By Canadian Press

“Transparent” musical finale gives cast a chance to heal

Jul 29, 2019 | 3:07 PM

LOS ANGELES — Wrapping up five seasons of an award-winning series with a musical is a risk that only Amazon’s “Transparent” could take.

Risks are part of the show’s DNA, said series creator Jill Soloway.

“We were all just kind of flying in our risk spaces,” Soloway said of creating the finale, “and today, we are still flying in our risk spaces by having made a musical as a way to say farewell to this family.”

Actor Jay Duplass added that, after several seasons of pushing boundaries, upon hearing the idea he thought: “That’s nuts, and it totally makes sense, and that’s what we have to do.”

Soloway joined sibling and executive producer Faith Soloway, as well as the cast of the Amazon series, during a Television Critics Association meeting to talk about the fitting conclusion for the characters as they mourn the loss of one of the show’s central characters.

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The finale begins with the death of Maura, played by Jeffrey Tambor, who left the show last year after allegations of sexual harassment on set. Approaching the death of Tambor’s character with a musical gave the cast a creative outlet to also mourn their own loss, Jill Soloway said.

“Our cast is mourning Maura, and as actors and creators, we’re mourning what happened with our show,” Jill Soloway said on Tambor’s exit, adding: “It was a chance to heal together.”

The “Transparent” musical finale, which debuts Sept. 27, concludes a series that broke barriers with its representation of LGBTQ characters on screen. The show exits the television scene with others in its wake, including Ryan Murphy’s award-winning “Pose.”

While Jill Soloway said they don’t take responsibility for the push toward more representation on screen, they are grateful to have been a part of that conversation.

“I feel more like a child in awe than parental. I came to all of this so late in my life. I wasn’t even queer until my late 40s,” Jill Soloway said. “So I couldn’t take responsibility for this revolution. I have always felt just in awe.”

Katie Campione, The Associated Press