Last month, the Women’s Health Initiative Program led a trip to see Wicked on Broadway. The trip was specifically for participants in Alliance’s TWIST program (Transgender Women Involved in Strategies for Transformation, a CDC-modeled peer-led program), and My Sister's Room, our weekly support group for transgender women.
Lexii Foxx, an Alliance Peer, invited a group of trans women to attend. For many, it would be their first Broadway show, and this wasn’t just any show, but one of Broadway’s most popular shows ever! It also was the first production of Wicked to feature a trans actress, Alexandra Billings as Madame Morrible.
“They felt inspired to see a lead Trans actress, I most definitely think this was one of the benefits of visibility for the whole experience,” said Lexii, who, despite putting so much time into the planning of the event, was unable to attend after testing positive for COVID-19. “Everyone was really happy, thankful, they love the songs, everyone described the night as magical, beautiful, and elegant.”
“It was awesome to see the impact on the rest of the girls, most of them hadn’t ever been to a Broadway show,” said Alana Martin, a program participant and TV and film actress who had always wanted to see Wicked. “I had a beautiful time, that show was so popular when I was younger so it was nice to see it, especially this historic cast with this group of girls.”
All seats were in the 5th or 6th row. Dr. Erin McKinney-Prupis, Director of Women’s Services, felt that “everyone had an incredible time.”
TWIST was designed to provide a framework for transgender women to share their lived experiences as a means of recognizing and valuing their social and cultural resilience.
Alana spoke about the important subject matter in Wicked. “Female friendship is so important, especially in the trans community, so there were a lot of tears, happy tears.”
It was Gracey Fernandes’ first time on Broadway. “That experience was one of the best I had ever had! It was mind-blowing, it was thrilling, it was ecstatic. It was just what I needed to revive my mental state,” she said. A recent immigrant—she came to the U.S. in late 2020—the play lit a fire in her to pursue seeing more theatrical productions.
“To have the stage light up, and the choreography, and the lighting effects—and the background was spectacular—it was like seeing a movie being filmed. It was just awesome,” she said. Billings, in particular “was a masterpiece. That woman was magnanimous. She was featured often in the play and wasn’t just a cameo role, so that was cool. There wasn’t a flaw, everybody was spot on, the music was serenading. I saw people crying. I wanted to cry, it was so touching. It was the best.”
Fully recovered from COVID-19, Lexii takes pride in organizing what was “a very captivating mechanism for this group and moments that they can remember for the rest of their life.”
Events like this trip to Wicked are only possible because of generous donations to Alliance, and TWIST in particular. You can make a tax-deductible donation to Alliance’s TWIST program today by visiting this link.
