When Alex Mugler first started watching the pilot to Pose, the new drama from uber-producer-writer-director Ryan Murphy that depicts the ballroom culture of late 80s New York, he immediately began reflecting on his own life. In the show’s opening scene, Dominique Jackson (playing Elektra Abundance, the decorated leader of the House of Abundance) leads her cabal of young dancers through a late-night museum heist to steal royal clothing for an upcoming ball.
“It was almost like I was looking at bits and pieces of my own life,” says Mugler, a prominent young ball voguer. “There were times early in my career when I went to stores with my house’s sister and we would steal clothes from the mall. I wanted to be seen, and I wanted to feel beautiful, and the struggle to get there was very similar in many ways.”
Watching the rivalries between the competing houses and the inner turmoil within the young dancers depicted in Pose, says Mugler, was simply a reminder of his own journey in New York’s contemporary ballroom community. “The intention was just to be acknowledged and to be appreciated, and in many ways I’ve been through those same things.”
Pose is the latest, and most prominent, spout of mainstream attention for ballroom, which has flourished as a subculture for queer youth of color in New York for decades (it’s also made history with the largest ever transgender cast for a scripted show). The era depicted in the show coincides roughly with the time period documented in Jennie Livingston’s landmark 1990 documentary Paris is Burning, which chronicled the rivaling houses and generational differences in New York’s ball community of the late 80s. Read more via the Guardian
"Pose" Is Making Television History With These 5 Transgender Actors
Ryan Murphy's new FX drama Pose will go down in television history for assembling the largest cast of transgender actors ever to appear as series regulars on a scripted show.
Set in New York City during the 1980s, Posefollows its characters as they navigate through the city's various different social scenes, but primarily focuses on the metropolis's ball culture and the relationship between ball houses Abundance and Evangelista. With trans activist and author Janet Mock working on the show as a writer-producer and Our Lady J (whose past credits include Transparent) also working behind the scenes, the show authentically portrays the story of its characters.
Following a six-month nationwide search for its main cast, Pose brought on actors Indya Moore as Angel, MJ Rodriguez as Blanca Rodriguez, Dominique Jackson as Elektra Abundance, Hailie Sahar as LuluAbundance, and Angelica Ross as Candy Abundance. Other cast members include Evan Peters, Kate Mara, Billy Porter, James Van Der Beek, Ryan Jamaal Swain, Charlayne Woodard, and Angel Bismark Curiel. Read more via TeenVogue