Correct, Audrey was used as an avenue for Jinkx Monsoon - who's a drag performer but also trans.
It's easy to be dismissive that just a few men have played older womens roles, but it is a new trend and gradually more and more of these roles are being taken up - Stephen Fry just played Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest.
Do I have a problem with it? Nah, but I am cautious of a precedence being set when there are already so few roles for older women. As I said before, there's a balance to be found.
The reverse isn't seen where male roles are being converted for female performers - or at least I can't think of any off the top of my head. Happy to stand corrected.
The Emcee in Cabaret could be gender-neutral and has probably been played by women before, but I can only think of the male star names.
Of course, where the professionals lead, amateurs follow. I see a lot of community theatre and it's all to often that older female cast members are relegated to the chorus at the back of the stage, with few shows offering potentially principal (or even just named, speaking roles) for them. Producers will follow what they've seen on the West End, or Broadway, and will follow similar casting choices. Women outnumber men significantly in amateur theatre, however a male society member is much more likely to be granted a significant role within any show. I have seen lots of little girls play Oliver or the Artful Dodger though!
I am trying to offer a balanced summary here, driven from experience working within this industry. I thought Jak Malone's performance of Hester Leggatt in 'Operation Mincemeat' superb and very emotionally sensitive. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. I've not seen 'Oh, Mary!' yet which I believe has a trans performer playing a female character.
In a nutshell - yes there is more men starting to play older womens roles in theatre, is this a bad thing? No, but producers need to be careful that older woman aren't completely removed from theatre and there needs to be recognition that actually there are so few roles for older women. Representation matters for a part of society that starts to be/feel invisible anyway.
I think the problem is more dominant in panto lineups - you only need to look at the Crossroads Panto's across the country, Palladium included, to see they have their regulars and they're nearly all male. Even with female named character panto's (Snow White, Goldilocks etc) the female part is often relegated to the third row on the poster, beneath the male stars.
Jinkx Monsoon's casting as Audrey was thought to add a bit of nuance to the role in terms of the domestic abuse inflicted by the Dentist on what would be a trans character for that rendition. I would like to see that nuance explored in the other direction too - traditionally male, and particularly villainous parts being played by women, or femme actors. I'm all for gender blind casting, but theatre needs to keep it up across all genders and see how it can experiment and shift perceptions and responses to those characters and storylines.