Asexuality! The Solo Musical

[NoHo Arts District, CA] – “Top of the Fringe” winner and transgender artist Rebecca McGlynn uses original music and comedy to explore asexuality in a hypersexual world in this new solo show, “Asexuality! The Solo Musical” at the Hollywood Fringe Festival.

Rebecca McGlynn not only spent much of her youth as a female trapped in a male body, she also tried to understand where exactly she fit on the sexuality spectrum. She wasn’t “straight, gay or bi,” she wasn’t sexually active, she wasn’t understood by peers who were at the height of their sexuality, and as such she felt a profound sense of loneliness. That changed when she became involved in theatre, more specifically the solo theatre community.

“I knew I had to do a show about my experience with sexual identity,” McGlynn said. “Especially since asexuality is something a lot of people don’t know even exists.”

As such, “Asexuality! The Solo Musical” is making its world premiere this June at studio/stage as part of the Hollywood Fringe Festival.

Written and performed by McGlynn, a celebrated transgender artist (co-writer and producer of “Top of the Fringe” winner “My Big Fat Blonde Musical”), “Asexuality! The Solo Musical” is a new autobiographical musical comedy about Rebecca’s pre-transition life. The story follows Robert, an asexual man navigating a hypersexual world. Through music and comedy, he explores sex, romance, gender roles, toxic masculinity and heartbreak…and, eventually, her true gender identity.

“The show explores sexuality and gender identity, and really explores how toxic masculinity hurts those of us assigned male at birth,” McGlynn said. “It also touches on romanticized love, depression, consent, healing, and the importance of representation of queer people in popular culture.”

While the show definitely tackles some heavier themes, McGlynn relies on her musical training and comedic chops to present a truly unique solo show. She interacts with herself via multimedia projections, sings duets (of both poignant and humorous songs) with herself, and has in-depth conversations…with her (and Robert’s) genitalia.

A true multi-hyphenate, McGlynn is a transgender queer writer-actor-songwriter-cinematographer-editor (in no particular order) working in film and TV production in Los Angeles. She co-wrote the book, music and lyrics for 2016 “Top of the Fringe” winner “My Big Fat Blonde Musical.” She is also a classically trained singer, an Emmy-nominated photojournalist, and (in certain circles) a “Sound Goddess.” Directing McGlynn is Fringe veteran and Soaring Solo instructor Heather Dowling (“Unemployed Finally,” “Fertile”)

A reading of the show debuted last December as part of Soaring Solo’s virtual reading series “Revealed.” McGlynn is also performing a 10-minute excerpt on April 30 as part of the Joshua Tree Solo Festival. She is thrilled to bring the full show to the Fringe community and hopes it’s the first of many festivals for the show. She’s excited to see how patrons respond to it.

“I hope audiences come away from my show with a new perspective, especially if they are unfamiliar with asexuality and/or transgender issues,” she said. “I hope to offer a sense of forgiveness, both for oneself and others. And I hope at least a few people leave humming one of these fun tunes!”