter hibernating inside my soft body.” -ChemoCouture
one of the things i adore about hamilton is that there isn’t a gender divide in the chorus.
in most shows i’ve been in, there’s a difference between what the men in the chorus get to do, and what the women get to do (and you’re always one or the other based on voice part, no ambiguities allowed). in pirates of penzance, there’s the pirates on one side, and the nice proper ladies on the other. in les mis, there’s the prisoners, and there’s the prostitutes. it defines which scenes you appear in, and sometimes it keeps you from some of the coolest parts of the show.
but hamilton uses the entire vocal range of the chorus in every scene, even in entirely “male” spaces like battle scenes. i never thought i’d see a broadway show–especially a historically-based show–where someone with my vocal range would get to shout “HERE COMES THE GENERAL” and make cannon sound effects. you know?
broadway has been a really strictly gendered space for so long, worse than almost any other media i can think of. hamilton gives me hope because it’s set a precedent of casting based entirely on ability. if you can spit the words, if you can hit the notes, if you can make the role come alive, it doesn’t matter what you look like or how you compare to the real historical figure. there are sopranos at the battle of yorktown. maybe somewhere out there, there’s a woman who could be the perfect alexander hamilton.
hamilton has already broken down racial restrictions in casting so beautifully, and i’m starting to see cracks in the gender side, too. i can’t wait to see what happens next.
