After this week’s commemoration of International Transgender Day of Visibility, it’s a perfect time to consider Paul E. Alexander’s “Indelible” — a forum for trans people to tell the world (or at least those gathered at the Gene Frankel Theatre on the Lower East Side) who they are.
The format is simple: As each performer takes their place behind the mic and tells their story, sometimes with accompanying images projected behind them.
Alexander, who has had success as part of an international disco combo “The Ones” and had a nice run of his original musical “Trinkets,” was inspired to create the show by two of his trans friends as he listened to their chatter during a drive upstate.
“The conversations they had were just so fascinating,” he says. “And when the Trump administration started trying to get rid of trans people, I just had the inspiration that if people only knew them, they wouldn’t be afraid of them. … I just wanted to have a place where people could hear trans people talk and understand that they’re not so crazy. And even if they are crazy, they’re not harming anyone.”
“Indelible” has been presented three times so far, including last week, and Alexander plans to continue showcasing different speakers every few months.
The most recent production, on March 25, included Rev. Kyle Applegate, Norell Gardner, Zephyr (aka Mr. Eagle), Kristen Lovell, Michele Brilliant and Sandy Michelle. Videos were contributed by Connie Fleming, Dominique Silver, and Vanessa Ashley Paris. There are always a lot of personalities to deal with, but Alexander manages to deal with all of the “nail-biting, getting all the ducks lined up, putting out the little fires that come.”
But, he says, “Normally everyone’s very loving and sweet, especially during the show. Not really had any divas.”
Zephyr, aka Mr. Eagle 2025,Photo by Bob Krasner 
Norell Gardner telling her storyPhoto by Bob Krasner 
“Indelible” creator Paul E. AlexanderPhoto by Bob Krasner 
Paul E. Alexander (far right) thanking the performersPhoto by Bob Krasner
Alexander has found his performers mostly by word of mouth, and some audience members, like Michelle, asked to be in it after seeing the second show. She wasn’t particularly nervous as she had “been on TV talks with a live audience of strangers, so this was no different.”
And if she were to give any advice to someone else who would be in that spotlight, it would be to “have an interesting story to keep the audience on their feet.”
It is what you can expect from someone who introduces herself as “Anyway, for those of you who don’t know me, I’m the infamous, scandalous, legendary and notorious Sandy Michelle.”
Gardner noted in her reading that “looking back on my daydreams, I distinctly remember that I was always a little girl. I was never a little boy, not once was I a boy in my daydreams. I’d imagine myself showing up for school, events, for holidays with the family. Pretty. Admired. Loved. Instead, I showed up as a sad, repressed, scared, little boy.”
Gardner says that she “enjoyed telling my story very much. I’m writing an upcoming show ‘Transgendersorous Wrecks’ followed by a book and it was good to see people’s reaction to my work. It’s a very freeing and exhilarating experience, and the Gene Frankel Theatre was a perfect venue for this event.”
“It takes confidence to get on stage and share intimate details about yourself,” admits Lovell. “ I think that sharing stories is one of the earliest forms of entertainment. It’s important to share experiences… it was a full house, and I’m glad that people were willing to experience it.”
Rev. Kyle ApplegatePhoto by Bob Krasner 
Sandy MichellePhoto by Bob Krasner 
Michele Brilliant reminiscing about long ago mammariesPhoto by Bob Krasner 
Kristen Lovell.Photo by Bob Krasner
Artistic Director Gail Thacker notes the importance of a show like this.
“Bringing our LGBTQ+ community together as a whole and creating a space for cis people to come into closer familiarity with our community feels essential in a political climate where our government is busy dividing us,” Thacker says. “Dividing us is one of the oldest tricks in the book: divide and conquer. I was not going to have that at 24 Bond Street, where our history stands for the opposite.”
And, she adds, “This is what I find collaborative projects bring: a community. Giving voice to all.”
Brilliant, who recounted their journey from changing their haircuts to changing their body, says that “telling my story makes me feel even better about myself. I love myself more because there are others out there that can relate to what I have gone through, and if I can make someone laugh and feel better about who they are, then I have done what I was born to do.”
Although they admitted to feeling nervous before going on, they just “take a breath and speak my truth. We are all beautiful, and that’s what the room is filled with.”
Audience member Amanda Rubin definitely saw the beauty in the room.
“I found it fascinating, especially the trans men,” she said. “I thought it very sad that so many kids were not allowed to explore who they were. It seems totally ridiculous to me that being a man or a woman or gender fluid is really such a big deal that kids are thwarted when they feel the draw so strongly.”
Rev. Kyle Applegate, a seminary-trained interfaith minister, is the only reader who has been a constant in all the shows.
“I am very comfortable in telling my story,” he notes, “as I have done a lot of public speaking, including keynote speaker at polyamory conferences, the Albert Einstein School of Medicine, The Human Library and several unitarian churches. The more talks I do helps me to feel more confident about it, and people’s reactions show me that what I’m doing makes a difference.”
Applegate, who also happens to be a nun with The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, ends each show with a blessing.
It went, in part, like this: “Today, we witnessed human stories and hopefully learned new insights into a community that walks among us. Today we stand before you naked in our humanity, but empowered with the sacred gift of insight, which is our superpower. Trans people are just people. We are not a threat to society, we’re not a mistake. We are valuable, we are essential and we are not going anywhere. My brothers and sisters, let the resilience that you’ve witnessed today evoke courage to face your own fears and sorrows in the coming weeks. And may the love we feel in this room stay in our hearts and spread beyond this space, out into our communities. Amen, women, everybody. Thank you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you.”
Future shows will be announced on Alexander’s Instagram, @opaltuesday.