In a theater world where jobs still remain heavily white and male, it is not surprising that parts for trans-identifying actors are limited. In his experience, Mr. Davis said, theaters often give familiar reasons for not casting actors from historically marginalized groups: “The same two things get said: ‘One, I can’t find them; two, they’re not trained.’ So I feel very, very strongly that it’s actually the responsibility of the institution to find and train them.”

MCC used nontraditional methods to find actors for the nine-member cast. They put out a call on social media, tried networking through friends, and reached out to lesbian and gay youth centers and organizations. They tried to cast a net well beyond New York City and Los Angeles.

Mama Darleena was a particular challenge. “The fact that a trans woman of color in her 60s is alive is a miracle in and of itself because of the oppressive ways that that group of people has been treated in the last 60 years,” Mr. Davis said. “The idea that then on top of that, that person was an actor was a really tall order.”

In the 2015 world premiere of “Charm” in Chicago, Mama Darleena was played by a cisgender, or gender conforming, man — though in three other productions, she has been played by transgender women.

Ms. Caldwell was born in Washington but ran away to New York several times, beginning when she was 13 — her way, she said, of “figuring things out.” When she was 18, she bought a $6 ticket to a Broadway show. “I didn’t know what it was, I just saw the lights,” Ms. Caldwell said. It turned out to be the Stephen Sondheim musical “Follies,” starring the original cast. “I knew right then that this was what I wanted to do,” she said.

She completed her transition around the age of 19. Her mother, with the help of two friends who were involved with L.G.B.T.Q. issues, brought her to counseling and psychiatrists before she received hormone therapy. Afterward, Ms. Caldwell said, “I felt a lot of joy, and also relief.”