Please read "You'd Make A Great Tracy Turnblad!" by Sallie Bieterman before or after this article.
Theatre is supposed to be this rewarding community of a diverse people who all share the same passion for putting together a great show. After months of rehearsals, bad puns, and inside jokes, you become a family. You see each other for three or more hours a day, so you might as well enjoy it, right? Community theatre is a place I've come to be accepted in. It's a refuge for "misfits"- a sanctuary to cultivate skills, prepare for growth, and make mistakes. We help each other and give advice freely; for onstage and off. Plus size, LGBT, Jewish, Black, Asian, disabled, disorders, syndromes, anxiety- actors, actresses- people and people alike. Yet, there are always underlying politics.
"So-and-so doesn't like so-and-so because of what happened two shows ago."
"That part was pre-cast because they are friends with the assistant director."
"She doesn't look the part. She has no chance." And here we see my main topic issue. Sallie Bieterman so eloquently puts this example of the injustice of plus size women in acting roles. "I recently saw that a former cast mate of mine, a girl of average size, portrayed Tracy in a summer stock production of the show, wearing a fat suit. Selecting an average-sized actress, one who is not stuck in an endless stream of coded language about “not looking the part”/”fitting our vision” and being relentlessly marginalized and dehumanized, and putting her in a fat suit perfectly demonstrates a problem in the theatre community. Putting an actress in a fat suit to play a fat character not only takes away one of the rare roles specifically intended for a plus size actress, but it says, to me, the following: we looked at this average-sized human being, and we saw her talent, personality, and light; we saw her soul as an actress, and that was so important that we didn’t care that she didn’t quite look like the character- that we can fix, and no one will bat an eye."
My role models consist of women who don't fit the "Leading Lady Size" but got the part because of their TALENT. These are the kind, accepting, and encouraging women. They know how hard it is to get to where they are because they had to work TWICE as hard to get there. They had to be better than normal so that a director might notice them despite their size. But at the end of the day, how do they feel about themselves? Do they think about how people looked at them when they danced? Do they read too much into compliments from others? Do they feel insecure, overweight, or out of place even though they got a standing ovation, and everyone said they did a wonderful job? Yet they come in with smiles on their faces because they love what they do, and the fact that someone saw that and gave them the chance to do just that? That makes all the difference in the world.
I remember when I first started becoming interested in theater. Someone told me that if I ever wanted a lead role, I could go for "Hairspray". At the time, I said nothing, just accepting that this was how it was meant to be.
Maybe I could compete with monologues. Maybe I could pass as a supporting character. Maybe I'd be stuck playing moms and holding my breath when the costume designer asks me if I could lose weight for an outfit. Or maybe I could do something about it. And I have. I've made a reputation for myself in the short time I've been able to involve myself in community theater. I'm confident that payday will come, but you know what has to come first? Practice. Just like any other person with similar goals to mine, we all have to practice. Setting personal goals and becoming better than before
Every day, we experience new things: new ideas, new opportunities, new people, new imaginations, new rejections, new feelings, new causes to fight for or believe in. So no, it's not a compliment for someone to tell me that I'd "make a good Tracy Turnblad". I can be a good Tracy Turnblad, but I'm going to be an even better Fiona, Maid Marian, Ariel, Angelica Schuyler, Wednesday Addams, Juliet, Velma Kelly, Cristine Daaé, Ophelia, Belle, Cinderella, Millie Dillmount, or any other role I desire to work for. So all of you plus size or just not "thin enough" women: you are good enough. You just need someone to believe in you as much as I do, and if you don't take yourself seriously, no one else will either. It may take awhile, but your day will come.
