Ryan Murphy, creator of American Horror Story, returns with his new series Pose, which follows the New York City’s underground ballroom community in the 80’s where LGBTQ+ youth of colour to express themselves creatively.
Set in the 1980s, poised somewhere between fiction and documentary, Pose looks at the juxtaposition of several segments of life and society in New York: the rise of the luxury Trump-era universe, the downtown social and literary scene and the ball culture world. With eight episodes in the first season, there is much to explore in the show since it takes place in New York City around the time of the AIDS crisis and the presidency of Ronald Reagan.
For those unfamiliar with ball culture, it dates back further than the 1980’s to around the 1920’s. A moral form group known as The Committee of Fourteen frequently investigated rumours of these events. They described them as “a scene filled with ‘phenomenal’ ‘male perverts’ in expensive frocks and wigs, looking like women.” Over the years, they’ve been known as many things including Masquerade and Civic Balls, or called “Faggots Balls” by the general public. That being said, the balls continuously attracted more than just queer regulars with admirers outside the LGBTQ community frequenting the events for their own pleasure and entertainment. It was in the 1960’s that black drag queens and other minorities took a stance against the racist ball culture and began their own underground balls.
The new series stars some big names, including Evan Peters, who is a frequent star in Ryan Murphy’s shows, and Kate Mara, with the pair playing New Jersey couple Stan and Patty, who find themselves captivated by the talented ballroom dancers. However, the reason Pose won’t be like any other show as it’ll feature five trans actors, all women of colour, which brings the series to have the highest number of transgender series regulars. This just goes to show just how much the television world is progressing and changing for the better. The series also has a mentoring program for transgender directors, along with more than 100 trans actors and crew members employed by the production.
As for our leading characters, here’s some information about them:
- Blanca (MJ Rodriguez) who, after a life-threatening medical diagnosis, decides to take fate into her own hands and form a “house” — a self-selected family that provides safety and support to LGBT youth rejected by their birth family.
- Elektra Abundance (Dominique Jackson) is the reigning queen of the ballroom community and house mother to Candy and Lulu, played by Angelica Ross and Hailie Sahar.
- Ryan Jamaal Swain plays Damon, an ambitious aspiring dancer from Allentown, Pennsylvania, who moves to New York City and joins Blanca’s house after being kicked out of his home for being gay.
- Billy Porter plays Pray Tell, grandfather to all the legendary children who compete in the house balls.
- Indya Moore plays Angel, a Puerto Rican streetwalker who develops feelings for a new client, Stan, and discovers true love comes at a cost.
Ryan Murphy has also announced on Twitter he’s donating all of the profits from the series to trans and LGBTQ charitable organisations. Nearly all of the groups he’s selected are completely dependent on charitable donations to keep going, he says. “So my goal is to double that for all of them in the course of a calendar year,” he says.
In addition to his own donations, Murphy pledges to hold fundraising screenings and other benefits to help raise awareness, as well as potentially set up scholarships for trans and LGBTQ kids who need educational resources.
Ryan Murphy co-created the show with frequent collaborator Brad Falchuk (Glee, American Horror Story) and Steven Canals. Murphy’s American Crime Story collaborators Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson (The People v. O.J. Simpson and The Assassination of Gianni Versace) as well as Alexis Martin Woodall (The Normal Heart, Feud, American Horror Story) and Sherry Marsh (Vikings) will executive produce the Fox 21 Television Studios and FX Productions co-production. Murphy will direct the first two episodes. Ballroom legends and survivors serve as consultants for Pose, including Hector Xtravaganza, Skylar King, and Sol Williams.
The series stars Evan Peters (American Horror Story), Kate Mara (Fantastic Four 2015), Indya Moore, Angel Bismark Curiel, Jeremy McClain, Angelica Ross (Claws), MJ Rodriguez (The Carrie Diaries), Dominique Jackson, Hailie Sahar (Mr Robot), Ryan Jamaal Swain, Billy Porter (The Get Down), Dyllon Burnside, James Van Der Beek (Dawson’s Creek), and Charlayne Woodard.
The series will premiere Sunday, June 3 at 9 p.m.
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