Tel Aviv Theatre Company to Produce Premier LGBT Musical for Children, HOMO

BroadwayWorld has learned that HOMO: A CHILDREN'S MUSICAL, a new musical with book, lyrics and music by Roi Dolev (Israeli director of INTO THE WOODS, SWEENEY TODD and creator of TWO GUYS MEET THROUGH GRINDR AND LEARN STUFF ABOUT LIFE) will open at Dolev's newly owned and renovated Tel Aviv venue, The Zamir Theatre, produced by Dolev's company, The Tramp Productions and Stuff Like That, which is celebrating its 2 years anniversary.

Based on the beloved Brothers Grimm fairy tale RUMPELSTILTSKIN, the musical tells the straw-into-gold story in a brand new way.

A homosexual guy, referred to as 'Homo' by everyone he encounters, is surprised to find a crying Miller's Daughter at his secret room inside the king's palace. She tells him the king will have her killed if she will not prove her father's lie of her being able to turn straw into gold. Using his magical powers, the Homo helps her in exchange for her pearls necklace, which he gives to his boyfriend. When the Miller's Daughter comes back the following night, things become more complicated.

"It's really fun writing for children," says Dolev. "I've grown tired of adult audiences, especially in Israel. You get such cynical audiences who don't enjoy the show before it even began. Children are still fresh, still excitable and everything is still magical for them, as it should be. I hope HOMO might inspire them to keep that freshness as adults."

Regarding the show's historical achievement of being an LGBT-themed children's musical, Dolev tells us he wasn't necessarily aiming at that direction at first:

"RUMPELSTILTSKIN is very known in Israel and I loved the story since I was a boy. Its musical adaptation by Avraham Shlonsky and Duby Seltzer was a major inspiration for me as a young artist and I remain a huge fan of its long running revival at The Cameri Theatre. As I reached adulthood, I started realizing the story is very unfair towards Rumpelstiltskin himself, being assumed to be the villain for merely being a midget. When you look into the plot, he's the only constantly moral character, and yet he is despised and eventually killed. I thought about creating my own adaptation that looks into his side of the story, and at first I considered keeping him a midget and calling the show MIDGET. While being in early development for an LGBT animated musical for children with a dear friend of mine (still in development, as making animated movies takes forever), I started thinking of RUMPELSTILTSKIN in LGBT terms, and realized who much sense it makes for it. Although the title is HOMO, representing the show presents his side of the story, we also have characters who are bi, lesbian and trans. The show's is still about bias, open mindedness and discrimination, and it also happens to be about LGBT people."

One of the actors in the show, Jonny Koren, who plays the King, tells us the show is important today as ever:

"In 2016, 'homo' is still the most common swear word in Israel. This story of discrimination was never told like this before, and since many children are victims to it, it makes perfect sense the musical is aimed for them."

HOMO: A CHILDREN'S MUSICAL is opening December 27 in Tel Aviv, tickets and more information available here.

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