Following its world premiere at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, “A Transparent Musical” is heading to Broadway. The stage production will begin its run in 2024.
The musical, which is based on the Amazon Prime Video series “Transparent,” ran from May 23 to June 25 ahead of Pride Month. According to Center Theatre Group (CTG), which co-produced the show along with Amazon Studios, the musical brought the the highest proportion of audience members under the age of 40 of any Taper production, especially among Gen Z.
The musical was written by MJ Kaufman and Joey Soloway, who created the award-winning and groundbreaking Prime Video original. Music and lyrics were written by Faith Soloway with choreography by James Alsop. Tina Landau served as the production’s director. The Tony-winning Eva Price will produce the show for its Broadway run.
“’Transparent’ remains an incredibly impactful series with salient representation for the LGBTQIA+ community,” Nick Pepper, head of US SVOD wholly owned development for Amazon Studios, said. “This is the ideal series and characters to bring from series to stage, and we are thrilled to partner with Tony-winning Broadway Producer Eva Price. We hope the audience walks away inspired after experiencing this poignant story.”
Similar to the original series, “A Transparent Musical” is told through the character of Ali Pfefferman, the youngest child in the Pfefferman family. When their parent transitions, the family goes on a journey of acceptance and self-discovery. That journey becomes more complicated the more Ali learns about her secret-filled family. The production, just like the series before it, dives into the intersection of Jewish and queer history and the unexpected complications of family.
The Los Angeles production of the show starred Adina Verson (Ali Pfefferman), Daya Curley (Maura Pfefferman), Liz Larsen (Shelly Pfefferman), Zachary Prince (Josh Pfefferman), Sarah Stiles (Sarah Pfefferman), Kasper (Ezra), Peppermint (Davina) and Murphy Taylor Smith (Rabbi Raquel). Samora la Perdida, Justin Rivers, Futaba Shioda, Robert Pieranunzi, Jimmy Ray Bennett, Pat Towne, Dahlya Glick, and Emily Goglia, Alanna Darby, Ty-Gabriel Jones and Jonathan Ritter also appeared in the show.
This will mark Amazon’s MGM Studios latest Broadway show. The studio’s “Some Like It Hot” and “New York, New York” received a combined 22 Tony nominations between 2022 and 2023.
“Transparent” first premiered in 2014 and quickly made waves. It became the first show produced by Amazon Studios to win a major award as well as the first streaming show ever to win a Golden Globe for Best Series. The series was also groundbreaking when it came to its exploration of gender identity and sexuality. In 2019 the series released its last episode — “Transparent: Musicale Finale” — which explored the death of Jeffrey Tambor’s character, Maura, and the rest of the family through the lens of Maura’s former wife, Shelly (Judith Light).
