I didn’t follow the Amazon Prime Video comedy-drama streaming series “Transparent.” The series ended on 27 September 2019 with a feature-length finale: “Musicale Finale.” The “A Transparent Musical”  is a cozy farewell party for Maura’s story, with a book written by series creator Joey Soloway (with MJ Kaufman) and music, lyrics and vocal arrangements by Faith Soloway. The production had its world premiere at the Mark Taper Forum last month.

Directed by Tina Landau, this piece (performed with a 15-minute intermission), is immersive. You’ll want to get there early and you’ll have to undergo a security check before you’re allowed to walk the ramp across the Mark Taper’s moat into the theater. No news of alarming incidents so far. That’s good news for Los Angeles and the Los Angeles theater scene.

Inside, you’ll find the Mark Taper Forum has been decorated (scenic design by Adam Rigg) to resemble a community auditorium for the Jewish Community Center. While the series “Transparent” followed the husband of a Jewish couple in Los Angeles when he, Mort (Jeffrey Tambor),  transitions into a woman, Maura Pfefferman(Jeffrey Tambor), this musical focuses more on the youngest child, Ali Pfefferman (Adina Verson) as she watches her parents Maura (Daya Curley) and Shelly (Liz Larsen) and siblings, oldest Sarah (Sarah Stiles) and middle child Josh, (Zachary Prince), react and re-create their own identities. This is a story of acceptance and self-expression that merges Jewish and queer history and includes a look back into queer German Jewish history.

Specifically, the show includes the portrayal of Magnus Hirschfeld (1868-1935) who was a German physician and sexologist who founded the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee and the World League for Sexual Reform in Berlin. He was both Jewish and gay and fans of the series won’t be surprised here because Hirschfeld (played by Bradley Whitford in the TV streaming series, but Pat Towne in this stage production)  had already appeared in the streaming series as a recurring character during seasons 1 and 2, then supporting in the musical finale.

Fans might feel that these aren’t their beloved characters  from the TV series. For example, Liz Larsen’s Shelly seems more needy of attention, more humorous and less bitter than Judith Light’s.  There has to be a little bit of acceptance here for differing interpretations of the same characters. Not everything is light in this musical. The deeper dwelling dramatic darkness is found in Ali’s research into Magnus.

Critics were given several emails and even a hard copy of instructions about pronouns and spoilers. After reading through, I’ve decided that the Chinese and Japanese had it right. In Japanese, originally there was no he or she. In Chinese, the third person was the same word, originally written the same way. In Japanese, one can choose the appropriate first-person pronoun to signify a variety of things, including formality, age and gender. I wonder if there is as much violence and anger in Japan over these trans and drag matters.

In English, if we are patient and kind, we can still have a good time together, even if sometimes our pronouns aren’t correct. I think the trailer might give you more hints than I’m comfortable revealing with all of the cautions critics have been given. I don’t want to spoil any of the surprises.

This production at the Mark Taper is a safe, fun environment to consider this new jumble of pronoun confusion, gender identity and gender diversity. As a musical, “A Transparent Musical” starts out fun and strong, but sags a bit in the middle. There are some fabulous costumes by Toni-Leslie James. Overall, it makes for a comfy  enjoyable evening if you allow yourself to be accepting of these topics. There is some language “that might be offensive and triggering to a variety of communities” because the terms are transphobic or antisemitic. As with real life, not everyone is accepting of transpeople or Jews. Yet we need sometimes to hear the offensive terms in order to make them part of the discussion.

“A Transparent Musical” continues at the Mark Taper Forum until 25 June 2023. For tickets or more information visit the Center Theatre Group Mark Taper Forum page.