Kolton Krouse of DBH no longer participating in show bows — Page 2

Kolton should do whatever they want to feel safe, and there is no question this fascist regime has it out for the trans/nonbinary community.

But this story makes little sense. Of course we could be missing something, but it is unclear what anyone could possibly be doing during a loud raucous curtain call to single out any one performer, let alone on such a consistent basis? Are we meant to believe hostile transphobes are so regularly seeing Death Becomes Her, and so regularly harassing/interrupting a curtain call, without anyone in the audience ever capturing it, reporting it, noticing it?

Again, Kolton should do whatever they want, but this story just isnt clicking (and it doesnt have to, its not our business, except for this performer putting out a statement to make it so).

I want to make this very clear. I do not blame Kolton one little bit for wanting to forego bows for their safety. The fact that transphobia is so rampant in this country makes the fact that they feel they have to take this step (which I believe is a proactive one) is heartbreaking on multiple levels.

That being said, I do not believe that Kolton has been being booed during bows. This is not because of some sort of personal vendetta, or wanting to victim blame, or anything like that. I have heard not one single iota of reporting (outside of the claim from them) of any kind of boos at this show directed at one performer. And given that there are multiple places on the internet that basically serve as Broadway's version of the Ring App (most notably, Broadway sub-Reddit and The Sweaty Nutsack), I think the fact that there haven't been any reports of this is significant. Furthermore, as has been stated by other posters in this thread, Kolton does not reveal their pronouns in their bio – and not just for this show, but for any of their Broadway shows. So taking what I know about the situation, this is me using critical thinking to draw a conclusion based on known factors.

I think Kolton is trying to protect themselves, in the event that something DOES happen. What if someone DOES jump the stage during bows (when performers are most exposed)? What if someone DOES seek them out? That's what I think is happening here. For whatever reason (which, to be clear, is none of any of our business), I think they are disguising a proactive decision as a reactive decision. And it's very likely because this is, they feel, the safest way to go about it. Or at least one would hope that's the reason, as opposed to a Jussie Smollett type of situation (where he just wanted attention). Either way, regardless of the reasoning behind the decision, I think we can all agree that safety is the most important thing.

And obviously we all wish this discussion was not a necessary one to be had, in this context. But unfortunately that is not the world in which we currently live.

MAGAs attend Broadway shows. I know plenty that do. However, odds are MAGAs are not seeing Death Becomes Her. They'll probably stick to the more classic shows like Lion King, Aladdin, Gypsy and Sunset Boulevard.

ACL2006 said: "MAGAs attend Broadway shows. I know plenty thatdo. However, odds are MAGAs are not seeing Death Becomes Her. They'll probably stick to the more classic shows like Lion King, Aladdin, Gypsy and Sunset Boulevard."



In my time there I found they went to see more than just the hit and classic shows. And Death Becomes Her was a popular movie that did well. They also see shows off-Broadway. I know they loved "Avenue Q". They weren't happy when Trumps name was used in "For Now" though!

BroadwayGirl107 said: "I think you don’t know what gaslighting means. Wondering what happened is not gaslighting.


To be fair—Kolton doesn’t owe an explanation beyond what they posted either. But this is a discussion board so people will, well, discuss."



I know exactly what it means, thanks. I wasn't referring to people who are wondering what happened, I was referring to people who are trying to come up with reasons why Kolton shouldn't or doesn't feel uncomfortable despite...saying they are uncomfortable. That would be gaslighting.

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

Jesus Christ. I suppose you would be happier if they refused to sell tickets to your low life MAGA comrades?????

BroadwayRox3588 said: "I want to make this very clear. I do not blame Kolton one little bit for wanting to forego bows for their safety. The fact that transphobia is so rampant in this country makes the fact that they feel they have to take this step (which I believe is a proactive one) is heartbreaking on multiple levels.

That being said, I do not believe that Kolton has been being booed during bows. This is not because of some sort of personal vendetta, or wanting to victim blame, or anything like that. I have heard not one single iota of reporting (outside of the claim from them) of any kind of boos at this show directed at one performer. And given that there are multiple places on the internet that basically serve as Broadway's version of the Ring App (most notably, Broadway sub-Reddit and The Sweaty Nutsack), I think the fact that there haven't been any reports of this is significant. Furthermore, as has been stated by other posters in this thread, Kolton does not reveal their pronouns in their bio – and not just for this show, but for any of their Broadway shows. So taking what I know about the situation, this is me using critical thinking to draw a conclusion based on known factors.

I think Kolton is trying to protect themselves, in the event that something DOES happen. What if someone DOES jump the stage during bows (when performers are most exposed)? What if someone DOES seek them out? That's what I think is happening here. For whatever reason (which, to be clear, is none of any of our business), I think they are disguising a proactive decision as a reactive decision. And it's very likely because this is, they feel, the safest way to go about it. Or at least one would hope that's the reason, as opposed to a Jussie Smollett type of situation (where he just wanted attention).Either way, regardless of the reasoning behind the decision, I think we can all agree that safety is the most important thing.

And obviously we all wish this discussion was not a necessary one to be had, in this context. But unfortunately that is not the world in which we currently live."

On the one hand, I do not walk in Kolton's shoes, and I absolutely believe they should do whatever feels right to them.

On the other hand, the show is running in the middle of super-blue New York City, not Cheyenne, Wyoming. Unless Colton has received threats, I really think they may want to speak with a counselor, to get to the bottom of this concern. I would imagine participation in a curtain call must be an exhilarating way to end a performance's work, and that missing it must be frustrating.

TotallyEffed said: "BroadwayGirl107 said: "I think you don’t know what gaslighting means. Wondering what happened is not gaslighting.

To be fair—Kolton doesn’t owe an explanation beyond what they posted either. But this is a discussion board so people will, well, discuss."

I know exactly what it means, thanks. I wasn't referring to people who are wondering what happened, I was referring to people who are trying to come up with reasons why Kolton shouldn't or doesn't feel uncomfortable despite...saying they are uncomfortable. That would be gaslighting."

Hmm... nope, still no, that's also not what gaslighting means. Questioning someone's reaction is not gaslighting. Disagreeing with the magnitude of someone's reaction is not gaslighting. No one is working to convince Kolton that their reality is invalid, they are questioning K's (publicly shared) response and wondering what the antecedent to this response was.

I will admit that I'm confused by the sequence of events here. Setting aside questions about what has happened so far (how audiences could know that the performer is non-binary, and what has led Kolton to feel unsafe, etc), here are the facts as I understand them: K feels unsafe during a solo bow in the DBH curtain call due to (very real!) prejudice against trans and nb people. The result is that K does not participate in curtain call and announces, via social media, their non-participation in curtain call due to feelings of unsafety.

To me there are a few steps skipped here... I understand that K has an individual bow. Could this be eliminated to increase their perceived safety? I also find myself confused at this point – if the concern is safety from unpredictable audiences, what's to stop an unhinged audience member from attacking mid-show? But actually, my greatest confusion comes from K's choice to announce their non-participation in curtain call via social media. I'm having trouble coming up with reasons that a performer who wants to evade negative attention would announce their abstention from the curtain call, knowing that such an announcement would garner press attention, other than knowing that liberal theatre-goers would uncritically take up their cause and champion them as a martyr of the Trump era.

Updated On: 3/18/25 at 09:05 PM