Peak Performances presents the American premiere of 'Gardenia'
Thursday, March 15, 2012
The Montclair Times
GRIET DEBACKER

http://www.northjersey.com/community/events/142732855_Peak_Performances_presents_the_American_premiere_of__Gardenia_.html

Harvey Fierstein aside, most productions using ->-bleeped-<-s and transsexuals as performers are usually presented in small, offbeat theaters. However, Peak Performances again challenges convention, this time by presenting "Gardenia," a uniquely moving production based on the lives of its cast of transgenders, all of whom are between 55 and 65, and each of whom had been or continues to be a professional performer.

Unlike musicals such as "La Cage aux Folles" in which ->-bleeped-<-s sashay across the stage as harmless, childlike creatures and lovable entertainers, "Gardenia" uses song and dance to express the raw pain of their marginalization and loneliness, as well as the wit and ways that the artists held on to their dignity in face of ridicule and physical violence.