ABOUT THE SHOW

HOW TO FAIL AS A POPSTAR is a coming-of-age eight-episode limited series about a queer brown boy (Vivek Shraya) with a huge voice doing everything he can to become a Popstar told by the queer trans femme that boy becomes, looking back on how and why that dream was never realized.

What happens when a star isn’t born? An adaptation of Vivek Shraya's hit play and subsequent book HOW TO FAIL AS A POPSTAR answers this question with hilarity, vulnerability, a healthy dose of imagination, and of course, music. The series tracks the journey of a young queer brown boy growing up in Edmonton trying to achieve pop stardom and what went almost right along the way – from the perspective of the now 40-something trans femme artist that boy became.

Starring Shraya alongside Adrian Pavone (Star Trek: Discovery, Grand Army), and Chris D’Silva (Slumberland, The Handmaid’s Tale) as Vivek at various stages of life. Written by Shraya, the CBC Gem original comedy series is directed by Vanessa Matsui (Son of a Critch, Midnight at the Paradise) with Shraya co-directing one episode. The cast also includes Ayesha Mansur Gonsalves (Sort Of, Y: The Last Man, Star Trek: Discovery), Nadine Bhabha (Letterkenny, This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Terror Train), Arwen Humphreys (Murdoch Mysteries, Run the Burbs), Eric Johnson (Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, American Gods, Vikings), Vanessa Matsui (Ghost BFF, Letterkenny, Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments), and introducing Aayushma Sapkota in her first role. 

HOW TO FAIL AS A POPSTAR is produced by CBC and SphèreMédia with the financial participation of the TELUS Fund, the Bell Fund, and the Shaw Rocket Fund. Created by Vivek Shraya, executive producers are Bruno Dubé, Jennifer Kawaja, Elise Cousineau, Caroline Habib, Laura Perlmutter, Vivek Shraya, and Vanessa Matsui. For CBC, Sally Catto is General Manager, Entertainment, Factual and Sports, Trish Williams is Executive Director, Scripted Content and Zach Feldberg is Acting Director of Current Production, Comedy and Head of Scripted Gem Originals.