Someone has actually made an opera based on Grindr
An opera based on hook-up app Grindr could soon be heading to a theatre near you.
Musical ‘GRINDR the opera’ – an unauthorised examination of the life of men using the app – made its debut in New York this week.
The show, which was created by composer Erik Ransom and director Rachel Klein, features men who represent some of the app’s ‘tribes’ – including a bear, a twink and a ‘discreet’ married man.
Mr Ransom told the Guardian that the show aims to use Grindr as an exploration of identity beyond just a cheap gimmick.
He said: “I went on to see what it was about, and I saw some of the profiles, some of which were very bleak and desperate.
“I just thought, ‘there’s something very operatic about this’.”
The composer says the show will explore the different identities of the characters, with the ‘twink’ challenging people’s conceptions.
He said: “We learn about how he got pigeonholed into that subculture and how he embraced it. There are dark avenues that this goes down.”
Rachel Klein explained: “It has pathos, a story and clearly drawn layered character… but that’s not something you think of when you think of Grindr. Because that gives you only the one-sentence description. And this articulates why they choose what they say.”
The pair held a staged reading of the show in New York this week, hosted by Randy Jones of the Village People – and the pair hope to catch the eye of Broadway.
Ransom joked: “I imagine one day, when the show is running, instead of programs we’ll just have Grindr accounts with the actor’s bios.”
Watch as song from the opera below, about gay dating predecessor ‘Manhunt’:
