4 minute read
A LONG ROAD
FAYE WHEELER: PIC by LIVIA SMITH
One trans woman’s search for fulfilment in the career of her dreams
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Faye Wheeler fell in love with musical theatre as a child when she saw her first ever show, The Lion King, and now, at the age of 27, she has finally been able to realise her dream of beginning to forge a career in the industry.
But it’s been a tough journey, from attending a mime class in Beckenham as a child, through various theatre schools, to discovering her trans identity and finally graduating from the drama school of her dreams, Mountview, last year.
The path started with BRIT Kids, a class for youngsters wanting to explore their creativity, where Faye was involved in acting, singing and dancing, all of which fuelled her passion.
“When I was in year 11 I decided I wanted to go to the main Brit School full time, training in musical theatre on top of A Level studies. I got in for year 12 and 13 and did a BTEC in musical theatre. From that, because they train you to get into doing BA courses and further ed, everyone was applying to drama school. I got quite a few knockbacks and was seeing friends getting places,” says Faye. She secured a place at a dance school on a three-year course, but halfway through the year was struggling with her mental health. “I didn’t realise about my trans identity so was presenting as male at the time – another confusing thing in itself.”
This wasn’t helped by the fact that the classes were single sex. “I more related to the girls so found that really hard, being in a room full of testosterone. I felt I needed to drop out just before I finished first year.”
After taking some time out she applied for another university course in musical theatre in Chichester, but dealing with her identity, trying to make new friends and being far from her Croydon home all took a toll and again she had to drop out.
But then things began to look up. “In the summer of 2015 I was working out my identity and found out what transgender meant and that there was a whole community out there. I came out as trans to my family, who were very supportive. Before coming out I had applied to a pop music school (BIMM, the British and Irish Institute of Modern Music) in London to get my vocals more rounded so I could sing any genre. I hadn’t come out as trans when I got the place but in 2015 just before I was going to go to the school foundation course I changed my name and everything and the college was very supportive. I went there for four years and when I graduated in 2019 it was the first time I felt I had achieved something as myself.
“When I came out as trans I thought that would be it as far as a musical theatre career was concerned as I had never seen a trans person in musical theatre as far as I was aware. I decided I would stick to pop music vocals and see if could make career in that as I thought the industry might be more accepting of trans people.”
But that didn’t feel right for Faye as she missed “performing and being on stage and in character and costume”, so musical theatre beckoned once more and she began again applying to drama schools. “Mountview [in Peckham] had always been my dream. It was the first of my auditions and a week later I found out I had got a place so I cancelled all the other auditions.”
One of the course leaders was an advocate for trans inclusivity and Faye took part in a play with an all-trans cast – And the Rest of Me Floats.
“I graduated in 2020. I’m 27 now – it’s been a long road, but I had the most amazing time. I had quite a few breakdowns as it was such an intensive course. I learned so much there.”
And there had been other obstacles to overcome when the pandemic hit. “They announced they would be closing the school at the end of the week and we all went home on the Tuesday thinking we had a few days left with our peers but then they had to fully close because there were a couple of coronavirus cases. That was quite devastating, we had to reset to doing everything online. It was so weird.”
But Faye’s career has now begun. She’s just finished her first payed-for project, a Zoom play tackling transphobia – Lost Phone by JB Pichelski – and there are potential plans for it out of lockdown. It was shown over four nights with an audience of about 50 on each. And at the beginning of March she was cast in a graduate concert at Cadogan Hall, singing Journey to the Past from Anastasia. The event, by Ameena Hamid Productions and The Grad Fest, was to raise money for the charity Acting for Others, and Faye was one of just 40 graduates out of 200 applicants to get a role. It is available to stream from March 29–April 4.
And the future? “My huge goal is the West End. I want to raise more awareness around inclusive casting and be a voice for the trans community.”
Photography by Livia Smith www.instagram.com/liviamsmith/
i Follow Faye: www.instagram.com/fayewheeler_/
Faye is represented by YOU Management
Faye Wheeler
Picture by Livia Smith
