Represent – The queer musical theatre podcast, is part of Dr Lovelock’s research exploring queer gain – what we gain as individuals, queer communities and wider society from enhanced LGBTQ+ representation when queer people are in charge of their own narratives.
The research looks at four recent musicals as case studies; Standing At The Sky’s Edge, Unfortunate - The Untold Story of Ursula the Sea Witch, Why Am I So Single? and Fangirls, using the concept of queer gain to investigate what is gained when LGBTQ+ narratives are supported by the provision of production processes that centre queer lived experience and value the contributions of LGBTQ+ creatives and performers.
The podcast series pioneers an open-research approach, which invites high profile guests from the musical theatre industry, including River Medway (Here and Now and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK) and Chris Bush (Standing at the Sky’s Edge), to talk about their experiences.
Dr James Lovelock, Lecturer in Acting and Performance at Ï㽶ÊÓƵ, said: “It is only recently that LGBTQ+ narratives have been represented authentically on stage, and it has been a pleasure to talk to so many wonderful guests about how LGBTQ+ people, spaces and practices continue to benefit the musical theatre community.
“As academics, we sometimes underestimate how passionate and articulate industry practitioners are about the subjects we are researching, and this podcast series aims to centre their voices within my research.”
The podcast series will provide an open-access dataset of the interviews with practitioners involved in LGBTQ+ musical theatre to explore what creates an effective space for the inclusion of queer people, the benefits from these production practices and the accessibility of queer productions to wider LGBTQ+ audiences.
The podcast is available through Spotify, Apple and other major platforms or via the website
