A quibble, perhaps -- but when Mary Tyler Moore did WHOSE LIFE IS IT ANYWAY? and Helen Hunt did OUR TOWN, they played those roles as women. This is perhaps closest to what Merle Dandridge has been doing as Papa Ge in ONCE ON THIS ISLAND -- she looks her female self, and "Papa" just sounds like part of her name. (Also, on IBDB, at least, she's called "Demon of Death," while Salonga's Erzulie is called "Goddess of Love" and Newell's Asaka is called "Mother of the Earth.")
I didn't see the other performances you mention (DeLaria in ROCKY HORROR and LI'L ABNER, Goldberg in FORUM), but it's my understanding that in those cases the genital females were costumed and directed to read either as genitally male or neutral. That's closer to what Alex Newell's doing in ISLAND. |
