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WATCH: Move over ‘Heartstopper’, a powerful queer teen musical has audiences obsessed

Trevor: The Musical
Holden William Hagelberger, left, and Sammy Dell in Trevor: The Musical. Photo by Joan Marcus

Embattled Disney attempts to amp up its gay game just in time for Pride Month with the June 24 release of Trevor: The Musical, based on the 1994 Academy Award-winning film of the same name.

Dan Collins and Julianne Wick Davis’s new musical originally premiered at Chicago’s Writers Theatre then reopened Off-Broadway at Stage 42. The production follows a similar plotline to the film, which follows what happens to 13-year-old Trevor after it’s revealed that he has a crush on a schoolmate.

Related: Don’t miss these 16 LGBTQ theatrical events of the summer 

It’s said that musicals enable characters the opportunity to express heightened emotion through song, and Trevor: The Musical is no exception. Featuring the original New York cast, including Holden William Hagelberger in the title role, the release brings Trevor’s story and the queer community’s continued battle against bullying back into the spotlight.

Though not connected to the LGBTQ suicide prevention organization, The Trevor Project, whose name is also derived from the film, the musical tackles challenging themes for family-friendly audiences.

Meanwhile, Disney’s queer identity crisis continues to cause strife among fans and critics. On the plus side, Love, Victor returns to Disney+ for its third and final season, and last year the theme parks introduced a more gender-inclusive dress code. But amid Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” legislation, it was discovered that the company donated $190,000 to the state’s Republican party and to a committee to help elect Republican state senators. (Disney later disclosed that it would stop making campaign contributions in the state.)

But back to musicals! Nothing says Pride more than a musical packed with power ballads and dreamy fantasy sequences featuring the character’s pop obsession, Diana Ross. Here’s a first look:

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