MTI, Please Publish Trans-Inclusive Keys for Little Shop Of Horrors
The Issue
Little Shop of Horrors has been a very important show for me growing up. As a lover of all things sincere camp, it has always been a part of me. I saw it Off-Broadway in 2023 and I was obsessed with it since then. And hearing about Michaela Jaé Rodriguez' 2019 Audrey performance at Pasadena Playhouse or Jinkx Monsoon’s cast announcement as Audrey are things I will never forget. I always talk about playing Audrey in an all-trans production of Little Shop one day, but what if the general rights could be inclusive in the first place with no need for performers to ask for permission?
Trans performers playing Audrey and Seymour provide a different set of lived experiences and a new take on the characters. As a 17 year old trans performer seeking to pursue theatre in the future, I want to prove that we don’t always need to wait to create our own pieces to be represented. That the existing theater canon has room for us, especially a piece lauded for its subversive cult-classic nature. The point is: Audrey and Seymour are resonant characters for trans people. I’ve seen keys of Suddenly Seymour (a song that is likely the most challenging in the show for a non-traditional voice type) changed for Rodriguez and Monsoon alike, so I know for a fact that it is possible. (This key would be higher for Seymour, so it could also serve as an accommodation for a transmasculine (FTM) performer).
I am calling on Music Theatre International to additionally publish an alternative, lower key of Suddenly Seymour, one that sonically resembles the versions previously sung by Michaela Jaé Rodriguez and Jinkx Monsoon.
One may ask: "Couldn't individual theatre companies just transpose themselves, or pay for MTI's Transpositions-On-Demand Service?", But publishing it would disprove any excuse of additional labor or expenses, and give trans performers a sense of ease with a minimized need to justify their existence auditioning for these roles. To clarify, I am not asking for any existing scripts to be modified. This music would exist as an additional printable resource, one that is provided to a rights holder virtually along with the rest of the script/score materials.
Thank you for your time and attention to this matter, and ensuring that the dream of going "Somewhere That's Green" is for everyone.
20
The Issue
Little Shop of Horrors has been a very important show for me growing up. As a lover of all things sincere camp, it has always been a part of me. I saw it Off-Broadway in 2023 and I was obsessed with it since then. And hearing about Michaela Jaé Rodriguez' 2019 Audrey performance at Pasadena Playhouse or Jinkx Monsoon’s cast announcement as Audrey are things I will never forget. I always talk about playing Audrey in an all-trans production of Little Shop one day, but what if the general rights could be inclusive in the first place with no need for performers to ask for permission?
Trans performers playing Audrey and Seymour provide a different set of lived experiences and a new take on the characters. As a 17 year old trans performer seeking to pursue theatre in the future, I want to prove that we don’t always need to wait to create our own pieces to be represented. That the existing theater canon has room for us, especially a piece lauded for its subversive cult-classic nature. The point is: Audrey and Seymour are resonant characters for trans people. I’ve seen keys of Suddenly Seymour (a song that is likely the most challenging in the show for a non-traditional voice type) changed for Rodriguez and Monsoon alike, so I know for a fact that it is possible. (This key would be higher for Seymour, so it could also serve as an accommodation for a transmasculine (FTM) performer).
I am calling on Music Theatre International to additionally publish an alternative, lower key of Suddenly Seymour, one that sonically resembles the versions previously sung by Michaela Jaé Rodriguez and Jinkx Monsoon.
One may ask: "Couldn't individual theatre companies just transpose themselves, or pay for MTI's Transpositions-On-Demand Service?", But publishing it would disprove any excuse of additional labor or expenses, and give trans performers a sense of ease with a minimized need to justify their existence auditioning for these roles. To clarify, I am not asking for any existing scripts to be modified. This music would exist as an additional printable resource, one that is provided to a rights holder virtually along with the rest of the script/score materials.
Thank you for your time and attention to this matter, and ensuring that the dream of going "Somewhere That's Green" is for everyone.
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Petition created on September 26, 2026