Arts & Culture

from Ambush Magazine Volume 38 Issue 10

Business

Trodding the Boards ARTS & CULTURE

Brian Sands bsnola2@hotmail.com

Les Misérables, or The Sun’ll Come Out Tomorrow?

How much have things changed in the past two months since everything shut down? Well, depending on who you are or what you’re asking about, a lot or a little. For, as some places begin to reopen, alas for live theater, it’s turning into a hard knock life. (Hmmm...two Annie references already, more than I’ve probably made here in the past two decades. Maybe we’ll get a new deal for Christmas...if not before!)

To go back a bit, the last show I saw before the shutdown was We’ll Meet Again, a tribute to the era’s blonde bombshell singers, at the WWII Museum’s Stage Door Canteen which I found to be a delightful bouquet of great songs terrifically tied together by Sean Patterson’s script and charmingly performed by Hannah Rachal (who also directed) and Bryce Slocumb.

The day after that, Friday the 13th ironically, productions began shutting down, sometimes with little warning. As I tried to juggle my schedule to squeeze in a few last shows before the inevitable stay-at-home order would go into effect, I did make it up to the North Shore to see one that, as of that afternoon, was going on that evening, but was cancelled less than two hours before curtain time. Oh well, I and a friend did have a wonderful meal at Trey Yuen.

Since then, it’s been a whole new world.

As theater is so ephemeral, I’d like to take this opportunity to recognize those shows whose runs were cut short; those that never opened and, sadly, had to be canceled; and those that were postponed and which we can still look forward to seeing.

Runs cut short • The Complete History of Comedy

(abridged), Jefferson Performing Arts Society (JPAS)

Bryce Slocumb and Hannah Rachal of We’ll Meet Again

• The Miss Firecracker Contest,

Slidell Little Theatre • Peter and the Starcatcher, Rivertown Theaters (rescheduled for Aug. 6-9) • The Piano Lesson, Le Petit Theatre • Rumors, 30 by Ninety Theatre

Canceled

• Bazzar, Cirque du Soleil • Beauty and The Beast, New Orleans Ballet Theatre • The Boardinghouse, Café’ Luke • Cabaret, Loyola • Chaps!, Stage Door Canteen • Charlie Parker’s Yardbird, New Orleans Opera • The Demolition Downtown and

The Chalky White Substance,

Beaubourg Theatre • Dido & Aeneas, Loyola • Dina Martina’s Forgotten But Not

Gone, Daniel Nardicio • Dreams, Radical Buffoons • Driving Miss Daisy, See ‘Em On

Stage

• Edmund Bagnell--He Plays the Vi

olin, Mark Cortale • The Elephant Man, UNO • Evita, Summer Lyric Theatre

• Fiddler on the Roof, Saenger • Follies, concert version, Summer

Lyric Theatre • God’s Favorite, Playmakers Theater • Good People, Playmakers Theater • Hedy!, Stage Door Canteen • The Juilliard String Quartet, UNO • KindHumanKind (return engagement), Goat in the Road Productions and the CAC • Legally Blonde, Summer Lyric Theatre • Moby Dick Rehearsed, 30 by Ninety Theatre • Songs That Won the War (return engagement), Stage Door Canteen • Tennessee Williams and Saints &

Sinners Festival

• Troilus and Cressida, N.O. Shakespeare Festival • Twelfth Night, N.O. Shakespeare

Festival • Urinetown, The Musical, Tulane

Postponed, with rescheduled dates when available

• An American in Paris, JPAS • Anastasia, Saenger, Aug. 18-23

• Angels in America Part 1: Millen

nium Approaches, Le Petit Theatre,

October 2020 • Chemin Du Bayou, Southern Rep,

October 2020 • The Drowsy Chaperone, Rivertown

Theaters, Sept. 11-27 • Fairykind; The Musical, Slotted

Spoon Productions/Sisterhood Studios • 42nd Street, JPAS • Hank and My Honky Tonk Heroes,

Stage Door Canteen • Jasper In Deadland, NOCCA • In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel, Tennessee Williams Theatre Company of N.O., Mar/Apr 2021 • Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte

Carlo, NOBA • The Magic Flute, New Orleans Opera, Mar. 19 & 21, 2021 • Margaret Cho, Daniel Nardicio • Mean Girls, Saenger • Rosencrantz and Guildenstern

Are Dead, Radical Buffoons/Delgado, Aug. 26-31 • Spring Collection, New Orleans

Ballet Theatre, Fall 2020 • Sweet Potato Queens, JPAS • Treasure Island, NOLA Project/

NOMA, May 2021 • Trevor Noah, Saenger • Vessels, Junebug Productions

• World’s Greatest Johnny Cash Ex

perience, Stage Door Canteen

I want to acknowledge all the hard work that went into these productions, and hope that everyone’s talents will soon be seen again. Apologies to any productions I may have left out inadvertently.

Until our theaters do open again, many have moved online to provide entertainment and amusement for all the stay-at-home, I’m-about-to-go-stircrazy people out there.

Le Petit recently announced the launch of a series of radio plays. The first installment, Sorry, Wrong Number, debuts Friday, May 22, at 7:30pm. The drama will feature Leslie Castay as Mrs. Elbert Stevenson and Tracey Collins as the Telephone Operator as well as Curtis Billings and Helen Jaksch.

Sorry, Wrong Number is the classic story of a bedridden woman who hears two men plotting a murder over crossed telephone lines (back in the days before cell phones!). Orson Welles called it “the single greatest radio script ever written”. To find out if Mrs. Stevenson will be able to stop the gruesome deed before it is carried out, you can join the watch party on Le Petit’s Facebook page (www.facebook. com/LePetitNOLA) or after the event when the video will be posted to social media.

Southern Rep’s long-running Debauchery! moved online last month. Conceived and written by Pat Bourgeois, this send-up of soap operas follows the exploits of sisters Chanel and Cartier as they flounce and fight their way through a maze of outrageous plot

A. J. Allegra of The NOLA Project

twists and turns.

The cast features such local comic stalwarts as Robin Baudier, Tracey Collins, Kyle Daigrepont, Sean Glazebrook, Matthew Mickal, Sean Patterson, Allee Peck, Jessica Podewell, Hannah Rachal, Michael P. Sullivan and Mandy Zirkenbach, along with special guest stars. To find out when the next episode will be check out www.southernrep.com/debauchery or Debauchery’s Facebook page (www. facebook.com/WeloveDEBAUCHERY).

Not only has Goat in the Road Productions (GRP) been posting video playlets written by playwrights from here “and beyond” on its website (www. goatintheroadproductions.org), but it’s going ahead with its 11th Annual Play/ Write Showcase which presents short works by students from area schools.

This year’s Showcase will feature 14 scripts brought to life via virtual performances produced by eight local theater companies. The plays will go live on Wednesday, May 20, at 6 pm on the GRP website and will remain up throughout the summer.

Rivertown Theaters has been presenting its “Quarantunes Challenge”, a musical entertainment via a singing contest in which two performances are posted each day and viewers vote for their favorite; each vote costs $1. All videos are submitted by volunteers from their own self-isolation, so they’re, understandably, not finished products, but do offer a way for local talent to stay creative and connected with audiences. More info at www.rivertowntheaters.com

For The NOLA Project, check out A.J. Allegra’s PAST PRESENT FUTURE article below.

While a few events are still scheduled for June, at this point, I’m not sure if the shows will go on. I should have updates by our next issue along with any new online offerings that will be debuting. Till then stay safe’n’sane!

PAST PRESENT FUTURE I

While we’re suffering from theatrum interruptus, I wanted to offer this column to the Artistic Directors of New Orleans’ theater companies to let us know what was going on when things shut down, what they’re doing now, and what plans they have for the future.

First up for PAST PRESENT FUTURE is The NOLA Project’s A.J. Allegra who has been nominated for eight Ambie Awards, winning for Best Actor in a Musical for The Producers (2010) and as part of Best Ensemble for The NOLA Project’s world premiere production of Gab Reisman’s Taste (2009).

PAST

The NOLA Project (TNP) was one week out from hosting our major annual fundraiser, The Spotlight Supper, when COVID-19 struck our city and halted all public gatherings in their tracks. We had to postpone the event to September and ask for the generous patience of our patrons. And while we still very much hope to host the event, which is crucial to our operating budget, in the Fall, the recent announce

ment by Mayor Cantrell that many large festivals and gatherings should forgo the calendar year altogether is something of a major concern.

A week or two after that, it became apparent that rehearsing for our May production of Treasure Island would be impossible given the stay-at-home orders. So we have decided to push the production to May 2021 as part of our 16th season. What is truly heartbreaking about this is that we were set to premiere this new adaptation (by TNP ensemble members James Bartelle, Alex Martinez Wallace and myself, inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson’s characters) at the brand new amphitheater in NOMA’s expanded Sculpture Garden. The wooden stage sits directly on top of the lagoon, thus our choice for a sea-inspired story, and audiences would be seated for the first time on a raked ground specially designed for superb sight-lines in this new venue.

PRESENT

Currently, TNP has shifted our focus to free online content for our patrons and we have enjoyed a lot of success in doing so, though without, obviously, any much-needed revenue. We began with a March Madness-style bracket contest in which all 64 major NOLA Project productions were pitted against one another within four quadrants as defined by our company’s 15-year history. We have just made it through Round One and voting has been growing greatly in popularity. It is

Catherine Roland catherineroland12@gmail.com MUSINGS BY CATHERINE Adopting Pets for the Wrong Reasons

We love our pets. Some of us are obsessed with our “children,” the cats, dogs, and other nonhuman creatures at home. During this COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine, the desire for a kitten or puppy has blossomed into a kind of obsession on a national level.

A number of news reports have told us that people who have never had a pet, now seem desperate to adopt one. But why now, right at this painful and somewhat lonely time, you might ask? I took a poll of 6 people, and the responses aligned with national reports: Cats and dogs keep you company; they make you feel needed; they are something alive in the home; you can talk to them; and they sleep with you.

This desire clearly seems motivated by the current situation, but those feelings may lessen or vanish in several months. Then what happens to the pet? Pets take time and commitment. If you haven’t been a pet owner, please think why you want that kitten or puppy right now.

As we return to work, and socializing with friends, will you need or want that responsibility, every day, every night of your life? Puppies and kittens, new pets of any age, require lots of dedicated personal time, to train, to get to know, to make comfortable. Making a home safe for a new pet can take effort, creativity and money. Pets are expensive to maintain humanely. Not just food and regular vet care, but there are also illnesses and allergies to consider. Once you have a pet, it is your responsibility to have them taken care of for anything like that. Animals also get cancer, have heart issues, break bones, have diabetes, and all such issues cost lots of money. When you travel, boarding is very expensive and not great for pets. Folks don’t always consider the costs that lasts for many years; I hope you will.

Perhaps the need and want for a new animal right now is less about having a pet, and more about feeling lonely and a little frustrated due to being quarantined for over two months.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11

a fun way to blend our love of theater with the conspicuous absence of any American sporting events. If you’d like to participate, check out our Facebook page (facebook.com/thenolaproject) each day.

Next, we began a live video series called SNL with TNP. Every Sat

Understandable, but not a good or fair reason to adopt a pet. Please know there are other outlets that will be available again very soon, ones which won’t entail many dedicated years and consistent financial commitment.

Dr. Catherine Roland, LPC, is a therapist in private practice, specializing in our LGBTQ+ community for 25 years. Catherine is a member of the Board of Directors of both CrescentCare-NO/AIDS Task Force, and NOAGE - New Orleans Advocates for LGBTQ+ Elders.

urday night at 10:30pm on Instagram (@thenolaproject), one of our company members goes live to entertain our fans with whatever they have. I performed a fireside chat. Leslie Claverie shaved her head. Natalie Boyd (normally a non-drinker) drank a whole bottle of wine while answering all kinds of questions submitted throughout the week. This past Saturday, Ken Thomp

son dressed up in a drag makeup tutorial.

We also have begun a series called Q & AJ in which I sit down over Zoom with interesting theater types to talk about their work. So far we have had two-time Tony Award winner Michael Cerveris and TNP’s own Claire Gresham as guests. We are also moving our monthly Rough Draughts new play-reading series online. Be on the lookout the last Monday of each month on our Facebook page for that; Q & AJ can also be found there.

We have some other surprises in store but I don’t want to reveal them just yet.

FUTURE

The future for us, and many other theater organizations, is a bit of a question mark, or perhaps an ellipsis.

We plan to be back for our audiences as soon as possible, but understand that public health is a priority.

We want to get back to normal, but understand that a new normal will more likely be the case.

We have a fabulous four-show season planned as well as an additional surprise that I cannot reveal yet. Currently, however, we are unsure when we can reveal it and when it can begin.

One thing that gives me great confidence is the weekly meetings that I have been having with Artistic Directors and staffs of the various other New Orleans theater organizations each Wednesday. Aimee Hayes of Southern Rep and I recognized early on the similarities of this situation to Katrina and knew that we had to band together and help one another in order to thrive for when this ultimately passes. We convened a major online meeting that has resulted in a true sense of togetherness as well as a joint effort to help one another and advocate for the eventual return of theater in New Orleans.

Similar to Katrina, this state of affairs necessitates creative thinking and experimental production models if we are to come back in full force. Tragedy often demands invention, and my hope is that the future of New Orleans theater, including NOLA Project, includes more risk in terms of content, performance location, performance scheduling, and audience engagement.

Creativity tends to thrive most when hope is at its dimmest. That said, no one is better at making lemonade from lemons than theater people. I look forward to when our curtains will rise again.

A.J. Allegra is the Artistic Director of The NOLA Project theater company. Allegra has over thirty credits with the company as a director, writer, and actor. Under his leadership, TNP has twice been awarded the National Theater Company Award by the American Theater Wing, has commissioned & produced 16 world premiere plays, and has formed many important cultural partnerships with area organizations. He holds a BFA in Theater from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and an MS in Nonprofit Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania. He currently is a theater faculty member at Lusher Charter School.

Please send press releases and notices of your upcoming shows to Brian Sands at bsnola2@hotmail.com.

Jim Meadows Executive Director, NOAGE info@noagenola.org

16 · The Offi cial Gay Magazine of the Gulf South™: www.AmbushMag.com · May 19 – June 1, 2020 · Offi cial Southern Decadence Guide™ · www.SouthernDecadence.com

I’m pleased to announce that New

Orleans Advocates for GLBT Elders

(NOAGE) has become a SAGE affi liate, and will now be known as SAGE New Orleans.

For the fi rst year of this transition, we will actually be known as SAGE New Orleans – NOAGE. We had planned to make this announcement at our annual membership reception last month. Unfortunately, that event had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We defi nitely plan, however, to have a celebration of this important milestone as soon as it becomes safe to do so.

By joining SAGE, we have become part of the nation’s oldest and largest organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBT older people, and are now directly connected with over 30 other affi liates who are devoted to this important work.

While the name of our organization is changing, our mission remains the same. NOAGE was formed in 2015 in response to the increasing needs of the New Orleans area’s aging LGBT population. SAGE New Orleans is committed to ensuring that all LGBT older people in the our metro area can live their best lives with the dignity, respect, and good health that they deserve.

To achieve this, we host social events (coffee talks, support groups, potlucks, movie nights, fi tness groups, etc.) for LGBT older adults. “SAGE New Orleans has been so helpful in my struggle against being alone and disconnected,” said constituent Wayne Sizemore. “I look forward to this organization bringing members of our community to the table and using our voice and experience as a guide for expansion.”

We also work to increase the cultural competency of healthcare and other service providers through trainings and workshops. LGBT older people are often afraid to come out to healthcare professionals, for fear of discrimination and mistreatment, and may go back into the closet when entering long-term care facilities. To address these issues, SAGE New Orleans has provided hundreds of local healthcare and other service providers with LGBT cultural competence training.

Many people are unaware that the founders of NOAGE originally planned to launch the organization as a SAGE affi liate. Ten years ago, local attorney, Jason Waguespack, was living in the French Quarter with his partner. “Every day when we walked the dogs,” he said, “we would pass our elderly neighbor, Jacques, who spent his day sitting at his window just looking outside. We got to know him, and he’d lived a fascinating life, but he had lost his partner years before, and he was alone with no family. He just spent his days staring out of that window.”

Waguespack wondered what resources there were in New Orleans for LGBT older people like Jacques, and soon found out that there weren’t many. He met with Jason Tudor (who was then a community outreach director for AARP Louisiana), and the two of them formed a steering committee of other community leaders with the goal of launching a new SAGE affi liate organization in New Orleans.

Because SAGE was in the process of reworking and standardizing their affi liate application process, however, they were temporarily not taking new affi liates. Rather than wait, the local steering committee made the decision to launch as an independent organization called NOAGE.

From its earliest days, NOAGE looked to SAGE’s programming and services in New York and other locations as a model for helping to address the loneliness and isolation that many LGBT people face as they age. SAGE’s leadership has provided support and advice to me throughout the fi ve years that I’ve been involved with this organization.

Now that we are offi cially a SAGE affi liate, I am in regular contact with leaders of other affi liates across the country. This has been especially helpful during the current COVID-19 pandemic because I’ve been able to see how other affi liates are responding, and how they have adjusted their programming to keep their constituents safely connected and supported during this uncertain time.

SAGEConnect, for example, is a new program that connects LGBT older people across the country with others who are interested in sharing a friendly phone conversation once a week. To learn more about that initiative, you can visit sageusa.org/sageconnect.

SAGE New Orleans is currently hosting two events per week: our HIV support group, led by Dr. Andrew Watley, and our Coffee Talks, moderated by Dr. Catherine Roland.

Both of these recurring events are held on Zoom; participants can either join with video via the Zoom app, or by simply calling in by phone.

We hope that we’ll be able to get back to our usual in-person programming soon, but for now, all of our programming will be virtual. If you or someone you know is interested in participating in our groups, or if you have any ideas of suggestions about other virtual events that you’d like for us to host, send an email to info@noagenola.org, or call (504) 517-2345.

The SAGE New Orleans Board of Directors has three new members: Joseph Kimbrell, Rodney Thoulion, and Ed Trapido.

Mr. Kimbrell has spent his entire career in the fi eld of public health. He worked for the New Orleans Health Department, then for the Louisiana Offi ce of Public Health, and then spent the past nineteen years as the CEO of the Louisiana Public Health Institute.

Mr. Thoulion has been the Director of Development for CrescentCare since 2014. Prior to that, he served as Executive Director for Friends of City Park. He has also worked in the fi elds of publishing and marketing, and has spent many years being of service to various local LGBT groups and causes.

Dr. Trapido, an epidemiologist, is Professor and Associate Dean for Research at the LSU School of Public Health in New Orleans. Last year, he worked with NOAGE to facilitate the fi rst survey of the older LGBTQ community of New Orleans, and he currently serves on the Board of Trustees for CrescentCare.

Three members of the SAGE New Orleans Board of Directors have completed their terms. Misti Gaither has raised thousands of dollars for the organization, and both Katherine Hoover and Glenn Reames have been involved since the initial steering committee formed NOAGE. All three have been an important part of the team, and I’m proud to call them my friends.

I’d like to close with a few words about Paul Metoyer, who passed away last month.

Paul was a former member of our Board of Directors. He was deeply committed to our work, and contributed in countless ways to our mission. He always had wise advice and insight, and was unfailing in his cheerful demeanor, good humor, and infectious smile.

Paul was active in many organizations here in New Orleans, and we were very blessed that he brought his compassion and drive to ours. He will be very deeply missed, and never forgotten.

I asked someone the other day if he was looking forward to our area “opening up” during

Phase One, and if he’d considered what it may mean for him on a personal level. “Well, nothing is happening now,” he responded, “might as well see some life and go down to the Quarter. But

I’m kind of really afraid, so I’m not sure.”

I think many people feel similarly. They’re ready to be out of quarantine, but not exactly certain how to negotiate being safe, having fun again, and seeing friends & family that have been missed.

Some things many will NOT miss include being stuck at home too much; feeling uncomfortable going into a grocery or pharmacy where there’s little social distancing; restricting exercise to home-based, outdoors, and often alone; and working from home, especially if it was a new experience.

The negativity of the daily reports about how many people tested positive for COVID-19, and how many deaths were reported has also been a heavy burden. I think it’s time to lift that burden, that sadness, and move on into “Phase One Louisiana”, because we are smack in it. And it’s much better than it was a month ago!

Some positive things have come from the time at home for many. Take the Zoom Boom, as I call it. We’ve known about platforms like Zoom for a long time, perhaps used it for work things, and now -- voila -- we use it to connect in important ways with friends and family. Graduation Zoom ceremonies, Zoom dance parties, Zoom cocktail hours and Zoom reunions have given us the ability to stay in touch and keep up with those close to us. There’ve even been Zoom weddings!

Something else that might have been a positive would be learning how to ‘be alone’ with yourself. There’s an expression, “keep your own counsel” which to me means that I should, if I can, use my own wits and experience to help make important decisions. It can also mean having the ability to be alone for long periods of time, and still fi nd meaning in your life.

So often we learn at a young age to value time spent with others, and not time spent alone. Think about it, time with others we say is “quality time” and time by ourselves we say is “alone time”. But isn’t it also quality time? I do think there has been some greater acceptance of living alone, of doing for yourself, and of taking time to be “BE.”

We learn fairly young that depending on others is either a good idea if it’s reciprocated, or could be looked at as needy and codependent. That teaches us not to trust others, not to listen to more experienced people, and to break traditions just to do it sometimes, even if the end result is not the aim.

The aim is to mix things up, often to see what others say about it, or to try to derail a specifi c tradition. As adults, we can reframe the way in which we look at something. We have the capacity to reconsider a belief, or a level of trust, and see how it plays out. And that ability can allow us to reframe, then reshape our daily interactions with people in general, dear friends, and the loves of our lives as we go forward.

In a way, it’s all about timing. That confl uence of feelings, including relief, confusion, fear and excitement can cause some anxiety and, possibly, depression. Anxiety kind of rolls right along, ebbing and fl owing each day, sometimes per hour.

It’s diffi cult for many to know what is the right or best way to re-enter our world. Here are some suggestions on how that can be handled in a healthy Catherine Roland catherineroland12@gmail.com THE HERE AND THE NOW OK, So We’re Open: Phase I Louisiana way, under our current circumstances. --Use the alone time that will still be built into Phase One Louisiana. Whatever projects, creative endeavors, or daily exercises you might have participated in over the last two and a half months, continue them. In fact, you might want to keep a record of what you’ve spent some time on, just so you can congratulate yourself later. I have a friend who hadn’t put a puzzle together in years. He sent me a photo of the huge puzzle he put together. He is so very proud of it, I think, because it was completed alone, he was dedicated, and it looks wonderful. Another learned to cook Spanish cuisine; took two on-line classes, hasn’t actually cooked anything yet, but I’m hopeful. --Some people I know pretty much would say “I did nothing” but they’d not be considering that they had learned a few things: how to survive by eating at home each night (maybe even cooking); how effective it might be to give cognitive as well as emotional time & effort to hopes and dreams. Perfected also was the time they spent on other things, sometimes mundane but always necessary, and the wise ability to decline an offer, to say “No” once in a while. --We’ve also learned to open up our minds and hearts to others, in different ways than before. I think we have been brave, patient, and logical for the most part during this pandemic, and we should all be proud of ourselves. We’re all working our way through this maze of searching for our new normal.

Some lessons I’ve learned include a mask is my friend, but that since no one can see me smile with a mask on, to remember to tell people when I was smiling. Another is that ‘alone’ doesn’t have to mean lonely. And lastly, we are likely much stronger than we know, have better creative ideas when we are quiet for a while, and that we are much more engaging when we open ourselves to life and the universe.

Stay Safe, and Stay Home when you want to!

MOMENTS IN GAY NEW ORLEANS HISTORY The Big Easy Sisters Frank Perez frankearlperez@gmail.com

Of all the nuns and orders of nuns in New Orleans, the most fabulous is The Big Easy Sisters, Parish of the Muddy Waters.

The Big Easy Sisters are an order of 21st century queer nuns. Their primary goal, in their own words, is “to promulgate universal joy and expiate stigmatic guilt or, in other words, we are the clowns of our community and we banish any negative energy. We are also here to help raise money for underfunded charities in our community.”

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence originated in San Francisco in 1979 during Easter weekend. Three friends—Ken Bunch, Fred Brungard, and Baruch Golden—paraded through the streets wearing traditional nun’s habits, one carrying a machine gun. Later that fall, Edmund Garron and Bill Graham attended the first international Faerie Gathering in Arizona, where they met others interested in becoming Sisters.

Chapters, or “Houses,” of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence began popping up all over the country. Today, the Sisters have an international pres

ence with houses throughout Europe and even one in Uruguay.

The New Orleans House began in 2012 when Michael Morris (Imma Getaround) and Michael Maldonado (Moanalot Fontaine) met at Rue de la Course and decided to start a local Sisters group. The process was involved. The United Nuns Privy Council requires an “Aspirant House” to have at least six members before it is elevated to a “Mission House.”

On August 19, 2013, after a vote of the UNPC, the Big Easy Sisters became an official mission house. At that time, the founding sisters were: Abbess Moana Moans-A-Lott; Mistress of Novices Glory Bea DiVine; Mistress of Quill Cathi Terr; Mistress of Coins Eileen Eulick; and Wilma Ballsdrop, Mary Pat McCooter, AuJus, Rainblow Bites, Nunsexmunkrock, Ten Buck U, and Izzy Haute. In January 2015, the UNPC voted to elevate the Big Easy Sisters to a fully professed house.

Houses are hierarchically organized, and membership involves four levels: Aspirant, Postulant, Novice, Fully Professed. Aspirants are those who want to join the House and are required to attend meetings and a few manifestations. A manifestation is when the Sisters make public appearances wearing makeup and their regalia. Normally, one or more guards accompany the sisters when they manifest. Members choose to be either sisters or guards at the Postulant level. During the Novice period, which lasts a minimum of six months, the novitiate must produce a project that benefits the House or the community.

The Abbess, or Mistress of the House, of the Big Easy Sisters is Glory Bea. Originally from Wichita Falls, Texas, Glory Bea moved to New Orleans with her partner in 2012. In Texas, Glory Bea studied Theater at Texas Tech and was later involved with the Imperial Court System of Texas and the Dallas Bears. Glory Bea also served as a mentor in the Houston House.

When asked about the biggest misconception people have about the Sisters, Glory Bea says, “People think we’re straight street performers or odd drag queens who don’t perform.”

The Sisters, however, are neither of those things. Rather, they are a highly structured, benevolent organiza

tion that raises awareness and money for local causes.

Guard Ken DelPo says, “For me it’s a chance to reach out to the larger community, to support our LGBT+ friends and community. Also, on a personal level, for me it is part of ‘Tikkun olam’, which means in Hebrew ‘Healing the world’. It’s a small part to make the world a better place than I found it.”

The Big Easy Sisters have put their money where their mouths are. Since 2012, they have contributed money to a wide variety of local charities including Belle Reve, Buzzy’s Boys and Girls, St. Anna’s food pantry, the LGBT+ Archives Project of Louisiana, and several other organizations. In addition, the Big Easy Sisters have participated in the annual Southern Decadence parade, assisted gay Carnival krewes during their balls, marched in the NO/ AIDS walk, attended the 40th anniversary memorial for the Up Stairs Lounge fire, participated in Pride festivals, and hosted All Saints Day/Day of the Dead events.

STRANGE INHERITANCE Part One: Origins & Part Two: Past Ryan Leitner reidleitner@gmail.com

www.GayMardiGras.com · www.GayEasterParade.com · May 19 – June 1, 2020 · The Official Gay Magazine of the Gulf South™: www.AmbushMag.com · 19 Part One: Origins

For the next four issues, this column will be dedicated to a project I have been cultivating over the past couple of years. It’s a project that has required labor, humility, gratitude, and love. Love for a community that has always needed to fight for its visibility, and love for a community that will always need to fight for its rights.

What will always make this true is its sheer lack of numbers. Outside of queer meccas like Fire Island and Provincetown, the LGBTQ+ population throughout the world will never become a dominant number. You simply can’t knowingly breed more queer people into existence. We also can’t be created from a specific culture, race, or region, making us pervasively a minority worldwide. For this reason, I find our drumbeat to be very singular and yet forever persistent.

With this in mind, I began to question; how can we as a community work to recognize our chosen family ancestors if we don’t know them? Is this a type of diaspora with no tangible starting place? How can we own claim to those that have helped construct our identities through their actions and visibility when they unknowingly did so? Who allowed us out of our closets? Though I’ve never met Harvey Milk or Marsha P. Johnson, are they our chosen relatives? Like my great-great-grandfather who came to Ellis Island as a German immigrant in 1913, can I claim them for my ability to live my true life?

When I came out to my parents, did the words and visibility of my chosen uncle Elton John help ease the confusion for my parents when I came out to them? The lives of our chosen ancestors in this strange type of inheritance affect the ways in which we live out our LGBTQ+ lives, and I wanted to find a way in which we can recognize, honor, and appreciate these members of our communities that we may or may not know.

Over the next four columns, I will be sharing the journey of this project I’ve titled “Strange Inheritance” and discuss where I currently stand with its progress. The lessons I’ve learned along the way, how these questions were formed, and the different ways I’ve learned to disseminate them into action. Each article, along with its core agenda and story, will end with a dedication to a different queer pioneer that paved the way for future LGBTQ+ rights and visibility.

This one is dedicated to you Stewart Butler. You recently left us on this physical plane, but your actions and E X T R A C A S H E A R N Apply Now! Send your CV to info@ambushpublishing.com If you are looking for additional income,

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voice will live on in our lives, in our rights, and in our hearts. Thanks for being our “political animal”.

Stewart Butler, the self proclaimed “political animal”, dedicated his life to protect and build up the New Orleans queer community, keeping it the gay mecca it is. He was on the front lines to help pass the anti-discrimination ordinance for the LGBTQ+ community in 1991 by the New Orleans City Council and was one of the lucky survivors of the Upstairs Lounge Fire in 1973.

His life was dedicated to the progress of queer LGBTQ+ rights throughout the state and was honored with the “We’re Here” award for politics by the Louisiana Council for Human Rights. In the 90’s, he was instrumental in making sure PFLAG added transgender rights into its mission statement, making it a national commitment for the organization. He started the LGBTQ+ Archives project, and I am honored to say that “Strange Inheritance” received research and development funding from their grant program. Thank you Stewart for your dedication and perseverance in establishing our rights as Queer American citizens. Part Two: Past

Of all the nuns and orders of nuns in New Orleans, the most fabulous is The Big Easy Sisters, Parish of the Muddy Waters.

Chapters, or “Houses,” of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence began popping up all over the country. Today, the Sisters have an international presence with houses throughout Europe and even one in Uruguay.

When asked about the biggest misconception people have about the Sisters, Glory Bea says, “People think we’re straight street performers or odd drag queens who don’t perform.”

The Sisters, however, are neither of those things. Rather, they are a highly structured, benevolent organization that raises awareness and money for local causes.

Tony Leggio ledgemgp@gmail.com BOOK OF THE MONTH Who Killed Buster Sparkle?

“Reading—the best state yet to keep absolute loneliness at bay.” –William Styron

During these incredibly trying times during quarantine, I find that reading has been my salvation. It is a life preserver I hang onto when I find myself adrift in a raging sea of loneliness. It is calming, transporting me from my current reality, and into another place created by the author. I am devouring all kinds of books while I am hunkered down in Casa Leggio. I recently finished the first novel by John W. Bateman, Who Killed Buster Sparkle? and it is a fabulous read.

The novel has been nominated by the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters for their 2020 Fiction Award; the honor is very well-deserved. The action takes place in the small, rural town of Clover, Mississippi. The storyline revolves around a drag queen named Peaches who is suddenly visited by the ghost of an African American man who may or may not have been murdered. In addition to the spiritual presence, drag queens, race & LGBT issues, small-town mentality, and murder, the book also includes an ant invasion. I know, right? So cool.

Bateman takes his time building up his main characters and expertly sets the scene of a Southern college town that has many secrets. With snappy dialog and interesting characters, the pace moves quickly with a quite interesting mystery. The novel soon turns into a buddy situation as Peaches and the ghost, who we find out is the title character, try to solve the mystery of his alleged murder. The fact that Peaches is the only person who can see and hear the ghost just adds to the hilarious circumstances.

Bateman has created great chemistry between the two lead characters as they solve the mystery as well as learn more about each other along the way. There are many underlying storylines dealing with race and gender identity throughout the book that I found compelling. Also, there is a death in the book that caught me off guard, which impresses me when an author can do that, especially when this novel seemed formulaic when I began reading it. The author was able to create a fresh and exciting storyline and I hope we have not seen the last of

Cover of Who Killed Buster Sparkle by John W Bateman

Peaches. For more information about Who Killed Buster Sparkle? and John Bateman, go to www.johnwbateman. com.

MOMENTS IN GAY NEW ORLEANS HISTORY The Archbishop, Sissies in Struggle, and Gay Pride Frank Perez frankearlperez@gmail.com

In 1978, the Pink Triangle Alliance hosted the first Gay Pride rally ever held in New Orleans.

The Pink Triangle Alliance was the public face/political name of the Louisiana Sissies in Struggle, a group that came out of the Mulberry House Collective in Fayetteville, Arkansas, when Dennis Williams, Dimid Hayer, Stacey Brotherlover, and Aurora relocated to New Orleans. The Sissies had grown out of the back-to-the-land movement advocated by Milo Pyne and served as sort of a forerunner to the Radical Faeries.

The Louisiana Sissies in Struggle was short-lived, but while it lasted, it advocated for queer issues, as well as protested non-gay-specific issues such as racism, police brutality, and socio-economic inequality. The group also helped edit RFD, a quarterly magazine for rural folk which aimed to raise queer consciousness, that had been founded in 1974.

After the Pride rally the Pink Triangle Alliance sponsored in 1978, a small group of people met to discuss a Pride event the following year. The Pink Triangle Alliance members in attendance argued that more was needed than just a parade. Activists Dick O’Connor, Charlene Schneider Mark Gonzalez, and other community leaders agreed, and the group decided on a festival.

Dick O’Connor met with City Councilman Mike Early who enjoyed the support of the gay community and endorsed the idea, going so far as to even help the group secure a prime location for the first GayFest, none other than Jackson Square. When the Roman Catholic

Archdiocese learned of the event, however, Archbishop Philip Hannan went to work behind the scenes with his contacts at City Hall and had the venue nixed.

Years later, in 1986, Archbishop Hannan pressured Councilman Early, a former priest, to withdraw his support for a non-discrimination ordinance that would have protected lesbian and gay employees. Early had sponsored the ordinance two years earlier and his “no” vote in 1986 was viewed by many in the community as a betrayal. The ordinance failed in 1986 but was eventually passed in 1991 over Archbishop Hannan’s strong objections.

The Archdiocese’s opposition to gay visibility in front of its landmark Cathedral was ironic considering that one of its own facilities, a church and building complex that had once been a cloistered convent for nuns on the corner of N. Rampart and Barracks, was being used as a de facto gay commu

nity center.

Prior to the founding of the Lesbian and Gay Community Center of New Orleans, the St. Louis Community Center in the French Quarter served as a gay friendly meeting place for various LGBT organizations such as PFLAG, a gay Alcoholics Anonymous group, Dignity, Crescent City Coalition, LAGPAC and a few other LGBT groups. This was made possible because of the tolerance of a gay priest on the downlow who ran the facility. Rich Sacher observes, “For a few years, before the Catholic Church in Rome swung to far right conservatism, this location was practically a gay community center. When Pope John Paul II was elected, we were all told to Leave.”

GayFest organizers were not happy at having the venue pulled, but found a suitable, alternate location at Washington Square Park not far away in the Marigny neighborhood. When GayFest was organized, part of the idea was to raise money for a community center, which they did. Subsequently, however, the money raised for the community center mysteriously vanished. A lack of financial resources would plague the community center throughout its history.

Like the community Center, Pride was not without its financial setbacks. By 1994, Pride was on the verge of bankruptcy when Co-Chairs Robert Brunet and Joan Ladnier asked Stewart Butler and his partner Alfred Doolittle for help. Stewart wrote a check without hesitation.

New Orleans Pride would survive and has been reincarnated under various umbrella organizations. The parade has enjoyed phenomenal growth and popularity in the last several years and although it has been canceled this year because of the COVID-19 outbreak, organizers have announced that this years’ Grand Marshals—Halloween New Orleans, the LGBT+ Archives Project of New Orleans, Princess Stephaney, and yours truly—will resume their duties leading the parade next year.

For good or ill, Pride Parades today have strayed pretty far from their roots as angry marches of defiance. The gay liberationists in the early 1970s may not be happy with what their marches have evolved into, but one fact is undeniable—Pride Parades are here to stay, even if they are little more than moveable corporate trade shows. As long as homophobia persists, the need for Pride will continue.

SNAP PAPARAZZI Out & About in COVID New Orleans

SCENES FROM NOLA IN QUARANTINE | PRINTS AVAILABLE AT GDOUGLASADAMSPHOTOGRAPHY.COM | PHOTOS BY G DOUGLAS ADAMS

Greetings from my humble abode that has also been my quarantine quarters for the past few weeks. And, may I just say, screw this!

Seriously, some of my friends used to call me a social butterfly because I go out all the time.

I am not a butterfly, however; they are pretty and delicate and flitter about. I am a social beast. I love parties, all parties (even the ones that are not that great, I still enjoyed)!

So you can imagine that COVID 19 has turned my life upside down. No parties, fundraisers, theater, drag brunches; hell, I feel like I am a character in the Hunger Games when I go to the grocery. And do not even get me started on WalMart. That place was scary before this virus; now I would feel safer in a shark cage with an open cut surrounded by great whites.

But alas, here we are. My friends joked that I would go to the opening of an envelope if I was invited (and sometimes as someone else’s plus one) and that is true. I am also part of the hospitality community in which I worked as an event planner for my company for five years. It seemed like just yesterday, I was laughing with my friends, about how crazy work was and looking forward to attending Pride of the Americas in Fort Lauderdale in April. Oh yeah, that was right; it was like yesterday. I cannot believe it has only been two weeks.

Well, that was then and now, I find myself laid off, no social interaction and cut off from my friends and family. For lack of a better word – alone!

Or so I thought. At the beginning stages of the pandemic, my friends and I tried to work around it, like having cocktail time by the river or in a courtyard a few feet away from each other, but we soon realized as the infection rates escalated (and the panic), that was not a prudent idea.

I am Italian so social distancing does not work well for me. I know why the virus took hold in Italy with a vengeance. Italians love people and life, we talk with our hands, we hug and kiss each other whether or not we know them, and, god help us, we cannot stop touching our faces. Seriously, it is in our DNA. Someone said on Facebook something about not kissing your dog because pets may be carrying the disease and that was my breaking point. Fuck it, I do not want to live

in a world where I cannot hug and kiss my fur baby.

This entire ordeal is hard for social people who crave interaction with others. The day I was laid off from my job was a dark day. I have never been unemployed in my life; even through Katrina, I still worked. Now, I found myself in alien territory without a job, scared and unsure about my future.

I took my time to grieve, going through all the stages from anger and depression to finally acceptance. When I finally took a breath, climbed out of my pity hole, and accepted my situation, however, I turned everything around. This is not an easy step and please do not think there are moments when a wave of emotion overtakes me and I feel the tears coming out of nowhere. I allowed myself to feel bad, but that is not productive. That was when the realization hit that I already do so many things by myself that I can handle this situation. I love to read, go for long walks, watch movies and cook, all things that can be social but are also perfect for doing solo.

What I also noticed is I am not alone in this and that is important to remember. There are millions of people now out of jobs, scared and lonely.

I decided drastic times call for unique new measures, so I would be a different kind of social. Each day, I call two friends and check on them and see how they are doing. I mean actually call them. I do not text or send a Facebook message; I pick up the phone and listen to their voice.

Trust me, it will help you tremendously just to speak with other people. You can FaceTime them if you like and see them, although sometimes they may not be quite dressed for visual guests. You know when you see friends and say, “It has been years, I have been so busy.” Guess what? You are not busy now, so reach out and as the saying goes “touch someone.” Over the phone that is.

I also schedule virtual happy hours with friends. Hanging out and laughing via Zoom is the best medicine and the cocktails aren’t bad either.

Watching bands and singers perform live from their porch like Anais St. John does once a week or checking out Laveau Contraire and Tarah Clads who did their Cyber-Distancing drag extravaganza for three days in a row over the weekend, all help to fill the void from social distancing. By the way, keep an eye open for their next one, it will be fabulous.

There is even a person who performs on his didgeridoo from his rooftop.

I have also found myself more connected than ever with the world on a more global level. I follow a French music producer and DJ, Bob Sinclair, every morning during my walks. He spins from 2 – 3pm his time, which aligns perfectly with my morning exercise routine and I love all the people tuning in from Amsterdam to Alabama and little ole me in New Orleans. It just makes me feel like I am part of a global community and makes me so happy.

Support your artist friends in town and globally by tuning in (and tipping if you are able). It is amazing that people in politics want to cut funding for the arts when it is the artists we turn to most in times of crises. Musicians and entertainers keep us smiling (and sane). Museums are even doing online lectures and tours.

I also get out and walk every morning and every evening to get fresh air and sunshine. Staying cooped up in the house all day does not help your psyche and your mental health is important at this time.

If you cannot walk, sit on your porch or balcony, go in your courtyard, or hell take a walk to the end of the block and back. Exercise not only supports your fitness, but it strengthens your immune system.

And finally, I suggest virtual cocktails or happy hour with friends. At first, I was not warming up to this idea since I very rarely drink at home alone, but now I am becoming a pro at these fun tune-in sessions. In fact, so many people are having them as well as virtual drag shows, poetry readings, cooking classes and musical performances my calendar is starting to fill up again.

Our life has been definitely changed and probably will take a long time to return to normalcy if ever. But there is a light at the end of this tunnel. How we handle the trials and our actions moving forward will define us (and the way others look at us).

Everyone knows right from wrong, and no political, religious or celebrity figure can change that by what they say. Their actions and words are their own, you control yours. Let’s move to being better. We will come through this together; YOU ARE NOT ALONE! And one day soon, the social animal in us all will run free again.