Mason Alexander Park is bringing their brand-new show The Pansy Craze to the heart of Soho at Underbelly Boulevard this month.
Fresh from treading the boards in the leading role in the critically acclaimed West End production of Cabaret, and following on from receiving critical acclaim in New York, Mason Alexander Park presents The Pansy Craze, a show that chronicles multiple periods in history where queerness was celebrated modified, consumed, and then criminalized.
Reviving legendary queer icons through songs of the 1920s, the glam rock movement of the 1970s, and contemporary queer anthems this show promises to take audiences on a journey through time – a history lesson you don’t want to miss.
Mason Alexander Park recently starred as The Emcee in the current West End revival of Cabaret, and can be seen as Dr. Ian Wright in NBC’s Quantum Leap, Desire in Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman, Gren in the Netflix live action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop, and in Amazon’s Critical Role: The Legend of Vox Machina. Co conceived with Hunter Bird, who most recently directed Bronco Billy: The Musical at The Charing Cross Theatre.
Listings and ticket information can be found here
You’re bringing your new show The Pansy Craze to Underbelly Boulevard, what can you tell us about it?
The Pansy Craze is a piece of concert theatre that revives performances from multiple periods in history where queerness was celebrated, commodified, consumed, and then criminalised. It chronicles music from the last hundred years that express themes of queerness or of gender anarchy, beginning with “pansy” songs from the 1920s which toyed heavily with gender and sexuality to great acclaim… and traveling up to songs from today!
It features music that has not only inspired me, but also affirmed my experience and my identity as a gender non-conforming individual… honouring mainstream artists who pushed boundaries like David Bowie, as well as artists forgotten in time like pansy icon Jean Malin.
What inspired you to write the show?
The main inspiration for writing this show has been my own realisation that we are living through what I would consider a contemporary Pansy Craze. Trans people have always had a fraught relationship with the media, many being sensationalized and celebrated like Christine Jorgensen in the 1950s, and Laverne Cox in the early 2000s…only for the tide to drastically shift recently with the absurd ride of anti-trans legislation and rhetoric that is pouring into politics.
Knowledge is power, and one of the biggest misconceptions about transgender people is that we are a contemporary concept, when the reality is that transgender and gender non-conforming identities have existed for thousands of years. So this show aims to entertain, educate, and advocate… starting with the last 100 years of gender nonconformity in mainstream performance.
What surprised you the most when you were researching the Queer history that features in The Pansy Craze?
My dear friend and co creator Hunter Bird and I premiered the show in NYC a few years ago and have worked on it periodically since, and we have come across SO many juicy tidbits that constantly surprise us. One of our favorite revelations came in the form of a play called “The Drag” which was written by a rising star of the 1920s… Mae West.
The play featured drag performance, and queer themes, and was a huge financial success out of town. After being warned about the content, she reworked the play which had its premiere on Broadway under a new title The Pleasure Man, only for the entire cast of 56 to be arrested after the first performance and tried for “indecency.”
They returned for the matinee with some edits to the script, only to be re-arrested MID SHOW and put on trial nearly 2 years later… a trial riddled with homophobia and transphobia. The charges were eventually dropped, and Mae left that part of her life behind her as the Hays Code went into effect in Hollywood shortly after, ending the careers of many of the queer people she once was so close to. Stories like that deserve to be told, especially considering prohibition moral panic is not to dissimilar to what we are seeing today.
You’ve recently been starring in Cabaret, as well as hit TV shows like Quantum Leap, what are you looking forward to about bringing your own show to an intimate space like Underbelly Boulevard?
I love performing live more than anything, and nothing beats performing in a space where you can actually connect with the people you’re sharing the theatre with. I find intimate venues like Underbelly Boulevard so inspiring, because it really does force you to be in conversation with the audience and removes the artifice of traditional proscenium theatre.
The feeling of community that I get whenever I’m in a space like the Kit Kat Club, or Underbelly Boulevard, is unparalleled. After working with Underbelly on the remarkable West End Cabaret revival, I leapt at the chance to play in their new venue.
Speaking of Quantum Leap, you’ll be taking audiences on a journey through time with The Pansy Craze, what’s been the best thing for you about visiting all these different eras?
I think what I love most as a history geek is getting a chance to explore music that most people might not be familiar with. Finding songs from the 20s that don’t have clear sheet music and being able to preserve them alongside our genius musical director Tom Knowles is such a special treat, and it’s a constant reminder of how important it is to document our history as queer people. I stand on the shoulders of so many remarkable individuals who pushed boundaries and lived openly for centuries, so it’s an absolute honour to be able to talk about them and sing their songs in front of an audience.
What would you say to anyone thinking of booking to see The Pansy Craze?
I would encourage anyone who has even a mild interest in queer history, pansies, glam rock, androgyny, Bowie, Noël Coward, Cabaret, Underbelly, or me… to buy a ticket immediately.
The show is meant to educate and entertain simultaneously, and is a very cathartic experience for me as well as for many of the people who have come back again and again over the past few years.
Trans and queer people are living through a troubling time, and this show doesn’t want to ignore that in the least, so being aware of the patterns of history that have come before can allow us to be optimistic of what’s hopefully around the corner. We deserve to be celebrated rather than vilified, understood rather than distorted, and if this show can make even one trans person feel seen, or help one parent have an empathetic conversation with their child, then we have done our job as theatre artists.
