Kolton Krouse of DBH no longer participating in show bows

[Owen22]

Posted: 3/16/25 at 4:40pm

The very talented non-binary ensemble performer, currently in Death Becomes Her, has been getting some boos and a drop in applause during their curtain call bows, so they've taken to their Insta to proclaim they have decided to not participate for the moment.  This is Trump's America and I guess it's becoming Trump's broadway.

[MasterThespian 2]

Posted: 3/16/25 at 5:05pm

It’s like a fungus infecting more and more of America. This country is becoming less recognizable—and admirable—by the day. 

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 3/16/25 at 5:22pm

The crimson dunce cap of bigotry, worn by the damned, worshiped by the brain-dead, and crowned upon the unwashed masses of hate. They kneel before the Mango Sociopath, chanting lies, baptizing themselves in ignorance, and mistaking their cowardice for conviction.

MAGA isn't a movement, it's a plague. A festering wound on history, oozing hate, rotting morals, and reeking of failed ancestors. And when the reckoning comes, they'll weep, gnash their teeth, and realize too late: they sold their souls for a conman's circus act.

Despicable. 

Updated On: 3/16/25 at 05:22 PM

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 3/16/25 at 6:18pm

But performing for them (and taking a paycheck from their ticket sales) is okay?

[perfectliar]

Posted: 3/16/25 at 6:25pm

BorisTomashevsky said: "But performing for them (and taking a paycheck from their ticket sales) is okay?"

Girl, GTFO with your false (and stupid) equivalency.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 3/16/25 at 6:38pm

BorisTomashevsky said: "But performing for them (and taking a paycheck from their ticket sales) is okay?"

Yeah actually it is. They're there to perform, not be harassed. I don't know why you think Queer people should be destitute because they don't want to expose themselves to ****ty situations. They deal with more outright and unabashed Transophobia in their day to day lives, this is a situation that they can control. 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 3/16/25 at 7:00pm

I feel bad for Kolton to have to go through this. However, after seeing the show yesterday, how would anyone know Kolton is non-binary just by watching the show? And considering how LGBTQ+ friendly this show is, why would anyone against this community insist on seeing the show?

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 3/16/25 at 7:07pm

BorisTomashevsky said: "But performing for them (and taking a paycheck from their ticket sales) is okay?"

You are an idiot.

[merle57]

Posted: 3/16/25 at 7:25pm

The culture of the country is changing drastically. San Francisco's Gay Price Parade has lost several of its corporate sponsors (like Meta/Facebook), but also many local Bay Area businesses. 

Trump and MAGA have given permission for hatred and prejudice to thrive, just as McCarthyism did in the 1950s. 

Whoever thought Hammerstein's lyric from South Pacific would prove so relevant today: "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught" to hate and fear .... 

Why is no leader emerging to take the lead against this?  

[MasterThespian 2]

Posted: 3/16/25 at 7:36pm

Open hate and bigotry, which have always existed just below the surface in this country are quickly bubbling to the surface. Trump lovers now have full permission to infect America with their twisted views. 
We’re watching it unfold in real-time. A once great nation is in undeniable decline. A nation that is watching its global respect and influence dwindle. A global pariah. A global laughingstock.

merle57 said: "The culture of the country is changing drastically. San Francisco's GayPrice Parade has lost several of its corporate sponsors (like Meta/Facebook), but also many local Bay Area businesses.

Trump and MAGA have given permission for hatred and prejudice to thrive, just as McCarthyism did in the 1950s.

Whoever thought Hammerstein's lyric from South Pacific would prove so relevant today: "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught" to hate and fear ....

Why is no leader emerging to take the lead against this? "

 

[FANtomFollies]

Posted: 3/16/25 at 7:51pm

This is very sad. We are in such a strange time where this is happening, but also Jinkx Monsoon is about to open in a leading role in a musical just blocks away. It's also still a huge win the Kolton has been booked consistently in tv/film and theater. When I was growing up I had never heard of or seen anyone that was non binary. I guess I'm just trying to cling to the positives.

[BroadwayRox3588]

Posted: 3/16/25 at 10:31pm

ACL2006 said: "how would anyone know Kolton is non-binary just by watching the show?"

This part, tho. 

[Mr. Wormwood]

Posted: 3/17/25 at 12:41am

ACL2006 said: "I feel bad for Kolton to have to go through this. However, after seeing the show yesterday, how would anyone know Kolton is non-binary just by watching the show? And considering how LGBTQ+ friendly this show is, why would anyone against this community insist on seeing the show?"

This is the same thing I'm wondering. I'm not doubting that life is and will continue to be harder for people who are non-binary but I just can't imagine many MAGA people who would act despicable actually attending Death Becomes Her? Even if they're going to Broadway shows, it doesn't seem like they'd be at that show.... and then even if they were, they are fine with it all except to not applaud one performer? It all strikes me as a little weird...

Updated On: 3/17/25 at 12:41 AM

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 3/17/25 at 3:18am

BroadwayRox3588 said: "ACL2006 said: "how would anyone know Kolton is non-binary just by watching the show?"

This part, tho."

Based on show photos and their Instagram page, Kolton presents as female both in the production and off-stage, and I imagine that most audience members - except perhaps for those in the first few rows - would just assume they are a woman. They also do not share their pronouns in their program bio...I am curious happened during their solo bow recently, as well as how anyone would even know their gender identity unless they went out of their way to find out. Sad and strange.

[witchoftheeast2]

Posted: 3/17/25 at 9:16am

It's the way people are so pressed about what's between someones legs that is truly, deeply baffling to me 

[theatreguy12]

Posted: 3/17/25 at 12:51pm

witchoftheeast2 said: "It's the way people are so pressed about what's between someones legs that is truly, deeply baffling to me"

I know. Taking that comment solely out of context it sounds rather ironic.

Gay men judge other men on that very thing all the time. lol. They will even narrow their dating choices down and judge others based solely on that very thing.  That thing is power.

So I guess a lot of people are "press"ing themselves over what's between someone's legs.  They're just doing it for different reasons.  

 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 3/17/25 at 2:57pm

I have not seen the show and had never heard of Kolton Krause before this subject appeared.  I am politically a liberal, who hates Trump and his cronies more than I thought humanly possible.  I think the entire mess around the Kennedy Center is despicable and will probably destroy the intent of the honor.  (I can just imagine who the honorees will be this year).

That said, I do not believe that the audience composition has changed dramatically since the election., especially for a show which people on this board have touted as being so gay-embracing, for want of a better term. 

I find it really hard to believe that Kolton was booed because of being binary.  Is it possible -- remember that I have not seen the show -- that Kolton plays a character the audience hates and that the applause are directed at the character, not the actor?  Is it possible that there is another reason for the booing?  How widespread was the booing?

These are the same audiences who gave wild applause to J Harrison Ghee in Some Like it Hot and the tryout for Midnight.  It just seems strange to me.  

Did this happen at many performances?  Was it a large number of people or a few, who may be attacking Kolton for a different reason?

I am sure that I am coming across as a Pollyanna, but it just doesn't make sense, even given everything that has happened recently.  (I have to admit that a thought just entered my mind that there is some highly planned Nazi-like campaign that is just starting and that Kolton is the first target, but I would like to think that is not the case...it just seems too bizarre (even though I, along with everyone else on this board, have asked myself in the past how the Germans actually voted in the Nazis almost 100 years ago)...

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 3/17/25 at 3:09pm

The video clips of the bows on YouTube don't represent Kolton's statement (not that it hasn't happened).  

The clips seem to show the opposite.  Fem(ale) ensemble bow as a group, then individually, with Kolton last. Then male representing ensemble  Kolton seemed to receive the biggest applause of the fem ensemble members. 

Gee, Newell and even Monsoon may handle momentary negativity better if they have received similar feedback during bows?  To my knowledge I have never heard this negativity myself, nor others I know. (not that it hasn't/doesn't happen).  The two times we have seen DBH there was nothing but love for the show and its performers. 

It's great production allows Kolton to not bow if they are uncomfortable, for whatever reason.

Updated On: 3/17/25 at 03:09 PM

[OhHiii]

Posted: 3/17/25 at 3:13pm

Doesn't matter if any of you understand or agree with Kolton's decision. The decision is theirs alone and looking at the state of the climate in this country, if you can find blame in this decision, you may be part of the problem.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 3/17/25 at 3:49pm

OhHiii said: "Doesn't matter if any of you understand or agree with Kolton's decision. The decision is theirs alone and looking at the state of the climate in this country, if you can find blame in this decision, you may be part of the problem."

The jump from not understanding Kolton’s decision to “blaming” Kolton is a big one. It’s comments like these that we can point to and see why we are where we are in the country sometimes: is all nuance lost?

 

I don’t see anyone blaming Kolton here, but wondering what may have happened that caused it, and if, indeed, audiences have become that much more hateful and conservative. J Harrison Ghee was beloved in Some Like It Hot, and audiences who ate up Jinkx Monsoon’s fantastic work in Little Shop and Chicago (two long running shows that are likely attracting a larger percentage of tourist La in their audiences), so it’s a bit confusing. I’m wondering if there is some context missing, if anyone was at the shows where this happened, or if indeed audiences have become that much more hateful in so short a time.

 

Regardless of the explanation it breaks my heart that Kolton is feeling this is necessary to protect their peace and mental health and I wish them well. 

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 3/17/25 at 10:04pm

I feel that there is a difference in their roles that command respect irregardless of their identity. You would not really get away with disrespecting Jinkx and Gee because they are the Star, and they both were on Broadway in a different time despite how recent it actually was. Kolton is in the ensemble which is always the group that gets the least respect despite being some of the hardest working on the show. Were these incidents only a few and isolated? Very possible, but as it stands now that can be all it takes for someone to feel like they may be in danger or doing it again may be triggering for them.

Especially right now with a government making very pointed and exacting efforts to make a Trans/Queer/Gender Diverse experience a dangerous and (should they get their way) a criminal act. So some people need to preserve their sanity by doing what makes them feel safe. 

[ivy3]

Posted: 3/17/25 at 10:23pm

The Distinctive Baritone said: "BroadwayRox3588 said: "ACL2006 said: "how would anyone know Kolton is non-binary just by watching the show?"

This part, tho."

Based on show photos and their Instagram page, Kolton presents as female both in the production and off-stage, and I imagine that most audience members - except perhaps for those in the first few rows - would just assume they are a woman. They also do not share their pronouns in their program bio...I am curious happened during their solo bow recently, as well as how anyone would even know their gender identity unless they went out of their way to find out. Sad and strange."

Kolton is a male name. If someone looks to the Playbill and sees a female presenting person with a male name they can easily conclude that person must be non-binary or trans without knowing anything about that person or needing to show any effort to find out. 

 

[Islander_fan]

Posted: 3/18/25 at 12:11am

ivy3 said: "The Distinctive Baritone said: "BroadwayRox3588 said: "ACL2006 said: "how would anyone know Kolton is non-binary just by watching the show?"

This part, tho."

Based on show photos and their Instagram page, Kolton presents as female both in the production and off-stage, and I imagine that most audience members - except perhaps for those in the first few rows - would just assume they are a woman. They also do not share their pronouns in their program bio...I am curious happened during their solo bow recently, as well as how anyone would even know their gender identity unless they went out of their way to find out. Sad and strange."

Kolton is a male name. If someone looks to the Playbill and sees a female presenting person with a male name they can easily conclude that person must be non-binary or trans without knowing anything about that person or needing to show any effort to find out.

"

If wishing only made it so. The average layperson  attending the theatre, see that Kolton presents themselves as female and just simply assume it’s a woman. They wouldn’t assume anything as it relates to being non binary or trans. That very well may be a sad commentary to make and a thought process that I strongly disagree with. Yet, I still feel that, though it may be wrong, that that is their line of thinking but sadly it is.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 3/18/25 at 1:00am

Yeah, Kolton strikes me as a gender neutral name - male(ish) sounding but often give to female children, i.e. Madison, Kennedy, etc. 

[ivy3]

Posted: 3/18/25 at 1:38am

It isn't a gender neutral name. It is a spelling variation of Colton which is 99%+ male name. For example Casey is a gender neutral name with 60% male , 40% female split. 

Anyway some previous posts said it would require significant effort to figure out Kolton's gender identity. All I'm saying it might be as simple as checking the Playbill and seeing the name.