arts & culture
bonus digital content
Shira Li Bartov | JTA.org
W hen the Amazon series
“Transparent” premiered in
2014, America had never met a family
like the Pfeffermans on TV.

The hit dramedy, following a Jewish
family of three adult siblings whose
parent comes out as a transgen-
der woman in her 60s, was the first
scripted series to center on a transi-
tioning character. The show won eight
Emmys out of 28 nominations, along
with awards from GLAAD and the
NAACP. It was credited with paving a
path for more leading trans characters
in shows such as FX’s “Pose,” CW’s
“Supergirl” and HBO’s “Euphoria.”
“Transparent” was also called by
many “the most Jewish show on TV.”
Its Jewish characters range from
mostly secular Los Angelenos to a
rabbi to Weimar-era German counter-
culture pioneers (seen in flashbacks).

In the fourth season, the main charac-
ters visit Israel, where they attempt to
understand both their faith and the
occupation. But the show was criticized for
casting straight cisgender actor
Jeffrey Tambor as the transitioning
matriarch Maura Pfefferman. And
in 2017, after “Transparent” was
renewed for a fifth season, Tambor
was accused of sexual harassment
by two former on-set colleagues. He
was fired, and his starring character
was killed off in the finale. (Tambor
has repeatedly denied the allegations
against him.)
That finale took the form of a
100-minute musical film, which ended
the series with a divisive show tune
called “Joyocaust,” urging Jews to
transform their DNA-rooted suffering
into joy: “Take the concentration out
of the camps, concentrating on some
song and dance.”
28 JUNE 1, 2023 | JEWISH EXPONENT
From left: Jimmy Ray Bennett, Adina Verson and Samora la Perdida at
rehearsal for “A Transparent Musical”
Now the entire series is getting the
musical treatment, arriving on a real
stage in Los Angeles. “A Transparent
Musical” — adapted by “Transparent”
creator Joey Soloway with music and
lyrics by Faith Soloway, who also wrote
for the TV series — debuted on May 23
and runs through June 25 at the Mark
Taper Forum. One of the goals: to put
the spotlight squarely on LGBTQ actors.

“It’s like 75% trans and nonbinary
people on stage,” Faith Soloway said.

The siblings were originally inspired
by their family: A parent came out
as trans at 75 years old. After they
started making the show, Joey and
Faith Soloway gradually also came
out as trans. Both siblings use the
pronouns “they/them.”
They saw the musical medium as a
way to freshen up the TV show’s explo-
rations of Jewish and queer history,
and how they interact. Their produc-
tion will include songs like “Jewish and
Queer” — a jubilant “Jewish drinking
song,” Joey Soloway said — along with
defiant anthems like “Deviant,” which
celebrates uniting against hatred.

Before they understood their interest
in gender, the siblings always imagined
making a musical together.

“At the ages of 5, 6, 7 years old, you
can picture us sitting on the carpet in
our living room in the early ‘70s, listen-
ing to the cast albums of ‘Jesus Christ
Superstar’ and ‘Hair’ and ‘Fiddler on
the Roof,’ dreaming that one day this
was where we were going,” Joey
Soloway said.

Joey Soloway said they did not realize
that Tambor’s casting was “problem-
atic” when the TV series debuted.

They approached casting and hiring
creatives for “A Transparent Musical”
with a laser focus on representation,
choosing trans actress Daya Curley for
Maura’s role. They also centered the
character of Davina — Maura’s trans
friend, portrayed by Black actress
and “RuPaul’s Drag Race” runner-up
Peppermint — to intensify the musical’s
focus on intersectionality.

Adina Verson, who identifies as
nonbinary and is featured in the show
“Only Murders in the Building,” will
play Ali Pfefferman, the family’s young-
est sibling.

“I’ve never seen a show with so
many trans actors,” Verson said. “It’s
an incredible room full of unique,
incredible performers who honestly
haven’t often been given the stage
that they deserve.”
As someone who is married to a
man and has a child, Verson said they
“never felt queer enough”; meanwhile,
growing up as a Reform Jew, they
“never quite felt Jewish enough.” (In
the series, Ali is played by non-Jewish
actress Gaby Hoffmann.)
“It was so exciting to be able to bring
that questioning to Ali’s journey, and
through Ali, I feel like I’ve really found
my footing,” Verson said.

At the same time as trans representa-
tion in popular culture has grown since
Amazon premiered “Transparent,”
trans identities have come under a
coordinated political attack. This
year, 20 states have passed 71 bills
restricting health care, public accom-
modations and school activities for
trans people, according to the Trans
Legislation Tracker.

Last week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
signed a slate of bills targeting drag
shows, restricting the discussion of
“preferred pronouns” in schools
and enforcing the use of specific
bathrooms at public facilities — from
schools to prisons — based on “biolog-
ical sex.” The laws also banned minors
from accessing transgender medical
treatments, such as puberty block-
ers or hormone therapy, and placed
new restrictions on adults seeking
treatment. Joey Soloway said they were “in
mourning” and “paralysis” over the
legislation. They see “A Transparent
Musical” as a form of protest, convey-
ing “the relationship between how
Jews are othered and trans people are
othered” with a power that feels differ-
ent on a theater stage.

“We’re amping up our ammunition
beyond a one-on-one TV experience
that you watch alone in your room,
streaming on your iPad,” Joey Soloway
said. “This is something you experi-
ence collectively, that lands in the
body and allows you to go out into the
world singing and dancing.” ■
Reza Allah-Bakhshi/Capture Imaging via JTA.org
On-stage ‘Transparent’ Musical
Looks to Transcend the Amazon Show’s
Rocky Ending



bonus digital content
arts & culture
As ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ Ends,
Will its Jewish Legacy Be More Than
a Punchline?
Shira Li Bartov | JTA.org
Amazon Studios
A fter five seasons, 20 Emmy
awards and plenty of Jewish
jokes, “The Marvelous Mrs.

Maisel” airs its final episode on May 26.

The lauded Amazon Prime show from
Amy Sherman-Palladino has enveloped
viewers in a shimmering, candy-col-
ored version of New York during the
late 1950s and early 1960s — a world
in which “humor” has meant Jewish
humor and “culture” has meant Jewish
culture. But as it comes to an end, the show’s
Jewish legacy is still up for debate:
Did its representation of Jews on
mainstream TV make it a pioneer of
the 2010s? Or did it do more harm than
good in the battle for better repre-
sentation, by reinforcing decades-old
comedic tropes about Jews?
The comedy-drama followed the
vivacious Midge Maisel (Rachel
Brosnahan) on a journey from prim
Upper West Side housewife — left in
the lurch after her husband has an
affair with his secretary — to ambitious,
foul-mouthed comic fighting her way
through the male-dominated standup
comedy industry. Her New York
Jewishness colored her jokes, her
accent, her mannerisms and much of
her daily life.

That’s because the whole landscape
of the show was Jewish, from the
well-to-do, acculturated intelligen-
tsia (such as Midge’s parents) to the
self-made garment factory owners (such
as her in-laws). Even the radical Jewish
comic Lenny Bruce, a countercultural
icon of the midcentury, appeared as
a recurring character who propels
Midge’s success.

Henry Bial, a professor specializing in
performance theory and Jewish popular
culture at the University of Kansas, said
the emergence of “The Marvelous Mrs.

From left: Alex Borstein and Rachel Brosnahan in a scene from Season 3 of
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”
Maisel” in 2017 exemplified a shift to
more overt portrayals of Jews on TV
— especially on streaming services.

Although Jewish characters featured in
TV shows throughout the 20th century,
such as “The Goldbergs” in the 1950s,
“Rhoda” in the 1970s and “Seinfeld” in
the 1990s, their Jewishness was often
more coded than explicit. Network
television, seeking to attract the major-
ity of Americans coveted by advertis-
ers, feared alienating audiences who
couldn’t “relate” to ethnic and racial
minorities. “If there are only three things you
can put on television at 8 o’clock on
Tuesday night, then there’s a lot more
incentive for networks and advertisers
to stay close to the herd, because you’re
competing for the same eyeballs,” said
Bial. “But when people can watch
whatever they want whenever they
want, then it opens up for a much wider
range of stories.”
Other shows such as “Transparent,”
“Broad City” and “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,”
which debuted in 2014 and 2015, are
often cited alongside “Mrs. Maisel”
as part of a new wave of Jewish
representation. Riv-Ellen Prell, a professor emerita of
American studies at the University of
Minnesota, argued that Midge subverts
the stereotype of the “Jewish American
princess.” At the start of the show, she
appears to embrace that image: She
is financially dependent on her father
and husband and obsessive about her
appearance, measuring her body every
day to ensure that she doesn’t gain
weight. Despite living with her husband
for years, she always curls her hair,
does her makeup and spritzes herself
with perfume before he wakes up.

“She looks for all the world like the
fantasy of a Jewish American princess,”
said Prell. “And yet she is more ambitious
than imaginable, she is a brilliant comic
who draws on her own life. You have
Amy Sherman-Palladino inventing the
anti-Jewish princess.”
Bial said that Midge’s relationship
with her Jewishness defies another
stereotype: That identity is not a source
of neurosis or self-loathing, as it often
appears to be in the male archetypes
of Woody Allen and Larry David, or in
Rachel Bloom’s “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.”
Through the spirited banter, the pointed
exclamations of “oy,” the titillation over
a rabbi coming for Yom Kippur break
fast — Midge’s Jewishness is a source
of comforting ritual, joy and celebration.

“She has anxieties and issues,
but none of them are because she’s
Jewish,” said Bial.

Some critics argue the show’s depic-
tion of Jewish culture relies on shallow
tropes. In a 2019 review, TV critic
Paul Brownfield said “The Marvelous
Mrs. Maisel” repurposed stereotypes
to appear “retro chic.” He pointed to
a consistent contrast between the
Weissmans (the assimilated, cultured
Jews of the Upper West Side) and the
Maisels (the boorish, money-focused
Jews of the Garment District), arguing
that these superficial types replace an
exploration of what the period was
actually like for American Jews.

“However ‘Jewish’ Sherman-Palladino
wants the show to be, ‘Maisel’ fails to
grapple with the realities of the moment
in Jewish American history it portrays,”
Brownfield wrote. “Which is ultimately
what leaves me queasy about its tone
— the shtick, the stereotypes, the
comforting self-parody.”
Meanwhile, Andy Samberg took a
jab while co-hosting the 2019 Golden
Globes with Sandra Oh. “It’s the show
that makes audiences sit up and say,
‘Wait, is this antisemitic?’” he joked.

Others have criticized the show’s
casting: Its titular heroine, her parents
Abe and Rose Weissman (Tony
Shalhoub and Marin Hinkle) and Lenny
Bruce (Luke Kirby) are all played by
non-Jews. A debate over the casting of
non-Jewish actors in Jewish roles has
heated up in recent years, taking aim
not only at Brosnahan as Midge Maisel,
but also at Felicity Jones as Ruth Bader
Ginsberg in “On The Basis of Sex,”
Helen Mirren as Golda Meir in “Golda”
and Gaby Hoffmann and Jay Duplass as
the Pfefferman siblings in “Transparent.”
Comedian Sarah Silverman popularized
the term “Jewface” to critique the trend.

“Watching a gentile actor portray-
ing, like, a Jew-y Jew is just — agh —
feels, like, embarrassing and cringey,”
Silverman said on her podcast in 2021. ■
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