Drama Queens, a five-star arts journal focusing on female artists

Nicola Gorham Interview by Jen Bush

New York’s preeminent LGBTQ Arts Festival returns for another season of exciting work on stage – on film – and on the air. The Fresh Fruit Festival’s 2023 Main-Stage will premiere a dozen new works exploring the LGBTQ experience. For the 13th year in a row, the festival will take place at The Wild Project, 195 E 3rd St, New York City, APRIL 24 – MAY 7.  

A Featured event of the festival this year is the premiere of Donald Steven Olsen’s new musical play, TRANSFORMATION: THE Christine Jorgensen Show. This special event will have three showings in NYC: Thursday, April 27 @ 6:15 pm; Friday, April 28 @ 8:30 p.m.; Saturday, April 29 @ 1:00 p.m.  

Nicola Gorham will be stepping into the lead role of Christine Jorgensen.  She was in a New York state of mind when she moved here to attend drama school from Canada.  Once Ms. Gorham took a bite out of The Big Apple, she found it was too delicious to leave behind.  This stage, screen and cabaret performer graciously shared her thoughts about her career and this show with us.

     “My name is Nicola Gorham. I’m an actor and Cabaret/performance artist. I grew up in Vancouver, Canada before moving to New York to attend drama school and never left!”

     This piece is about an historical figure who could be considered controversial.  Sometimes that comes with an extra sense of responsibility on the part of the artist when presenting the character.  Portraying a real person also impacts the creative process for some.  Ms. Gorham weighs in on these issues.  “Certainly the fact that Christine Jorgensen is an historical figure affects the process for me quite a bit. There are so many interviews available and that really informs a lot of, not only how she spoke and her mannerisms, but also gives a great deal of insight as to how she was able to cope with the position she was in. I’ve really learned a lot by reading between the lines of those interviews and there’s a lot going on.”

     “For me, this is not a controversial topic. As a trans woman, I don’t consider my lineage controversial – I don’t consider being trans controversial. If a group of people want to scream that the existence of trans people is intolerable then they’re bigots, but from my perspective, it doesn’t make the topic of us controversial. Controversy usually takes the humanity and the heart out of a thing and this play is full of humanity and full of heart. I guess if I considered it to be controversial, I’d have to consider myself to be controversial and I’m just not willing to invite that kind of cancer into my psyche.”

     Ms. Gorham hopes that the audience will empathize with and connect positively with the character that she is portraying.  “I suppose I’d want people to be aware of the difficulty that Christine Jorgensen experienced and the amount of courage it took to put herself in the public forum in a time that was so cut off from her, and all queer people, and their personhood. I’d want people to experience a fully realized trans person having a fully realized connection with another human being and recognize the universal humanity of that.”

     Ms. Gorham has some great future projects lined up and one is a family affair.  “I’ll be working on a show with BIg Art Group in the spring and will appear at Joe’s Pub on July 30th with my sister, Enid Ellen in our show called “Flowers and Ice: A Celebration Of Tori Amos”.”

      Spring is a time of transformation and the perfect time to see Transformation: The Christine Jorgensen Show

You can catch it on The Fresh Fruit Festival’s Mainstage at The Wild Project, 195 E 3rd St.

Thursday, April 27 @ 6:15 pm; Friday, April 28 @ 8:30 p.m.; Saturday, April 29 @ 1:00 p.m.