I've been reminded that I never posted an introduction. I used to post here under a different username, a few years ago, but I disappeared for a long time and the username got purged.
Hi, I'm MrJ. I'm 29 years old, and am halfway through my undergraduate degree in Music and Theatre and Film. (It's a double major, Music is actually a separate degree from Theatre and Film. When I finish this undergrad, I either want to go to law school, or do a Masters degree in Theatre. I already have my Masters thesis all worked out. If it isn't already obvious, one of the big things that makes my world go round is theatre, especially musical theatre. I've been singing since before I could talk. I spent my childhood telling people I wanted to play Christine (from Phantom of the Opera) and Belle (Beauty and the Beast) and Eponine (Les Mis) when I really wished I could play the Phantom, The Beast, and Marius.
I've been transitioning from female to male for almost exactly 3 years. I've been on testosterone for 2 years and 4 months. Being a singer, you can imagine I was worried about my voice. I only knew 2 other transguys who sang regularly in choirs and such like I do, and both of them reported their voices to be limited in some way.
In early transition, my voice was definitely limited. It dropped really fast, but my falsetto range also disappeared, so pretty much every song was too high for me to sing. For those with voice knowledge, I had trouble hitting middle C at first, it was too high. The more work I did and the more time I had on testosterone, my range grew wider at both ends. My current lowest note is low E and my highest note is the F above middle C, and I even have a falsetto starting to develop up to G. I'm a baritone. I like my voice, but most roles written for guys my age are tenors.
If you'd like to hear me sing a showtune, this is Halloween from the musical Rent.
If you'd like to hear me genderbend an ABBA song, here:
Both of those songs were my voice just over 2 years on testosterone. I've managed to land a couple of acting roles since transitioning, and being a guy and playing guy roles is amazing and so much easier. I will be auditioning for a couple of musicals, one of them at my university, and I think I might have a good shot this year.
What I've learned since I started transition is that I have a huge capacity to love myself. I truly discovered the adage that you need to love yourself before other people can love you. I have so much more confidence now. Instead of putting myself down and thinking the worst of myself, I've discovered that I'm a funny, engaging, cool, talented, smart person.
Some of my family believes that I've done the wrong thing by transitioning. My dad thinks I'm not "truly transgender" and my sister is against it for religious reasons, but I feel like deciding to transition was the best decision I've made in my entire life.
