A NEW MUSICAL

by 

Donald Loftus & Steve Zackim

 Decades before Ru Paul or Dame Edna, there was Julian Eltinge. He was not a “drag queen.” At the turn of the 20th century, he was a highly respected stage and screen actor specializing in female roles. Before moving on to Hollywood, he conquered vaudeville, burlesque, Broadway, and legitimate theatres worldwide. He became one of the highest-paid entertainers in the world, at the level of Charlie Chaplin, Mae West, and Fanny Brice. He even had a Broadway theatre named after him. Yet today, nobody knows his name. 

“ILLUSION” explores the life of Julian Eltinge, beginning as a young gay boy in Boston in 1890. The son of a drunken, homophobic, Irish immigrant father and an abused mother, he worked hard and eventually achieved the fame and fortune described above. Then, it all came crashing down in the 1920s when numerous notorious scandals rocked Hollywood. These scandals brought widespread condemnation from religious, civic, and political organizations and resulted in new restrictions for the film industry. It became illegal for a man to dress as a woman, which Mr. Eltinge had built his entire career on. His life had touched and enriched the lives of many, although he never fully realized the impact he had made. In the end, he died nearly penniless after achieving so much. Through it all, he just wanted someone to notice him. Cast: 7 Men & 6 Women