{"id":94700,"date":"2026-02-01T08:50:32","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T16:50:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/?p=94700"},"modified":"2026-02-01T08:50:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T16:50:32","slug":"you-gotta-get-a-gimmick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/blog\/2026\/02\/01\/you-gotta-get-a-gimmick\/","title":{"rendered":"You Gotta Get a Gimmick"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every day, performers have little triumphs in changing the world\u2019s perception of marginalized people.  Last week, Bob the Drag Queen <\/strong>made a splash when he joined the cast of Moulin Rouge! The Musical! <\/em><\/strong>as Harold Zidler.  Of course, not a total revolution as Bob and Harold are both males.  It\u2019s worth noting that while the role was originally played by Danny Burstein<\/strong>, it was eventually portrayed by Tituss Burgess <\/strong>\u2013 as much a drag queen as Bob.  But why quibble?  I\u2019m told Bob got a great reception on his entrance, and received a standing ovation at his curtain call.  The producers even added a little of his \u201cPurse First\u201d for the finale megamix.  Congrats.<\/p>\n

Things are not coming up roses in Japan.  An upcoming production of Gypsy<\/em><\/strong> in Tokyo will be retitled Rose<\/em><\/strong>.  Why?  \u201cThe original title, Gypsy<\/em>, is a discriminatory term given to the Roma and Sinti people…The Japanese title has been changed to Rose<\/em> out of consideration for this term.\u201d  Here\u2019s a better idea \u2013 don\u2019t do the show.  Nobody calls her \u201cGypsy\u201d because she\u2019s banging a tambourine and reading people\u2019s palms.  She adopted that as her name.  This is a work of art \u2013 either you do it as written or not at all.   Even the last Broadway <\/em>revival was faithful to that.  How will that scene in the Chinese restaurant go over in Japan?  Or the notorious eggroll for Mr. Goldstone?  Or the Salute to Uncle Sam?  Aren\u2019t those problematic?  I can\u2019t believe the estates of Jule Styne<\/strong>, Stephen Sondheim <\/strong>and Arthur Laurents <\/strong>are allowing this to happen.  Dim the lights on Broadway <\/em>\u2013 theatre is officially dead.<\/p>\n

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This week\u2019s Ask Billy<\/em><\/strong> question from Oscar <\/strong>in Florida: \u201cWho is the hot <\/em>papi in <\/em>Beauty in Black<\/strong>?  The one who plays the stripper?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

That would be fitness model Rodrigo Aburto <\/strong>\u2013 who is probably better known as the spouse of Matteo Lane<\/strong>.  You\u2019ll be happy to know that he\u2019ll be back for season three.  \u201cIt\u2019s been very cool.  I was really excited to use my dancing skills in the show.  I\u2019m a stripper on the show, and they decided to grow my character.\u201d  I think parts of you will grow when you check him out on BillyMasters.com<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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When I\u2019m boycotting the Tokyo \u201cRose\u201d, it\u2019s definitely time to end another column.  Should you be interested, you can even hear this leading lady sing.  Just head on over to www.BillyMasters.com<\/a><\/strong> \u2013 the site that has never said no to a foreign tongue.  Should I be able to give you a hand with anything else, feel free to drop a note to Billy@BillyMasters.com<\/a><\/strong> and I promise to get back to you before I tell you about my night with two Corinthians in the back of a Chrysler Cordoba!  So, until next time, remember, one man\u2019s filth is another man\u2019s bible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every day, performers have little triumphs in changing the world\u2019s perception of marginalized people.  Last week, Bob the Drag Queen made a splash when he joined the cast of Moulin Rouge! The Musical! as Harold Zidler.  Of course, not a total revolution as Bob and Harold are both males.  It\u2019s worth noting that while the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94700"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94700"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94700\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94701,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94700\/revisions\/94701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}