After a hugely successful run, groundbreaking Amazon series Transparent will end on a musical note - and without the show's former star, Jeffrey Tambor.
Speaking with the L.A. Times, Transparent creator Jill Soloway shared that lead character Maura Pfefferman (played by Tambor) will die off-screen at the beginning of the show's two-hour movie conclusion, which will then focus on the Pfefferman family’s grieving process.
“We were all in mourning in many ways, and we all had to process together,” Soloway said. “The show has always been a reflection of who we were, and we were mourning our own narrative.”
Titled The Transparent Musicale Finale, the show's sing-along final chapter will feature Judith Light, Amy Landecker, Jay Duplass, and Gaby Hoffmann, as well as guest stars including Cherry Jones, Tig Notaro, Alexandra Billings, and Trace Lysette.
On the decision to make the finale a musical event, Soloway explained: “People say when they’re making musicals that there are moments when the characters have to sing because they can’t put something into words. I think it’s the same thing with what our show went through, we felt like we needed a different way of looking at the family. And we did it through song."
Soloway has collaborated with trans performer Shakina Nayfack for the finale's music, describing it as “Jesus Christ Superstar mixed with La La Land mixed with Flight of the Conchords with something more Jewish thrown in… a little Yentl.”
Tambor was removed from the program when, in 2017, allegations of sexual misconduct were made by his former assistant Van Barnes and Transparent co-star Trace Lysette.
“I am profoundly disappointed in Amazon’s handling of these false accusations against me,” Tambor said in a statement at the time. “I am even more disappointed in Jill Soloway’s unfair characterisation of me as someone who would ever cause harm to any of my fellow castmates.”
