Bunty Berman Presents: A Transphobic, Homophobic, Culturally Insensitive Night of Musical Theatre

http://www.bilerico.com/2013/05/bunty_berman_presents_a_transphobic_homophobic_cul.php
5/3/13
Filed By Jason Tseng

The New Group's world premiere of the Bollywood-meets-Hollywood musical, Bunty Berman Presents sounds like a great musical on paper:

    "Movie producer Bunty Berman has long been the toast of Bombay, but now Raj, his biggest star and best friend, is losing his luster. When their new movie bombs, Bunty must navigate through divas, mobsters and ambitious tea boys to keep his studio alive."

I love the big, boisterous feel of Bollywood films and I'm a Broadway fanatic. This has the makings for a great show! But when I went to see the musical the other day, I was confronted with one of the most ill-conceived, transphobic, homophobic, and culturally insensitive pieces of theatre I have seen in some time.

I just saw this. My theater going experience has been one where I am not ever surprised to see negative memes play out. I have seen cultural phobia and stereotypes, LGBT scenes that were less than honest and really conveyed this message of LGBT people being all sorts of different things. I've seen transphobia, transgender narratives and crossdressing / female impersonation mixed up with each other, I've seen all sorts of stuff.