LOS ANGELES — Henrik Egerman of "A Little Night Music" may be a brooding youth, but it is a celebration for Amanda Kruger, a nonbinary actor playing the part.

"I haven't gotten to wear a suit in a production ever," they said, holding up the white turn-of-the-century costume their character wears, complete with cravat, gloves and suspenders. "I never get asked to play roles like Henrik, but often roles like Henrik are the most appropriate for me."   

Their friend and co-star Ty Deran knows this paradox too well. In high school, before she came out as trans, they played Rapunzel's Prince in "Into the Woods."

"And I remember loving the musical but hating playing that role," she laughed.

Rather than relish in the over-the-top masculinity of her character, Deran envied the lavish layers of Cinderella's gowns, so slipping into the role — and costumes — of Anne Egerman feels like the realization of a long-held dream.

"It's definitely a Cinderella moment," she said.

The production of "A Little Night Music" playing at Greenway Court Theatre is part of what members of the cast hope will be much more than a moment. From Broadway to black-box theaters, gender diversity is being explored on stage in a much more expansive way, both in terms of casting and content.

Kruger welcomes this movement. Acting, they say, is about truth, and exploring one's truth is an experience trans and nonbinary individuals know first-hand.

"I think the more we allow ourselves to bring these nuanced experiences to characters and to casting, the more we're going to crack musical theater wide open," they explained.

In their own experience, for instance, they didn't have a deep relationship with the work of composer Stephen Sondheim. They didn't fit the female ingenue roles and wouldn't likely be cast in the male roles. But after Sondheim's death last year, Kruger began reading more about him and watching videos of him on YouTube.

They believe he would be proud of their production.

"You just get the sense that he was always after the truth, which is what we're after here," Kruger explained. "And always after the reimagining of his own material. I don't think he stopped evolving."

It was a long road to get to this particular incarnation of Sondheim's 1973 musical. Initially slated for spring 2020, the show's delay gave director Ryan O'Connor a chance to reflect.

"I felt an opportunity to be like, 'What kind of change do you want to be a part of?'" he explained.

Not that gender-diverse casting is a change or a trend. O'Connor, who uses he/they pronouns, is quick to point out that it's actually a return to theater's roots.  

“Trans, queer, nonbinary people, we’ve been inhabiting theater since the dawn of time,” he said. "Even when the language wasn't there, when the words were different. Look at actors in Greek theater, actors in Shakespeare. The idea of gender has been fluid in the theater long before it was anywhere else."

Being cut off from the stage for the past two years was difficult. If the pandemic taught them anything, it's that the storytelling done in theaters is essential, he said.

"And a form of how we say, 'I see you, you see me, we're going to keep moving forward together,'" O'Connor explained. "That's the theater. That's what the theater is."

While they are reveling in their roles on stage, Deran and Kruger are also concerned about what's happening off stage. Anti-trans bills are being considered all over the country, and while musical comedy may not seem like the most likely vehicle for social change, they think it can play a role.

"You know, art has always been a tool to open people's minds and hearts," Deran explained.

She added that too often, the narrative around the trans experience is centered on suffering.

"It's so important that we see trans and nonbinary people taking up space, being beautiful, being happy, being in love."  

Kruger agrees.

"I don't know how you can't see two trans and nonbinary bodies holding each other, loving each other and not feel like, 'Wow, what a moment of human experience where we just leave space for all different types of love, all different types of bodies,'" they said. "I think that's powerful progress."

They'd like to see progress toward changes start not soon, as Anne promises, or later, as Henrik bemoans, but now.

"A Little Night Music" runs at Greenway Court Theatre through March 13.