New York Times bestselling author, teacher, arts enthusiast, and LGBTQ+ rights advocate Chasten Buttigieg, who also has a theatre background that includes working with kids with autism, will share, in a moderated conversation, his experiences with theatre at an event associated with What if Wilhelmina, the latest musical production of the Michigan State University Department of Theatre’s Sense-Ability Ensemble, which creates multisensory, interactive theatrical performances specifically designed for audiences that are neurodiverse.
Buttigieg, who is married to former mayor and presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, also will discuss the importance of LGBTQ+ allyship and representation along with the ways advocacy can have an impact on young lives.
This event, titled “Can We Talk? with Chasten Buttigieg” and presented by Michigan State University’s College of Arts & Letters and the Department of Theatre, is Saturday, March 16, at 7:30 p.m. in the Pasant Theatre of the Wharton Center for Performing Arts, which will follow the 6 p.m. performance of What if Wilhelmina in the Arena Theatre of the MSU Auditorium Building that same day.
The What if Wilhelmina musical is adapted from the critically acclaimed children’s book by the same name that was written by Joseph Belisle. The story, based on Belisle’s own life, centers on a same-sex married couple (both white males) and their adopted African American daughter, named Faith.
“What is wonderful about the book, and now the musical, is that neither are about those facts – they are, simply, circumstances of the story. Much of the children’s literature that feature LGBTQ+ themes are about having two dads, being different, etc. This book presents a normal family experiencing something we all have experienced,” said Dionne O’Dell, Artistic Director of the Sense-Ability Ensemble. “The book and musical are about the day their cat, Wilhelmina, went missing and the worry and anxiety that Faith experienced. The book is connected to the Sense-Ability Ensemble’s mission, as many of the kids who are neurodiverse that we work with experience a lot of worry.”
“I have admired his advocacy, the way he has used his platform to call attention to LGBTQ+ issues, taken a stance against book banning, and how he has spoken about what it means to be an ally in action – not just in word. This is something the Sense-Ability Ensemble continually strives to do through performance.”
Dionne O’Dell, Artistic Director of the Sense-Ability Ensemble
MSU is one of the very few universities in the country creating work from the ground up for audiences that are neurodiverse.
“To have this show featured in the main stage season sets a wonderful and necessary example of inclusion,” O’Dell said.
Born and raised in Traverse City, Michigan, Chasten Buttigieg is a former middle school drama and humanities teacher. He also has a bachelor’s degree in Theatre and Global Studies from the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire and a master’s degree in Education from DePaul University.
His husband’s historic run for president in 2019 as the first openly gay man to launch a presidential campaign catapulted the couple onto the national stage. Chasten Buttigieg has leveraged his platform to bring attention to improving public schools, access to arts education, and mental healthcare. He also has been vocal online in his criticism of the recent rise in anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and its damaging effects on families, schools, and communities, especially the mental health of LGBTQ+ youth.
Chasten Buttigieg published his first book, I Have Something to Tell You: A Memoir, in 2020, which became an instant New York Times bestseller. In this moving and uplifting memoir, Buttigieg recall his upbringing in rural northern Michigan and recounts his coming out and journey to find acceptance as a gay man, detailing significant traumatic events in his life including bullying, estrangement, homelessness, and sexual assault. Two years after the book was published, he adapted it for a young adult audience. This second book, I Have Something to Tell You – For Young Adults: A Memoir, was released in May 2023.
Since the release of his second book, Buttigieg has been on a sold-out book tour across the country, and in October 2023, he received the Dennis Dougherty Award for Community Leadership presented by the Matthew Shepard Foundation.
“This event is an example of how faculty-led work with students in the arts can connect our community to larger societal conversations. The role of the Theatre Department and, more broadly, the arts at MSU are, in part, to tell stories that reflect upon the world we live.”
Stephen Di Benedetto, Chairperson of the Department of Theatre
“I first read about Chasten Buttigieg having a theatre degree and working with kids with autism when I read his husband Pete Buttigieg’s book, Shortest Way Home. He has been on my radar ever since,” O’Dell said. “Now with his own memoir, I Have Something to Tell You, I have admired his advocacy, the way he has used his platform to call attention to LGBTQ+ issues, taken a stance against book banning, and how he has spoken about what it means to be an ally in action – not just in word. This is something the Sense-Ability Ensemble continually strives to do through performance.”
During his visit to MSU, Buttigieg also will meet with LGBTQ+ groups on campus and with Department of Theatre students.
The March 16 talk will be a Q&A format that will be moderated by O’Dell.
“This event is an example of how faculty-led work with students in the arts can connect our community to larger societal conversations,” said Stephen Di Benedetto, Chairperson of the Department of Theatre at Michigan State University. “The role of the Theatre Department and, more broadly, the arts at MSU are, in part, to tell stories that reflect upon the world we live. Finding ways to help our community and students connect the experiences and content of the artwork presented to larger challenges we face as a nation is part of our mission to help promote change and address what it means to live in our world. This visit will help bring the ideas and community championed within the Theatre Department’s production of What if Wilhelmina to the level of the issues being contended with on the national stage.”
The March 16 event is free and open to the public, but tickets are required. To reserve your seat, visit the Wharton Center for Performing Arts website.
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Written by Kim Popiolek
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