Firstly, we speak with former Mayor Annise Parker about her time serving as CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Fund. We talk about her accomplishments while leading this organization as well as what might be in the future.
Then, we speak with legendary Nina West from Ru Paul’s Drag Race. We discuss her time on the show as well as her life performing in drag. We also touch on her work in the community.
Finally, we speak with the founder and artistic director of the Catastrophic Theater, Jason Nodler.
The Catastrophic Theatre is an ensemble-based theatre company dedicated to creating a meaningful exchange between artists and audiences through the creation and performance of new works of all sorts.
Queer Voices airs in Houston Texas on 90.1FM KPFT and is heard as a podcast here. Queer Voices hopes to entertain as well as illuminate LGBTQ issues in Houston and beyond. Check out our socials at:
https://www.facebook.com/QueerVoicesKPFT/ and
https://www.instagram.com/queervoices90.1kpft/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello everybody, this is Queer Voices, a
home-produced podcast that hasgrown out of a radio show that's
been on the air in Houston,texas, for several decades.
This week, brian Levinca talkswith former Houston Mayor Anise
Parker, who is retiring from theVictory Fund.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
We also now act as a political consulting group.
We can be a SWAT team and comein and help campaigns that are
floundering.
A candidate will be attackedand they'll call us and we'll
help them craft the appropriatemessaging response.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Brett Cullum has a conversation with Nina West of
RuPaul's Drag Race, we haveBrett's community calendar for
the second half of August andBrett talks with Jason Nodler,
the founder and artisticdirector of Catastrophic Theater
.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
It's 12 actors facing out.
They never get up pretty much,and yet they take you on the
wildest ride and the languageitself creates a sort of
cacophonous symphony.
One reviewer said that the playwas sort of more to be
conducted than directed.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Queer Voices starts now.
Speaker 4 (01:12):
This is Brian Levinckin.
Today on Queer Voices, I havethe honor of interviewing Anise
Parker, a former mayor ofHouston.
Welcome to the show, Anise.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Thanks.
It's always great to visit withy'all.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
I wanted to talk about the Victory Fund, but
first I wanted to talk aboutpassing in our community, Sheila
Jackson Lee.
Can you talk about her and whatshe did for our community?
Speaker 2 (01:32):
I had the honor of attending her memorial service
on Thursday, a trulystar-studded event event
President Clinton, secretaryClinton, vice President Harris,
a multitude of civil rightsleaders and other public
officials.
Stevie Wonder came in and didtwo songs.
(01:53):
It was an amazing outpouring ofsupport and it was the fourth
of the events that were donehere in Houston for
Congresswoman Lee Just anexample of the regard.
And she's been held.
I met her oh I don't know 35years ago.
I'm feeling really old when Isay that Before she was ever in
(02:14):
office she ran for judge here inHouston three times and lost.
Then she was elected to theHouston City Council, served a
couple of terms.
Then she was elected to theHouston City Council, served a
couple of terms.
Then she was elected toCongress, and this would have
been her.
This was her 30th year inCongress.
But the reason I met her somany years ago is that in those
(02:35):
early races she sought out whatwas then the Gay Political
Caucus for our support andendorsement.
So she has always been an allyof the LGBTQ community and
proved that over and over againby showing up, speaking up,
voting on issues that wereimportant to the community.
Speaker 4 (02:55):
At the time you were the president of the caucus.
Is that right?
Speaker 2 (02:58):
No, this was before I was president of the caucus.
The caucus was founded in 1975in 1975, and I wasn't president
until the mid-80s.
So these were the early 70sAgain, before her political
career really took off and whenthe caucus was still very young
(03:19):
and it took a lot of courage andempathy for politicians at that
time to want to be affiliatedwith the gay community and to
seek a public endorsement.
Not that we're totally populartoday, but it was a very
different time in the late 70sand early 80s.
(03:41):
I think that she came toHouston for her husband, elwyn
Lee, dr Lee she grew up in NewYork, I believe she's from
Queens Went to Yale I meanbright, bright woman Went to law
school, I believe, in Virginiaand came to Houston to start her
(04:04):
family.
She and Dr Lee, who was alongtime professor and
administrator at University ofHouston, have two adult children
and she leaves behind twograndchildren also.
Speaker 4 (04:17):
Can you talk about her political accomplishments
and what she did in office?
Speaker 2 (04:21):
What she is known for across the country is the
creation of the JuneteenthNational Holiday.
Clearly, juneteenth issomething that is important to
Texans because it was first itreferences an event in Texas
when enslaved people in Texasfirst learned of the
Emancipation Proclamation, whichI believe had been signed two
(04:44):
years earlier.
But it was first celebrated inblack communities across Texas
and began to be picked upnationwide.
And Sheila led the charge inCongress to create this national
holiday as a marker of holiday,as a marker of and the only one
really of finally eliminatingslavery here in America.
(05:09):
She also was champion of theViolence Against Women Act.
She served on the JudiciaryCommittee Remember.
She holds, or held, the seatthat Barbara Jordan held, that
Mickey Leland held.
Her media predecessor was CraigWashington, but she followed in
the footsteps of two hugelyconsequential politicians in
(05:34):
Barbara Jordan and Mickey Leland.
So there was a lot.
There was a lot riding on her.
One of the things that was saidat her memorial service and I'll
have to take it as fact is thatshe managed to put amendments
in every bill that she had anopportunity to vote on, and I
(05:54):
can see her doing that.
I will also tell you that shewas very smart and very
strategic.
But she was also relentless andthere were a lot of comments at
the memorial service about thatthat, frankly, some of the
things she accomplished she justwore people down because she
did not give up and she mightmake a principal compromise to
get something passed but shewould come right back to try to
(06:17):
get what she wanted.
Very just, absolutelyrelentless.
A number of folks talked aboutthat.
I mean, I worked with her as apublic official as well and I
certainly experienced that.
She was great when you were onthe same side because she never
quit.
She was really tough to dealwith when she was on the other
(06:37):
side because she never quit.
She just kept coming back.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
Let's talk about you.
You're serving seven years, asis it seven years as president
and CEO of the Victory Fund.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Just over six and a half.
I intend to leave at the end ofthe year, which will give me
exactly seven years.
Speaker 4 (06:54):
What is your biggest accomplishment, do you think?
Speaker 2 (06:57):
I was able to come in and stabilize an organization
that had stumbled, kind of lostits way a little bit, that had
stumbled, kind of lost its way alittle bit, and doubled the
budget, at least doubled thenumber of elected officials that
we work with each year, buildup the staff, build up the
political expertise on the staff.
(07:17):
The LGBTQ Victory Fund is amore than 30-year-old political
organization that has a verynarrow mission.
We help LGBT leaders achievepublic office, either elected or
appointed.
Our focus is on the electoralside of politics, but we also
have a really strongappointments program at the
(07:40):
federal level.
But within that mission, we go,we find candidates, train
candidates, we endorsecandidates and then, once
they're elected officials, wework with them, we invest in
their careers long term, providenetworking and leadership
opportunities.
We keep filling the pipelinewith LGBT leaders because we
(08:00):
believe that democracy onlyworks when everyone's
represented and our community isseverely underrepresented.
There are about 1,300 outcurrently serving elected
officials.
Among the tens of thousandsacross the country, we're less
than 2% for sure.
I don't know what the currentpercentage is, considering what
(08:24):
portion of the population callsthemselves LGBT.
But we need to constantly fillthe pipeline and while Victory
has done that for a long time.
One of the things I'm reallyproud of is that we've shifted a
little bit from just findingcandidates and endorsing
candidates and trying togenerate money for those
candidates.
We are a PAC, but we also nowact as a political consulting
group candidates and endorsingcandidates and trying to
generate money for thosecandidates, because we are a PAC
(08:45):
, but we also now act as apolitical consulting group.
We can be a SWAT team and comein and help campaigns that are
floundering.
A candidate will be attackedand they'll call us and we'll
help them craft the appropriatemessaging response.
So we've increased the numberof tools that we have in our
(09:07):
toolkit and I'm proud of all ofthose things.
But the proof for me is notthat we've elected more people.
It's where we've elected themand as we see them achieving
ever greater success.
We're the only nationalorganization that works in down
ballot races the organizationsthat people have heard of, hrc,
(09:29):
for example.
Hrc is a policy shop.
We don't do any policy.
We don't do any lobbying.
Our focus is not Washington DC.
We do endorse congressionalcandidates and we're really
proud of them, but we do most ofour work in the state houses
and in city councils and schoolboards and the down-ballot races
, where people start theirpolitical career, but also where
(09:49):
politics is really granular andwe really can change the
narrative and change hearts andminds.
And we see what happened inlegislatures, particularly in
the South.
There is only one out member ofthe Mississippi legislature,
one in Arkansas, one in Alabama.
But we started with one inGeorgia, we started with one in
(10:10):
Texas and now I believe Texashas 10, my last count and
Georgia, I believe, has eight,and we are helping create the
change we want to see in theworld.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
I think I should disclose that I'm on the
National Campaign Board for theVictory Fund.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
You are part of our donor board.
We are what's known as abundling pack, and Victory does
give money to candidatesdirectly, but we have a network
of people who are committed toseeing LGB representation in
politics, and the most dedicatedof those donors of which we're
one, brian make a personalcommitment to a certain dollar
(10:47):
amount to candidates of theirchoice that we've endorsed and
help us make the selections.
Across the country, we filterthrough hundreds and hundreds of
LGBT candidates every year tofind the ones that have a chance
of getting across the finishline, and we invest in those
candidates.
But even the ones that we don'tbelieve are viable and in a
(11:11):
particular race, we have a rangeof services that we provide
them, and we do candidatetraining.
We'll talk to them and try toconvince them.
You know, maybe this isn't theright race for you, but if you
find the right race, we help yousuccessfully run that race, and
then you have an opportunity toserve your constituents,
because that's what it's about.
(11:32):
You know, we don't want to holdoffice.
We want to do something inoffice, and our folks are
stepping up all the time.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
You mentioned viability.
Can you talk about that?
What does that mean exactly?
Speaker 2 (11:50):
There has to be a path to victory.
There is no shame in running arace that you know you're going
to lose.
There's absolutely no shame inthat.
Maybe you want to raise anissue that you know the
incumbent won't talk about, oryou feel it's important that
everyone is challenged everytime they're on the ballot.
No one has a free ride,Whatever the reason.
A lot of people run and, yes,lightning can strike.
Your opponent can drop dead,for example.
(12:10):
God forbid, but that's not awinning campaign.
Doesn't depend on something likethat A winning campaign is one
where you actually say these arethe voters, these are the
issues, you know, these are thedemographics.
How much money I can raise?
Put all those things togetherIs it possible?
You know, a Democrat running ina Republican plus 20 district
(12:34):
is not a viable candidate, orvice versa.
But a Republican running in aDemocrat plus two race might
very well be viable under theright set of circumstances, or
even a Democrat plus five race.
And we are nonpartisan,although almost all of our
candidates are.
Democrats or DSA or Green, youknow, on the left side of the
(12:56):
ballot.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
I think in my time that I've been on the Victory
Fund campaign board we'veendorsed maybe three Republicans
in like 12 years.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
We've endorsed more than that, but not a lot In 2022
, and we're still in the processwe've gotten through the
primaries for this year, butwe'll still be endorsing
candidates who either didn'thave primaries or just
discovered us all the way upthrough, you know, into October,
although really by the end ofSeptember, by Labor Day, most of
(13:25):
the fields are set.
So we're going to have a verybusy August, but two years ago
we had 504 endorsed candidatesand two of them were Republicans
, but only we had 1,100 races wetracked and only 13 were only
13 Republicans sought ourendorsement.
I believe that's a reflectionof the fact that the Republican
(13:47):
Party is no longer theRepublican Party.
It's the Trump Party and it hasbeen taken over by, you know,
maga cultists, frankly, and theyhave been running on anti-LGBT
platforms, particularlyanti-trans, but not solely so.
A moderate gay Republican who'sout of the closet has almost no
(14:11):
chance in surviving a Republicanprimary these days, which is
why there's so few Of the two weendorsed.
One won, the other did not, soit is possible, but there's just
few who choose.
There are many fewer gayRepublicans than Democrats, and
then the political landscape isincredibly challenging.
Victory remains nonpartisan orbipartisan.
(14:35):
We do endorse across thepolitical spectrum because we
believe and I absolutely believethat our rights become at risk
when they're only protected byone party.
We want all political partiesto believe that we belong and
that we are worthy of respectand dignity.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
Is there a candidate that surprised you, that won?
Is there somebody out therethat you're like wow, how did
this happen?
Speaker 2 (14:57):
There's a lot of them like that, you know, when we
all, many people in thecommunity know Danica Roe she
wasn't the first trans person tohold office, but she was the
first member of a legislature towin and beat a more than
20-year incumbent in a partisanelection, made it through the
(15:19):
primary, beat an incumbent, wassuccessfully reelected several
times and is now in the statesenate in Virginia, so again
representing the South.
Breonna Titone, another transwoman who beat a Republican
incumbent in a rural area ofColorado.
Mari Turner in Oklahoma, amember of the legislature there,
(15:41):
black, muslim and non-binary,not representing a black
district, a Muslim district, andI don't know if they even know
what non-binary is in a goodpart of Oklahoma.
But those are the kind of racesthat really make you stop and
think, because it goes back tothe right candidate with the
right message can and does winanywhere, but you do have to
(16:02):
have the right candidate, youhave to have the right message
and they have to be able to puttogether a capable campaign, and
that's where victory comes in.
One of the things that we we'restill marking milestones, and
milestones are important.
If you mark milestones, however, it means you haven't reached
the end of your journey.
We helped elect the firstmember of the Mississippi
(16:22):
legislature last year.
Fabian Nelson, louisiana.
I'm still kind of astounded atthis.
Louisiana is the only state inthe country that has never had a
member of our community intheir legislature.
You would think that with NewOrleans, that somebody but key
is being out.
The other, the second, thepenultimate state was
Mississippi, and Fabian Nelsonnow represents the Jackson area.
(16:47):
And Fabian ran two years before.
He didn't know what he wasdoing.
He didn't put together acampaign.
He's kind of put his name onthe ballot.
He floundered around a littlebit.
I think he got 30 votes in therace.
But we connected with him andsaid you know, you didn't have a
viable campaign.
We couldn't be with you thistime, but we want to work with
you to make you a bettercandidate, to teach you the nuts
(17:08):
and bolts of campaigning.
And Fabian crushed it and isnow a member.
He's the only one inMississippi but he is now a
member of the Mississippilegislature.
He's just a heck of a nice,nice guy.
And so those you know.
Every time we get to one ofthose where people say like
really.
Every time we get to one ofthose where people say like
really.
But our one Republican who wonlast year is a Republican trans
(17:30):
woman who's on the city councilin Garden City, new Jersey.
So again, we work withcandidates where they are to
represent the communities inwhich they live.
You know, there's a lot offolks who I'm going to, I guess,
forum shop or shop for I wantto be in office so I'm going to
look around and see where I canwin.
No, that's the wrong way to doit.
We look for people who want toserve their community and who
(17:52):
are of and from that community.
They make the best candidatesand they also make the best
office holders.
Speaker 4 (17:56):
What is your greatest memory as being president of
the Victory?
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Frankly, it's when we got the Respect for Marriage
Act passed and it's not I meanagain Victory, doesn't?
We don't lobby.
So we weren't up on the hillwith the other national
organizations, but that wouldnot have passed without Tammy
Baldwin.
Tammy Baldwin is the posterchild of what it means to be in
the political pipeline and toalways know who you are and
(18:19):
never forget the organizationsand the people and the issues
that brought you in politics.
She started I believe she was24.
She was a county commissionerin Wisconsin, in Madison, and
then became a state legislator,then was elected to the US House
, then was elected to the UnitedStates Senate and she was the
whip on the Respect for MarriageAct.
(18:40):
And it was the relationshipsthat she had built and the
respect that she had garneredfrom her colleagues there that
allowed her to have the quietconversations and pull was it?
10 Republicans into the vote.
And that's I.
Partly.
It's amazing because I've knownTammy since the mid 80s, but
(19:04):
also just, she's that perfectexample of why we do the work.
Probably the second best nightthat I have had as victory
president is when we electedTina Kotek and Mara Healy as
governors two years ago.
They joined Jared Polis.
We now have three governors ofthe United States who are from
(19:27):
our community, and Tina Kotek,in Oregon, is a legacy.
He took the seat of followingKate Brown, who was our first
LGBT governor ever in the UnitedStates, and so to elect two
amazing women in two verydifferent states on the same
night to a governorship wasanother peak moment.
(19:49):
But see, you know, it's kind oflike.
You know I have my wife, kathy,and I we have four kids.
It's sort of like well, what'syour favorite kid?
Ask me what day it is and I'lltell you which one's my favorite
kid.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
I have one final question what's next for Anise
Parker?
Speaker 2 (20:02):
I am leaving the job at Victory at the end of the
year.
I gave my board, I was broughtin for a short-term gig and I
spent two years riding the shipand getting it refocused and
then COVID came and that took metwo more years and then we came
out of COVID and I didn't wantto leave yet.
But I gave the board 18 monthsto find my successor and they
are looking.
There's a search, nationalsearch going on.
(20:23):
I'll serve until the end of theyear.
I have never left then.
I was born here, I spent myentire working life living here
and I'm tired of being on aplane, but I'm also not ready to
retire, so I don't need to bein public office to continue in
public service.
But I will look for anopportunity to serve in some way
(20:45):
where I don't have to get on aplane every week.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
Anise Parker, former mayor of Houston, talking about
Sheila Jackson Lee, anothergreat Houstonian, and her work
at the Victory Fund.
Thank you for coming on, Anise.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
Well, thank you.
I always appreciate theopportunity to talk about
Victory and anyone who might beinterested in learning more
about the premier nationalorganization with a very
singular focus.
Victoryfundorgvictoryinstituteorg those are
our two websites.
Victory Institute is our 501c3side, and if you want to get
(21:20):
inspired, go to outforamericaorgF-O-R.
Outforamericaorg, where we listevery out LGBT elected official
that we're aware of across thecountry.
Whether we put them in officeor not, whether they ran out or
whether they came out, it's agreat place to be inspired.
Speaker 4 (21:39):
Thank you, Anise, for coming on.
You're welcome.
This is Queer Voices.
Speaker 7 (21:43):
Hey, there, I'm Sean.
Speaker 5 (21:45):
And I'm Roxanne, and we're the co-chairs for Red
Dinner 5.
On Friday, august 23rd, theUniversity of Houston LGBTQ
Alumni Network will be hostingthe Red Dinner Gala at the
university's Athletic AlumniCenter.
Speaker 7 (21:56):
Since 2016, the University of Houston Red Dinner
has raised funds for emergencycrisis aid and academic
scholarship for LGBT students atthe University of Houston.
However, with COVID, we had totake a brief hiatus, which
directly affected our students.
This year, we need ourcommunity's help more than ever.
Speaker 5 (22:16):
We have a great event planned.
Red Dinner will be emceed byPooja Lodia with ABC 13
Eyewitness News, and we'll havea great keynote from
award-winning radio personalityEddie.
Speaker 7 (22:31):
Robinson.
We're also be honoring TammyWallace of the Greater Houston
LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce andthe Houston LGBTQ Political
Caucus.
Cougars and allies are allwelcome.
We hope to see you there.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
This is Queer Voices.
Speaker 8 (22:53):
I'm Brett Cullum and I'm joined today by Nina West or
Andrew Robert Levitt.
He is an Ohio-based drag queenand was named 2008's Entertainer
of the Year.
He's been on RuPaul's drag raceas a competitor in season 11
and more recently in the racefor the title of all-stars.
Season 9 now the all-stars runwas the first time rupaul did a
(23:14):
show solely to raise money forcharity and nina was, oddly
perfect for that cause.
Nina has her own foundationprobably the only drag queen in
the country that I know thatdoes and has raised millions of
dollars for her causes andthat's millions.
Nina, or Andrew, has alsoappeared in the Broadway tour of
Hairspray as Edna.
She's coming to Houston thisholiday season as the hostess of
(23:38):
Murray and Peter's A Drag QueenChristmas on December 17th at
the Bayou Music Center.
Welcome to Queer Voiceices.
Nina West.
Speaker 9 (23:46):
My gosh.
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm so honored to be here, sohello, happy holidays.
Speaker 8 (23:53):
I'm so honored to be in front of you.
Yes, and happy holidays.
Like way early.
But first up, how are you afterAll Stars?
What is this like after this?
Speaker 9 (24:02):
It's been great, it's been a joy to be back on
people's televisions these youknow for those 12 weeks over the
summer and to celebrate one ofmy favorite organizations that
exists, which is the trevorproject, to get to show the
world who I am now, after youknow the five years that it's
been since season 11's beenlovely to kind of reintroduce
(24:23):
myself to a new batch of fansand to remind the people who
followed me who I am and whatI'm all about and what I'm up to
right now.
Speaker 8 (24:32):
This All-Stars was wild.
I mean, who comes in to theworkroom with outfits designed
by Gautier or McQueen?
I was like what is up withthese fashion queens?
Not me, girl.
Speaker 9 (24:44):
They don't make black guys wear, okay they should.
Maybe they can get on that.
I didn't come in with goatee,I'm a fan.
It's lovely to see.
Speaker 8 (24:57):
One thing you did come in with was great sense of
theater.
You're one of the bestperformers.
Everybody had their skill and Ithink everybody was so fierce
and it was so hard.
It was so nice to see you guysnot get eliminated because we
got to see the whole package.
We got to see everything.
We got to see all of yourepresent all your talents, so
it was really fun to see you.
I do notice you've got theperfectly timed releases.
You've got let me see a TrevorProject shirt that came out.
Speaker 9 (25:20):
Yeah, so I paired with a Columbus-based company
called Homage, which they're apretty famous national brand
based here in my hometown, andI've partnered with them in the
past during season 11.
They did a charity t-shirt forKaleidoscope Youth Center.
So again like this is nostranger to me, like doing these
kind of activations and workingwith brands that I have a long
(25:42):
history with to raise money andawareness for organizations.
And so this time we're doing wedid a brand new t-shirt and
it's the Go Big, Be Kind, GoWest shirt, and 20% of all the
proceeds go to the TrevorProject.
So that's on sale now and we'reexcited to make another sizable
donation to that wonderfullife-saving organization.
Speaker 8 (26:00):
I already have ordered mine, so there we go.
And then also you've got an EPthat dropped recently, and of
course it includes the anthemthat you unleashed during the
finale.
Speaker 9 (26:12):
Yeah, the Drag is for Everyone, which I did on the
finale, which was choreographedby Mark Kinamara, who's a
fantastic friend of mine, andco-written by my friend, mark
Byers, aka Markaholic, who'swritten for everybody from
rupaul to you know, incredibleartists and, like renton lincoln
and me so, yeah, yeah, so youknow, so it's.
(26:33):
The song is a great joy.
It's a send-up of, you know, ofthe billion broadway style, you
know, kind of an ode to sometony openings that I really,
really loved, delivering amessage in a really camp, fun
way that I think is reallyaccessible and palatable to
people who may not otherwisereceive it.
Speaker 8 (26:49):
You also did a video and it was a spoof of a Gilbert
Sullivan song, modern MajorGeneral, but listing every
single competitor, at least inthe original RuPaul's franchise.
Like how many?
160-something?
Speaker 9 (27:03):
Hold on, I had to do the math.
It might be 206, or it's 190.
I forget what it is.
Or 209, I think maybe.
But the task of that is to getthe rhyme in and the reference
in for every single person fromevery single season.
In the meter of Modern MajorGeneral.
(27:23):
So I was attracted to the ideaof doing a patter song.
I had watched Only Murders inthe meter of Modern Major
General, so I was attracted tothe idea of doing a patter song.
I had watched Only Murders inthe Building and it was the
episode where Steve Martin wasdoing which of the big quick
triplets did it in the group?
And so I was like I want to doa patter song, I have to do a
patter song.
And I was like, well, what'sthe best, what's the biggest and
best patter song of all time?
Modern Major General fromPirates of Penzance.
(27:45):
And so I was like, well, I'mgoing to task myself with this
idea of naming every singleperson who's ever walked in the
workroom of the originalRuPaul's Drag Race.
So the American version, fromseason one to season 16.
I mean, it's a Herculean effortto fit milk with lactaceous,
which had to rhyme withpunicaceous.
(28:07):
I mean there's like it isfree-form rhyme too, so it's
like we're making up some wordswhich they do in the Gilbert and
Sullivan version.
We're definitely paying homagewhile also creating something
new.
Speaker 8 (28:19):
Well, let's walk it back a little bit.
I have always been curiousabout what made you become the
drag artist, nina West.
What were your roots?
I know you were in Columbus.
Speaker 9 (28:28):
I think I was a kid who really wanted to do theater
and I didn't have the theatricalopportunities in front of me to
do that.
So I went to college fortheater, I had my degrees in
theater and then I didn't moveto New York City like I wanted
to because of 9-11.
And so I had to kind of createmy own opportunity, and that's
(28:48):
kind of my life story was kindof carving out and creating my
own space, and drag was alwaysthe method with which I did that
.
So Nina kind of became thislike vessel for me to do
theatrical drag, or drag thatwas, you know, inspired by some
musical that I'd seen on theTony Awards or if I was lucky
enough to save my money fromserving tables in Columbus to go
(29:09):
to New York City and go see ashow and then be like, oh my God
, I saw this show.
Wait till the cast recordingcomes out.
The first people that everbooked me for shows were
charities.
Yes, I had an incredible dragmother who welcomed me and who
taught me the ropes of doingdrag.
And then I was surrounded byorganizations that were like,
hey, we're raising money forthis cause.
Would you come to our show forfree?
And I was like, well, wait, noone else is asking me to do a
(29:30):
show, but the columbus stompers,who were a country line dancing
lgbtq country line dancinggroup, wanted me to come perform
at a fundraiser for them orcolumbus eight's task force, and
so, like that's how I connectedthe drag to Charity.
So then here I am now doing dragand it's like I could connect
all of the pieces, and so thatinformed Nina and then I created
(29:50):
a character that I was tryingto distance myself from, but it
became intrinsically personaland very much Andrew, which was
not my intent.
But then you know, as you go onmany years later, fast forward
to RuPaul's Drag Race and itit's like, well, wait a minute,
the line is so blurred betweenthe performer and the character.
The line between RuPaul Charlesand RuPaul is really thin.
(30:12):
It's there.
I mean there are somedifferences, but it's there,
right.
But like Nina's, informed by, Ithink, charity, broadway,
disney, political activism,activation, lgbtqia+ equality.
Speaker 8 (30:27):
One night that we have here in Houston we have a
weekly drag show called theBroads Way and it's all Broadway
numbers and that's all they do.
I could just see Nina likecompletely taking that over It'd
be a lot of fun.
Speaker 9 (30:38):
I mean, listen, I love a showtunes night.
Speaker 8 (30:41):
So how many times did you actually audition for Drag
Race before you got on season 11?
Nine times my actually auditionfor Drag.
Speaker 9 (30:44):
Race before you got on season 11?
Nine times.
My ninth audition was my luckyaudition, lucky number nine,
which is kind of weird.
You know I love numerology, solucky number nine and I was on
All-Stars nine.
Speaker 8 (30:54):
Was that your lucky number nine?
Your Taylor Swift lucky number,hers, is 13.
It is.
But, I'm saying like she has 13.
Speaker 9 (31:01):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm a Swifty too.
Don't even try it, I am aSwifty.
Speaker 8 (31:09):
What do you think sealed the deal for you with
that final audition?
Speaker 9 (31:12):
I think I had stopped with kind of the errors, the
false errors of it all.
You know, like the first eightaudition tapes I was giving them
what I thought they wanted andthe ninth audition tape I just
gave them myself and I think Iwas like, think I was cutting
through the noise and justsaying, ah, this is me.
It's a hard lesson for anybodyto learn, especially in this
(31:35):
world where drag is such apretense, where it can be so
heightened and drag queens canbe really great chameleons and
you can figure out oh, I canadapt quickly, quickly.
That's one of the skills welearn as performers and
especially in a like a bar or anenvironment where it's loud,
you have to adapt quickly.
So you're constantly on theballs of your feet, like doing a
dance.
You want to become what theywant, right, even like any actor
(31:59):
, you're like oh, I can be, Ican do this, this is what the
audition is calling for.
I can do that.
I'm malleable, I'm flexible, Ican be what they want.
When in Drag Race, realitytelevision world, they want the
person they're looking for, whoyou are.
They need to see who you arebefore all that is built up and
future auditionees show up asyourself, because you're going
(32:20):
to naturally put a wall up whenyou walk into that workroom and
that's the thing they're goingto try to break away, so they
get good television.
Speaker 8 (32:26):
Well then, nina West, after Drag Race you got to put
on a character again withHairspray.
So how did Hairspray happenright after that?
Speaker 9 (32:35):
I was offered Hairspray in July of 2019.
So our season had wrapped inMay of 2019.
Came to me because I had doneHarvey Fierstein as one of my
characters for Snatch Game andJerry Mitchell, who is the Tony
Award winning director andchoreographer he was the
choreographer for Hairspray.
He saw my Harvey on Drag RaceSeason 11 and said whoa, this
(33:01):
person could do Edna.
And Cold called me out of theblue and said hey, we think you
should be Edna, what do youthink about that?
And I was like who is this?
I was like what is happeninghere?
I went to New York and I did awork session with Jack O'Brien.
I was like, oh my gosh, I don'tknow how this is going to go.
When I walk out of the session,my agent called like literally,
(33:21):
it was a 42nd Street Stages andI'm walking up 42nd Street, I
think, and my agent calls me andsays you booked it, they want
you, and I was like I startedcrying.
I was like I can't believe thisis happening.
I can't believe this dream ishappening.
And so that's how it happened.
Speaker 8 (33:37):
That's interesting because you know who I recently
interviewed was Greg Califatis,who took over for you as Edna I
think I read that interview andyou were rooting for God.
Speaker 9 (33:46):
Who are you rooting for in the season?
You said oh, I like Nina, butI'm rooting for somebody else.
I read that interview.
Speaker 8 (33:52):
Oh my gosh, my words come back to haunt me.
But I remember drag when it wasrebellious and you went to like
little basement bars and saw it.
Now it's like at every bar andnow it's it's kind of this
omnipresent thing and I we canprobably blame rupaul for this,
but because it just kind of cameout into the light it's a lot
(34:13):
of things right, because I thinkpeople it's the apps.
Speaker 9 (34:16):
You know people don't necessarily feel like they.
They need to go out to, youknow, meet somebody to date or
hook up with.
They can do it on their phone.
At home they can stay in.
People think that there is anidea and a false narrative or
sense that we have equitable,we're equal under the law, which
I think is not a safeassumption, especially depending
(34:39):
on where you live in thecountry where there are laws on
the state level that might beagainst LGBTQIA plus people.
Actually, now more than ever,the need and identity for queer
space for people to feel safe in, for people to gather in, for
people to tell their stories,whether that's through drag,
burlesque, queens, kings,however it kind of unfolds queer
(35:00):
theater, whatever that might bethat storytelling has to have a
space that's safe and preservesthat.
Speaker 8 (35:04):
Well, I'm in Texas so I completely get it.
It's definitely a hot pointhere, but this is why we are
here today.
You, nina West, you're hostingMurray Peters, a drag queen
Christmas.
It will be here on December17th at the Bayou Music Center.
Are you a big Christmas queen?
Are you going to give Chanel arun for her money here?
Are you a big Christmas queen?
Speaker 9 (35:24):
Are you going to give Chanel a run for her money here
?
Honey, honey, honey.
I am the biggest Christmasqueen.
I mean, chanel might have aChristmas business, fine, that
might make her the Christmasqueen.
But what I love about theholiday season is the kind of
the overness of it all, how itis just so decadent and over the
(35:47):
top and just fabulous right.
It's like it's not the Chanel,it's not the like Coco Chanel
rule of leave the house and takeone thing off before you leave
the house.
It is like the opposite.
It's like put five more thingson before you leave the house.
It's gaudy, so done and it's sofabulous.
A season that is reminding usto be our best selves and to
(36:08):
give of ourselves and to tomaybe approach the world with a
little bit more kindness and joy, and so in that sense, yeah, I
think I'm the christmas queenbecause those are things that I
intrinsically believe at my core.
Yeah, it's my favorite time ofthe year because it's it's about
joy and hope I'm gonna get backto the tour in just a second.
Speaker 8 (36:24):
But you hit on kindness and you're known as the
kindness queen.
How did that start with you?
Because I think that a lot ofdrag artists really kind of
shoot for something a little bitdifferent than that space.
There's maybe more of acattiness.
Speaker 9 (36:39):
It was.
My exit line was go big, bekind, go west.
And I think people saw that andwere like oh yeah, and I am.
That's something I really leaninto because it is who I am.
I'm not pretending to beanything, I'm not and I think
that I wanted to give it.
I really have just kind ofembraced it because I personally
think it's okay to be nice topeople.
I personally think it's okay toengage with compassion.
(37:01):
It's just how I want, again,the world that I live in to be
and you know, I think it's okayfor me to stay to people Like
I'm a pretty badass entertainer.
I have accomplished a lot in my25 years of doing drag and I
also am on the other side of theother.
I'm on a different chapter ofmy career.
(37:22):
That allows me the ability tosay I just choose not to engage
with that.
That allows me the ability tosay I just I choose not to
engage with that, and I thinkthat kindness and love and
compassion are the weapons thatI choose to use in my arsenal.
There are types of drag, again,like I would never want to do a
big brushstroke on scientists,or a brushstroke on doctors, or
a brushstroke on lawyers, alllawyers are whatever.
(37:43):
Or a brushstroke on lawyers.
Or all lawyers are whatever.
Or a brushstroke on reporters,right, you know, like?
And I, and I don't appreciatepeople wanting to do a
brushstroke on drag drag.
We each have our own identityand our own autonomy and mine
exists in a world that I thinkis really authentic to the
creator, to andrew.
I choose to exercise that andperform that in a way that is
resonates true to me and I thinka lot of people, a lot of
(38:05):
people, respond to that.
There is a time and a place forthe cattiness and I think it it
does well in its own space andtime and I think the people who
do really well with it also arecouching it in there.
That there is the queer natureof our art, right, like our
queer language.
It's not really not allcattiness and bitchiness is
actually rooted in, like there'snuance to it.
(38:26):
Right, it's nuanced, and I'mnot sure when people consume the
show they understand the nuanceof what that is.
Bianca Del Rio is one of thenicest people I know.
She is one of the most fabulous, kindest people I know would
give you the shirt off her back.
I'm not sure if people, whenthey consume her comedy,
actually understand that there'sa nuance to what she's doing.
It's couched in a language thatis deeply queer and deeply
(38:50):
historic in our own engagementwith one another.
This hour, everyone talks toeach other Tongue pop, tongue
pop, nasty comment, nastycomment.
When actual, in all actuality,when people engage like that,
they're missing the nuance andthey're missing like it's just
not, it's not an elevated way toengage when the art of reading
and the art of insult isactually.
It has a much deeper historythan that.
(39:12):
But I like to be the queen ofkindness.
Speaker 8 (39:15):
Well, who all is with you on this?
Speaker 9 (39:16):
tour.
This tour is so, so fierce.
It's Murray and Peter's 10thanniversary for Drag Queen
Christmas and it is stacked.
Anniversary for drag queenchristmas, and it is stacked.
It's sasha, colby, jimbo,brooklyn height, plasma,
sapphira, cristal plain jane,shea coulain, some cities.
It is a crystal method.
It is a really rocking lineup.
Some of these people I'vetoured with before on this tour
and so it's like a familyreunion, like roxy, andrews,
(39:39):
angeria, paris and michaels.
I mean like it's a really greatgroup of people and we're gonna
bring the joy and celebrationto the.
I mean like it's a really greatgroup of people and we're going
to bring the joy andcelebration to the cities near
you.
Speaker 8 (39:47):
And it's booked in one of the biggest venues that
I've seen for a drag tour.
You're in Bayou Music Center,which I mean popular bands play
it.
I mean like Megan Thee Stallionstarted there and things like
that.
I mean it's like it's not justa little teeny tiny.
Speaker 9 (39:59):
We're in Surrey.
Speaker 8 (40:05):
It's amazing that you have that pull and that this
tour is so big that it could behoused in a center like that.
I mean, who would have everthought that drag would have
done that 20 years ago?
All right, Queer Voice isexclusive.
Everybody wants to know are yousingle?
Are you taken?
Are you married to your artform?
What's your status?
Speaker 9 (40:23):
Who wants to know, not so exclusive.
She's very single.
I mean, I'm dating.
It's not like anyone right inmy life right now, especially on
a holiday tour when I'm goingto be on the road for two months
, it makes it a little bitdifficult.
But hopefully on mymanifestation list for the next
year someone comes into my life,that'd be great.
(40:43):
You know, on my manifestationlist for the next year someone
comes into my life, that'd begreat.
Speaker 8 (40:45):
You know, this is one of the things that I always ask
touring artists is how does itaffect your personal life,
because you are literally on theroad?
I know you're home based inColumbus, right, but you, how
much time do you even spendthere?
Speaker 9 (40:55):
I mean, I mean like it's very little, it's like it's
like maybe one or two days aweek, depending on if I get the
chance to come home and changemy bags out.
So like yeah, I mean it wreakshavoc a little bit on the
personal life, but like also Ireally love what I do and you
know, I love the fans and I lovethe art and I love, I just love
(41:15):
it.
I love seeing the country andif I can find somebody who can,
you know, meet me there and likeis fiercely independent and
also loves all of those things,loves the road, loves meeting
people, then like that could bereally magical, you know, but in
the meantime I'm having thetime of my life you certainly
bring a sense of joy to your artform that is just so infectious
(41:35):
.
Speaker 8 (41:36):
And I will say that before the all-star season I
said if there was anybody that Iwould pick for a friend, it
would definitely be n Nina West,because you always seem to be
just the most authentic.
You bring so much of this inhere and all of your activism,
all of your just attention tothings like charity work and of
course you're the ultimatetheater.
But luckily Houston gets to seeyou December 17th at the Bayou
(41:59):
Music Center doing the and Ididn't realize this was the 10th
Murray and Peters at Drag QueenChristmas.
Speaker 9 (42:04):
We've gone that far.
Yeah, it's the 10th anniversary.
This is my third one hosting.
I'm excited to host this bigblowout for 10 years.
It's fantastic.
Speaker 8 (42:11):
That's amazing.
Who would know?
It's one of the biggestChristmas tours ever.
That's pretty exciting.
Speaker 9 (42:18):
It's us and Mannheim Steamroller Look out.
Speaker 8 (42:21):
Yes, and the Siberian Trans Orchestra?
Okay, and I have your communitycalendar for the last half of
August.
On Sunday, august 11th, fortBend County Pride is happening.
(42:41):
They're going to be at thefairgrounds, which are the Fort
Bend County Fairgrounds, and theevent will last from 2 pm until
8 pm.
It's a family-friendly event,so bring everybody, bring the
kids, bring your relatives.
Whatever Fort Bend County Pridehappens on August 11th, I wanted
to mention running throughAugust 10th at the Match Complex
(43:02):
in Midtown, melville andHawthorne, presented by
Thunderclap Productions.
That will go through August10th and it's about two of our
greatest American literaryartists getting together and
becoming romantically involved.
You don't want to miss this one.
On August 24th, rupaul theall-stars from Season 9, invade
(43:23):
the 713 Music Hall.
This is going to be a big eventfor people that are fans of the
show.
There are going to be severalof the queens that competed on
All-Stars Season 9, includingMiss Vanjie and Gottmik, so this
will be a great one for fans ofthat show.
On August 30th, we haveGalveston Gay Beach Weekend.
It will run that last weekendin August and that's your last
(43:45):
chance to blow out the summerwith all your friends.
That is the Galveston Gay BeachWeekend they're starting August
30th and the 31st and goingback to Melville and Hawthorne.
I actually got a chance todiscuss this play with both the
writer and the producer.
We talked a lot about thethemes and different things and
(44:05):
what they're hoping toaccomplish with this particular
production and it's veryinteresting because they're
trying to really tie it to ourcurrent time and it's very
interesting to think about the1850s to now.
This is Brett Cullum.
Today.
I am joined by Jason Nodler, afounder and director of the
Catastrophic Theater.
The company was formallylaunched in this current
incarnation in 2007 and rosefrom the ashes of another
(44:28):
popular theater troupe.
They are known for theirwickedly delirious presentations
of avant-garde and experimentaltheater.
Thank you, jason, for takingthis time to talk to me about
your new season, and welcome toQueer.
Speaker 3 (44:39):
Voices.
Thanks so much for having me,Brad.
It's wonderful to be here.
Speaker 8 (44:43):
All right, let's run through next year's shows you
open with Spirits to Enforce andthat's going to be coming to us
in late September.
Tell us a little bit about thatone.
Speaker 3 (44:55):
Well, this is a Mikkel Maher play.
It's played by Mikkel Maher andwe have produced his plays more
often than anyone's, butTamarie's her very popular
original summer musicals.
I often feel like he's thegreatest American playwright
that you've never heard of.
His plays are deceptivelycomplex.
They feel just like really funrides, or mashed up of disparate
(45:18):
elements that don't seem tomake any sense together and in
the end they all sort ofconverge and the whole thing
comes true and you realize thatit's been something far more
than a simple entertainment.
Spiritstone Force is a mashup ofTelefondraisers, the Tempest by
Shakespeare and superheroes.
So the premise is that thereare a series of 12
(45:39):
telefundraisers sitting at aphone bank dialing for dollars.
You know.
I mean they're calling to raisemoney for the production itself
and to sell tickets to aproduction of the Tempest to be
performed by the local superheroteam, the Fathom City Enforcers
.
So it's like, first of all,it's going very poorly.
They're not raising any money,they haven't sold any tickets,
(46:02):
rehearsals aren't going well,some of them don't particularly
seem to like each other andevery line is delivered into a
telephone.
So the actors are not speakingto one another.
It's 12 actors facing out.
They never get up pretty much,and yet they take you on the
wildest ride, and the languageitself creates a sort of
cacophonous symphony.
One reviewer said that the playwas sort of more to be conducted
(46:25):
than directed, and I feel thatway very much.
It's a real tour-de-forceaspect of the production.
If you get it right, it's alsoincredibly funny, and it becomes
tremendously moving and you arethinking along the way like
what do these three things haveto do with each other?
And when you realize, itbecomes a deeply profound
(46:47):
experience.
Mostly, though, I just want tosay because people like this,
it's hilarious, the cast istremendous, it's a super fun
play.
I can't wait to get intorehearsals.
We did this once before in 2008,as we were just forming as Cast
Traffic.
I think it was our fourthproduction.
The time between thatproduction and this one was a
person that would probably havetheir driver's license by now,
(47:10):
so the people who saw it thelast time and we were just
forming at that time too havenot seen it.
I mean, that will be in ouraudience this time Somewhere.
Around 90% of your audience hasnever seen that play before and
never will again, and so yourproduction is the one that
they'll see.
Speaker 8 (47:27):
I think what surprises me the most about when
I see Mikkel's work,particularly in your company's
hand, is that it's funny, likeyou said.
I mean, it makes you think, itmakes you feel certain things,
but it's also very funny andvery unexpectedly funny, and
it's a good vehicle for a lot ofyour company to kind of show
their comedy chops.
Okay, so second up, brian Yukapresents Love Bomb, so I'm
(47:51):
assuming it's dance.
Presents Love Bomb, so I'massuming it's dance.
Speaker 3 (47:56):
Brian makes experimental dance theater that
is extremely informed byensemble work.
So they get together and theycreate compositions together.
It's viewpoints-based.
Brian was in on the groundfloor of Viewpoints Theory.
His plays are just.
They're imagination machines.
They defy description.
Is he solo usually?
Speaker 8 (48:13):
Or does he have?
A whole company behind him.
Speaker 3 (48:15):
We're his company.
He had a company for many yearsin New York.
He was in a company that AnneBogart led, but that company has
been defunct for some time.
We're the ones that he makestheater with now, which is sort
of extraordinary given that hewas the first collaborator
outside of our core group thatwe worked with Brian just.
He's extraordinarily creativeand the work that we do with him
(48:38):
is unlike any other work thatwe do.
It's one of maybe five or sevendifferent types of work that we
make that we feel like isunique to us.
Speaker 8 (48:47):
One of the things that I think is interesting
about you guys is youcollaborate over and over with
these same artists, and one ofthe things that I'm excited
about coming up next season,candice DeMesa is going to give
us Miss LaRage's House ofDystopian Futures, and I am
assuming that last year was herfirst collaboration with you
guys.
Is that correct?
Speaker 3 (49:07):
We produced three short films by her, fully
produced short films during thepandemic, called 30 Ways to Get
Free A Maroon's Guide to Timeand Space, which was thrilling,
wasn't?
It Was a sort of a follow-up tothat and certainly concerned
itself also with very broaddefinitions of freedom and how
we can achieve it.
Candice is the sort of artistthat makes a theater like ours
(49:32):
go, that makes a theater likeours go, that makes a theater
like ours move forward.
She's a seeker, so herimagination is off the charts.
I mean the the world of hermind is.
Speaker 8 (49:42):
It's incredible well, and I think that anybody that
hasn't seen it.
It is an absolute collage ofspoken word, sound film,
lighting effects, sets, I mean.
And then she has this afro punksci-fi.
It's like if Prince were aliveand dialed into the future.
This is what you would get.
She is so exciting to see andto interact with.
(50:06):
If I was going to pick who isthe next voice just so
impressive to see.
Speaker 3 (50:11):
She is going to be a very important voice in the
American theater going forwardand outside of it.
I mean she works in so manymediums, as you just referenced.
She's busy being boring all thetime, you know.
I mean she's never the sameartist from one day to the next.
This is why we work with thesame people over and over time,
because we believe very deeplyin ensemble.
(50:31):
We believe deeply in creatingsafe and open spaces for people
to express themselves inever-evolving ways.
And that happens when they feelthe trust from the theater that
they're working with and theydon't feel like they're writing
in order to please them orwriting in order to have a hit
(50:52):
or something like that.
And in all of our years we'revery proud that we have never
programmed a single play becausewe thought it would do well at
the box office.
We do the work that we feellike is important to our
audiences, to our artists, thatwe feel like will get through to
them, that we feel like will bemeaningful to them.
And if we do well at the boxoffice based on that, then how
wonderful.
If we get through to one personover the course of a production
(51:13):
, then we have if we really getthrough to them, then we have so
very much more than done ourjob.
Speaker 8 (51:24):
Another voice that I'm excited about seeing is the
Frozen section, a comedy onaisle nine by Lisa D'Amour.
So this one's her latest.
Speaker 3 (51:27):
This is a world premiere production.
Lisa is an old friend of thecompany's and a lot of these
people, people, a lot of themore, a lot of the more, let's
say, famous, well-recognizednationally or internationally,
artists that we've worked with.
We worked with them very earlyin their careers, before most of
them before they had reallyblown up black francis.
We collaborated with danieljohnston, we collaborated with
(51:48):
they.
They were already veryestablished music stars.
But lisa we met when she wasperforming with her
multidisciplinary duo, pearlDeMoore.
With Katie Pearl I saw a verysmall production in sort of the
upstairs of a bar or somethinglike that.
That production went on to winan Obie Award several years
(52:10):
later.
When we met her I mean she wasjust an experimental playwright
pretty much straight out of UTAustin she came down to Houston
to talk to me about making newwork with our company.
That was right around the timethat I was leaving.
So I encouraged her to stickaround and meet the company and
see what might come from thatand they wound up developing a
new play called Hidetown.
Her play Detroit was thefinalist for the Pulitzer Prize
(52:33):
in Drama.
It won a lot of awards.
She's a very importantplaywright in modern American
theater history, but mostly tous.
She's a friend who we loveworking with.
Jim Parsons we did 16 playswith in three years.
Lizzo made her acting debut onour stage.
We don't work with these peoplebecause they're famous or
(52:54):
because they're important,nationally or internationally
recognized.
We work with them because welove what they do and we love
working with them.
We're not only collaborators,we become friends, we become
chosen family, you know, and wedon't fall out of touch with
these people.
I mean, we're still in touchwith them.
Jim remains a very close friendof the company and our largest
(53:14):
annual donor, and Lisa, havingreceived the accolades that she
had, came back to us and saidI've done that thing that maybe
people want to do as artists.
I want to get back to doing thething that really fed my soul,
which is working with groupslike yours.
So we went back and forth onseveral plays that she had been
working on and this one reallyjust really rang a bell with me.
(53:35):
It's subtitled A Comedy onAisle 9, but it's very much
about the existential dilemmabeing.
You know, I used to say allInfernal Bridegroom or all
Catastrophic plays are aboutthis one thing, because people
wanted us to say what's it about?
What does your theater do?
And so the only shorthand Icould come up with at the time
was it.
And so the only shorthand Icould come up with at the time
was it's about how strange it isto be a human animal living on
(53:57):
the planet Earth, and that'swhat this play is about.
I mean, it's about we came fromnature, we're animals, and now
we walk upright and we'recivilized and we go and get our
food from air-conditionedbuildings with pre-packaged
produce that's under plastic,frozen cuts of meat or that sort
(54:18):
of thing.
I mean, we're so far afieldfrom our roots and these people
are very alienated from oneanother and they're struggling
existentially to understandtheir place in the world and
what seems off, what seems wrongin their lives, which they
can't quite put their fingers on, and they create a chosen
family, which is a theme of manyof Lisa's works.
Speaker 8 (54:41):
Speaking of longtime collaborators, chosen family.
You wrap up the season as youdo every year it's the start of
summer, if you know that TamariCooper launches something, and
this year we've got another dingdang tamri show.
So no reveal of what thesubject material is, but there
is the title came from notknowing yet.
Speaker 3 (55:04):
This was a challenging season announcement.
It took us a while to get itout, and one of the reasons it
was is that 80 of the work isnew work.
Two of the pieces are createdduring the process.
Tamri shows the book is writtenin advance, but it's not
written a year in advancebecause she's in the middle of
the prior one.
I mean she's creating anoriginal musical every single
(55:25):
year.
Normally it's around the end ofthe run that Tamri and her
writing partner, patrickReynolds, have the idea and
start to flesh it out, and somaybe we have something to and
start to flesh it out, and somaybe we have something to write
about in the seasonannouncement.
So we didn't yet.
When we were writing that, Ididn't know what to write about
Brian's work because it's notbeen developed.
It's developed in the room.
So these two plays were verychallenging to write about, and
(55:50):
Candice's work, too, is alwayschanging and she's so filled
with ideas and those ideas areever-changing, and so it was
hard to nail that one down too.
Lisa's also a work in progress.
So here are four plays thatwe're not sure how to talk about
yet.
Tamri said I said, well, I couldjust write something around the
phenomenon of the Tamri Coopershow.
(56:11):
She said I'll just call itanother Ding Dang Tamri show and
maybe that is the title.
And then the next day she waslike you know, we have been
talking about a few things.
It turns out that there'sabsolutely a concept for it and
it is very much abehind-the-scenes.
Look at how these plays aremade, why these huge casts keep
coming back, why the audienceskeep coming back.
(56:34):
What's the trick, what's thesecret recipe.
Think of it as Catastrophic'sNoises Off, because it's very
much a look, a peek backstage.
Everything in our season isgoing to be very, very
surprising, I think.
Speaker 1 (56:47):
That was Jason Nodler of Catastrophic Theatre in
conversation with Brett Cullum.
For more information, visitCatastrophicTheatrecom.
This has been Queer Voices,which is now a home-produced
(57:09):
podcast and available fromseveral podcasting sources.
Check our webpageQueerVoicesorg.
For more information.
Queer Voices executive produceris Brian Levinka.
Andrew Edmondson and DeborahMoncrief-Bell are frequent
contributors.
The News Wrap segment is partof another podcast called this
(57:32):
Way Out, which is produced inLos Angeles.
Speaker 6 (57:36):
Some of the material in this program has been edited
to improve clarity and runtime.
This program does not endorseany political views or animal
species.
Views, opinions andendorsements are those of the
participants and theorganizations they represent.
In case of death, pleasediscontinue use and discard
remaining products.
Speaker 1 (57:49):
For Queer Voices.
I'm Glenn Holt.
Hello everybody, this is Queer Voices, a
home-produced podcast that hasgrown out of a radio show that's
been on the air in Houston,texas, for several decades.
This week, brian Levinca talkswith former Houston Mayor Anise
Parker, who is retiring from theVictory Fund.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
We also now act as a political consulting group.
We can be a SWAT team and comein and help campaigns that are
floundering.
A candidate will be attackedand they'll call us and we'll
help them craft the appropriatemessaging response.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
Brett Cullum has a conversation with Nina West of
RuPaul's Drag Race, we haveBrett's community calendar for
the second half of August andBrett talks with Jason Nodler,
the founder and artisticdirector of Catastrophic Theater
.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
It's 12 actors facing out.
They never get up pretty much,and yet they take you on the
wildest ride and the languageitself creates a sort of
cacophonous symphony.
One reviewer said that the playwas sort of more to be
conducted than directed.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Queer Voices starts now.
Speaker 4 (01:12):
This is Brian Levinckin.
Today on Queer Voices, I havethe honor of interviewing Anise
Parker, a former mayor ofHouston.
Welcome to the show, Anise.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Thanks.
It's always great to visit withy'all.
Speaker 4 (01:23):
I wanted to talk about the Victory Fund, but
first I wanted to talk aboutpassing in our community, Sheila
Jackson Lee.
Can you talk about her and whatshe did for our community?
Speaker 2 (01:32):
I had the honor of attending her memorial service
on Thursday, a trulystar-studded event event
President Clinton, secretaryClinton, vice President Harris,
a multitude of civil rightsleaders and other public
officials.
Stevie Wonder came in and didtwo songs.
(01:53):
It was an amazing outpouring ofsupport and it was the fourth
of the events that were donehere in Houston for
Congresswoman Lee Just anexample of the regard.
And she's been held.
I met her oh I don't know 35years ago.
I'm feeling really old when Isay that Before she was ever in
(02:14):
office she ran for judge here inHouston three times and lost.
Then she was elected to theHouston City Council, served a
couple of terms.
Then she was elected to theHouston City Council, served a
couple of terms.
Then she was elected toCongress, and this would have
been her.
This was her 30th year inCongress.
But the reason I met her somany years ago is that in those
(02:35):
early races she sought out whatwas then the Gay Political
Caucus for our support andendorsement.
So she has always been an allyof the LGBTQ community and
proved that over and over againby showing up, speaking up,
voting on issues that wereimportant to the community.
Speaker 4 (02:55):
At the time you were the president of the caucus.
Is that right?
Speaker 2 (02:58):
No, this was before I was president of the caucus.
The caucus was founded in 1975in 1975, and I wasn't president
until the mid-80s.
So these were the early 70sAgain, before her political
career really took off and whenthe caucus was still very young
(03:19):
and it took a lot of courage andempathy for politicians at that
time to want to be affiliatedwith the gay community and to
seek a public endorsement.
Not that we're totally populartoday, but it was a very
different time in the late 70sand early 80s.
(03:41):
I think that she came toHouston for her husband, elwyn
Lee, dr Lee she grew up in NewYork, I believe she's from
Queens Went to Yale I meanbright, bright woman Went to law
school, I believe, in Virginiaand came to Houston to start her
(04:04):
family.
She and Dr Lee, who was alongtime professor and
administrator at University ofHouston, have two adult children
and she leaves behind twograndchildren also.
Speaker 4 (04:17):
Can you talk about her political accomplishments
and what she did in office?
Speaker 2 (04:21):
What she is known for across the country is the
creation of the JuneteenthNational Holiday.
Clearly, juneteenth issomething that is important to
Texans because it was first itreferences an event in Texas
when enslaved people in Texasfirst learned of the
Emancipation Proclamation, whichI believe had been signed two
(04:44):
years earlier.
But it was first celebrated inblack communities across Texas
and began to be picked upnationwide.
And Sheila led the charge inCongress to create this national
holiday as a marker of holiday,as a marker of and the only one
really of finally eliminatingslavery here in America.
(05:09):
She also was champion of theViolence Against Women Act.
She served on the JudiciaryCommittee Remember.
She holds, or held, the seatthat Barbara Jordan held, that
Mickey Leland held.
Her media predecessor was CraigWashington, but she followed in
the footsteps of two hugelyconsequential politicians in
(05:34):
Barbara Jordan and Mickey Leland.
So there was a lot.
There was a lot riding on her.
One of the things that was saidat her memorial service and I'll
have to take it as fact is thatshe managed to put amendments
in every bill that she had anopportunity to vote on, and I
(05:54):
can see her doing that.
I will also tell you that shewas very smart and very
strategic.
But she was also relentless andthere were a lot of comments at
the memorial service about thatthat, frankly, some of the
things she accomplished she justwore people down because she
did not give up and she mightmake a principal compromise to
get something passed but shewould come right back to try to
(06:17):
get what she wanted.
Very just, absolutelyrelentless.
A number of folks talked aboutthat.
I mean, I worked with her as apublic official as well and I
certainly experienced that.
She was great when you were onthe same side because she never
quit.
She was really tough to dealwith when she was on the other
(06:37):
side because she never quit.
She just kept coming back.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
Let's talk about you.
You're serving seven years, asis it seven years as president
and CEO of the Victory Fund.
Speaker 2 (06:47):
Just over six and a half.
I intend to leave at the end ofthe year, which will give me
exactly seven years.
Speaker 4 (06:54):
What is your biggest accomplishment, do you think?
Speaker 2 (06:57):
I was able to come in and stabilize an organization
that had stumbled, kind of lostits way a little bit, that had
stumbled, kind of lost its way alittle bit, and doubled the
budget, at least doubled thenumber of elected officials that
we work with each year, buildup the staff, build up the
political expertise on the staff.
(07:17):
The LGBTQ Victory Fund is amore than 30-year-old political
organization that has a verynarrow mission.
We help LGBT leaders achievepublic office, either elected or
appointed.
Our focus is on the electoralside of politics, but we also
have a really strongappointments program at the
(07:40):
federal level.
But within that mission, we go,we find candidates, train
candidates, we endorsecandidates and then, once
they're elected officials, wework with them, we invest in
their careers long term, providenetworking and leadership
opportunities.
We keep filling the pipelinewith LGBT leaders because we
(08:00):
believe that democracy onlyworks when everyone's
represented and our community isseverely underrepresented.
There are about 1,300 outcurrently serving elected
officials.
Among the tens of thousandsacross the country, we're less
than 2% for sure.
I don't know what the currentpercentage is, considering what
(08:24):
portion of the population callsthemselves LGBT.
But we need to constantly fillthe pipeline and while Victory
has done that for a long time.
One of the things I'm reallyproud of is that we've shifted a
little bit from just findingcandidates and endorsing
candidates and trying togenerate money for those
candidates.
We are a PAC, but we also nowact as a political consulting
group candidates and endorsingcandidates and trying to
generate money for thosecandidates, because we are a PAC
(08:45):
, but we also now act as apolitical consulting group.
We can be a SWAT team and comein and help campaigns that are
floundering.
A candidate will be attackedand they'll call us and we'll
help them craft the appropriatemessaging response.
So we've increased the numberof tools that we have in our
(09:07):
toolkit and I'm proud of all ofthose things.
But the proof for me is notthat we've elected more people.
It's where we've elected themand as we see them achieving
ever greater success.
We're the only nationalorganization that works in down
ballot races the organizationsthat people have heard of, hrc,
(09:29):
for example.
Hrc is a policy shop.
We don't do any policy.
We don't do any lobbying.
Our focus is not Washington DC.
We do endorse congressionalcandidates and we're really
proud of them, but we do most ofour work in the state houses
and in city councils and schoolboards and the down-ballot races
, where people start theirpolitical career, but also where
(09:49):
politics is really granular andwe really can change the
narrative and change hearts andminds.
And we see what happened inlegislatures, particularly in
the South.
There is only one out member ofthe Mississippi legislature,
one in Arkansas, one in Alabama.
But we started with one inGeorgia, we started with one in
(10:10):
Texas and now I believe Texashas 10, my last count and
Georgia, I believe, has eight,and we are helping create the
change we want to see in theworld.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
I think I should disclose that I'm on the
National Campaign Board for theVictory Fund.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
You are part of our donor board.
We are what's known as abundling pack, and Victory does
give money to candidatesdirectly, but we have a network
of people who are committed toseeing LGB representation in
politics, and the most dedicatedof those donors of which we're
one, brian make a personalcommitment to a certain dollar
(10:47):
amount to candidates of theirchoice that we've endorsed and
help us make the selections.
Across the country, we filterthrough hundreds and hundreds of
LGBT candidates every year tofind the ones that have a chance
of getting across the finishline, and we invest in those
candidates.
But even the ones that we don'tbelieve are viable and in a
(11:11):
particular race, we have a rangeof services that we provide
them, and we do candidatetraining.
We'll talk to them and try toconvince them.
You know, maybe this isn't theright race for you, but if you
find the right race, we help yousuccessfully run that race, and
then you have an opportunity toserve your constituents,
because that's what it's about.
(11:32):
You know, we don't want to holdoffice.
We want to do something inoffice, and our folks are
stepping up all the time.
Speaker 4 (11:39):
You mentioned viability.
Can you talk about that?
What does that mean exactly?
Speaker 2 (11:50):
There has to be a path to victory.
There is no shame in running arace that you know you're going
to lose.
There's absolutely no shame inthat.
Maybe you want to raise anissue that you know the
incumbent won't talk about, oryou feel it's important that
everyone is challenged everytime they're on the ballot.
No one has a free ride,Whatever the reason.
A lot of people run and, yes,lightning can strike.
Your opponent can drop dead,for example.
(12:10):
God forbid, but that's not awinning campaign.
Doesn't depend on something likethat A winning campaign is one
where you actually say these arethe voters, these are the
issues, you know, these are thedemographics.
How much money I can raise?
Put all those things togetherIs it possible?
You know, a Democrat running ina Republican plus 20 district
(12:34):
is not a viable candidate, orvice versa.
But a Republican running in aDemocrat plus two race might
very well be viable under theright set of circumstances, or
even a Democrat plus five race.
And we are nonpartisan,although almost all of our
candidates are.
Democrats or DSA or Green, youknow, on the left side of the
(12:56):
ballot.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
I think in my time that I've been on the Victory
Fund campaign board we'veendorsed maybe three Republicans
in like 12 years.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
We've endorsed more than that, but not a lot In 2022
, and we're still in the processwe've gotten through the
primaries for this year, butwe'll still be endorsing
candidates who either didn'thave primaries or just
discovered us all the way upthrough, you know, into October,
although really by the end ofSeptember, by Labor Day, most of
(13:25):
the fields are set.
So we're going to have a verybusy August, but two years ago
we had 504 endorsed candidatesand two of them were Republicans
, but only we had 1,100 races wetracked and only 13 were only
13 Republicans sought ourendorsement.
I believe that's a reflectionof the fact that the Republican
(13:47):
Party is no longer theRepublican Party.
It's the Trump Party and it hasbeen taken over by, you know,
maga cultists, frankly, and theyhave been running on anti-LGBT
platforms, particularlyanti-trans, but not solely so.
A moderate gay Republican who'sout of the closet has almost no
(14:11):
chance in surviving a Republicanprimary these days, which is
why there's so few Of the two weendorsed.
One won, the other did not, soit is possible, but there's just
few who choose.
There are many fewer gayRepublicans than Democrats, and
then the political landscape isincredibly challenging.
Victory remains nonpartisan orbipartisan.
(14:35):
We do endorse across thepolitical spectrum because we
believe and I absolutely believethat our rights become at risk
when they're only protected byone party.
We want all political partiesto believe that we belong and
that we are worthy of respectand dignity.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
Is there a candidate that surprised you, that won?
Is there somebody out therethat you're like wow, how did
this happen?
Speaker 2 (14:57):
There's a lot of them like that, you know, when we
all, many people in thecommunity know Danica Roe she
wasn't the first trans person tohold office, but she was the
first member of a legislature towin and beat a more than
20-year incumbent in a partisanelection, made it through the
(15:19):
primary, beat an incumbent, wassuccessfully reelected several
times and is now in the statesenate in Virginia, so again
representing the South.
Breonna Titone, another transwoman who beat a Republican
incumbent in a rural area ofColorado.
Mari Turner in Oklahoma, amember of the legislature there,
(15:41):
black, muslim and non-binary,not representing a black
district, a Muslim district, andI don't know if they even know
what non-binary is in a goodpart of Oklahoma.
But those are the kind of racesthat really make you stop and
think, because it goes back tothe right candidate with the
right message can and does winanywhere, but you do have to
(16:02):
have the right candidate, youhave to have the right message
and they have to be able to puttogether a capable campaign, and
that's where victory comes in.
One of the things that we we'restill marking milestones, and
milestones are important.
If you mark milestones, however, it means you haven't reached
the end of your journey.
We helped elect the firstmember of the Mississippi
(16:22):
legislature last year.
Fabian Nelson, louisiana.
I'm still kind of astounded atthis.
Louisiana is the only state inthe country that has never had a
member of our community intheir legislature.
You would think that with NewOrleans, that somebody but key
is being out.
The other, the second, thepenultimate state was
Mississippi, and Fabian Nelsonnow represents the Jackson area.
(16:47):
And Fabian ran two years before.
He didn't know what he wasdoing.
He didn't put together acampaign.
He's kind of put his name onthe ballot.
He floundered around a littlebit.
I think he got 30 votes in therace.
But we connected with him andsaid you know, you didn't have a
viable campaign.
We couldn't be with you thistime, but we want to work with
you to make you a bettercandidate, to teach you the nuts
(17:08):
and bolts of campaigning.
And Fabian crushed it and isnow a member.
He's the only one inMississippi but he is now a
member of the Mississippilegislature.
He's just a heck of a nice,nice guy.
And so those you know.
Every time we get to one ofthose where people say like
really.
Every time we get to one ofthose where people say like
really.
But our one Republican who wonlast year is a Republican trans
(17:30):
woman who's on the city councilin Garden City, new Jersey.
So again, we work withcandidates where they are to
represent the communities inwhich they live.
You know, there's a lot offolks who I'm going to, I guess,
forum shop or shop for I wantto be in office so I'm going to
look around and see where I canwin.
No, that's the wrong way to doit.
We look for people who want toserve their community and who
(17:52):
are of and from that community.
They make the best candidatesand they also make the best
office holders.
Speaker 4 (17:56):
What is your greatest memory as being president of
the Victory?
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Frankly, it's when we got the Respect for Marriage
Act passed and it's not I meanagain Victory, doesn't?
We don't lobby.
So we weren't up on the hillwith the other national
organizations, but that wouldnot have passed without Tammy
Baldwin.
Tammy Baldwin is the posterchild of what it means to be in
the political pipeline and toalways know who you are and
(18:19):
never forget the organizationsand the people and the issues
that brought you in politics.
She started I believe she was24.
She was a county commissionerin Wisconsin, in Madison, and
then became a state legislator,then was elected to the US House
, then was elected to the UnitedStates Senate and she was the
whip on the Respect for MarriageAct.
(18:40):
And it was the relationshipsthat she had built and the
respect that she had garneredfrom her colleagues there that
allowed her to have the quietconversations and pull was it?
10 Republicans into the vote.
And that's I.
Partly.
It's amazing because I've knownTammy since the mid 80s, but
(19:04):
also just, she's that perfectexample of why we do the work.
Probably the second best nightthat I have had as victory
president is when we electedTina Kotek and Mara Healy as
governors two years ago.
They joined Jared Polis.
We now have three governors ofthe United States who are from
(19:27):
our community, and Tina Kotek,in Oregon, is a legacy.
He took the seat of followingKate Brown, who was our first
LGBT governor ever in the UnitedStates, and so to elect two
amazing women in two verydifferent states on the same
night to a governorship wasanother peak moment.
(19:49):
But see, you know, it's kind oflike.
You know I have my wife, kathy,and I we have four kids.
It's sort of like well, what'syour favorite kid?
Ask me what day it is and I'lltell you which one's my favorite
kid.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
I have one final question what's next for Anise
Parker?
Speaker 2 (20:02):
I am leaving the job at Victory at the end of the
year.
I gave my board, I was broughtin for a short-term gig and I
spent two years riding the shipand getting it refocused and
then COVID came and that took metwo more years and then we came
out of COVID and I didn't wantto leave yet.
But I gave the board 18 monthsto find my successor and they
are looking.
There's a search, nationalsearch going on.
(20:23):
I'll serve until the end of theyear.
I have never left then.
I was born here, I spent myentire working life living here
and I'm tired of being on aplane, but I'm also not ready to
retire, so I don't need to bein public office to continue in
public service.
But I will look for anopportunity to serve in some way
(20:45):
where I don't have to get on aplane every week.
Speaker 4 (20:48):
Anise Parker, former mayor of Houston, talking about
Sheila Jackson Lee, anothergreat Houstonian, and her work
at the Victory Fund.
Thank you for coming on, Anise.
Speaker 2 (20:58):
Well, thank you.
I always appreciate theopportunity to talk about
Victory and anyone who might beinterested in learning more
about the premier nationalorganization with a very
singular focus.
Victoryfundorgvictoryinstituteorg those are
our two websites.
Victory Institute is our 501c3side, and if you want to get
(21:20):
inspired, go to outforamericaorgF-O-R.
Outforamericaorg, where we listevery out LGBT elected official
that we're aware of across thecountry.
Whether we put them in officeor not, whether they ran out or
whether they came out, it's agreat place to be inspired.
Speaker 4 (21:39):
Thank you, Anise, for coming on.
You're welcome.
This is Queer Voices.
Speaker 7 (21:43):
Hey, there, I'm Sean.
Speaker 5 (21:45):
And I'm Roxanne, and we're the co-chairs for Red
Dinner 5.
On Friday, august 23rd, theUniversity of Houston LGBTQ
Alumni Network will be hostingthe Red Dinner Gala at the
university's Athletic AlumniCenter.
Speaker 7 (21:56):
Since 2016, the University of Houston Red Dinner
has raised funds for emergencycrisis aid and academic
scholarship for LGBT students atthe University of Houston.
However, with COVID, we had totake a brief hiatus, which
directly affected our students.
This year, we need ourcommunity's help more than ever.
Speaker 5 (22:16):
We have a great event planned.
Red Dinner will be emceed byPooja Lodia with ABC 13
Eyewitness News, and we'll havea great keynote from
award-winning radio personalityEddie.
Speaker 7 (22:31):
Robinson.
We're also be honoring TammyWallace of the Greater Houston
LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce andthe Houston LGBTQ Political
Caucus.
Cougars and allies are allwelcome.
We hope to see you there.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
This is Queer Voices.
Speaker 8 (22:53):
I'm Brett Cullum and I'm joined today by Nina West or
Andrew Robert Levitt.
He is an Ohio-based drag queenand was named 2008's Entertainer
of the Year.
He's been on RuPaul's drag raceas a competitor in season 11
and more recently in the racefor the title of all-stars.
Season 9 now the all-stars runwas the first time rupaul did a
(23:14):
show solely to raise money forcharity and nina was, oddly
perfect for that cause.
Nina has her own foundationprobably the only drag queen in
the country that I know thatdoes and has raised millions of
dollars for her causes andthat's millions.
Nina, or Andrew, has alsoappeared in the Broadway tour of
Hairspray as Edna.
She's coming to Houston thisholiday season as the hostess of
(23:38):
Murray and Peter's A Drag QueenChristmas on December 17th at
the Bayou Music Center.
Welcome to Queer Voiceices.
Nina West.
Speaker 9 (23:46):
My gosh.
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm so honored to be here, sohello, happy holidays.
Speaker 8 (23:53):
I'm so honored to be in front of you.
Yes, and happy holidays.
Like way early.
But first up, how are you afterAll Stars?
What is this like after this?
Speaker 9 (24:02):
It's been great, it's been a joy to be back on
people's televisions these youknow for those 12 weeks over the
summer and to celebrate one ofmy favorite organizations that
exists, which is the trevorproject, to get to show the
world who I am now, after youknow the five years that it's
been since season 11's beenlovely to kind of reintroduce
(24:23):
myself to a new batch of fansand to remind the people who
followed me who I am and whatI'm all about and what I'm up to
right now.
Speaker 8 (24:32):
This All-Stars was wild.
I mean, who comes in to theworkroom with outfits designed
by Gautier or McQueen?
I was like what is up withthese fashion queens?
Not me, girl.
Speaker 9 (24:44):
They don't make black guys wear, okay they should.
Maybe they can get on that.
I didn't come in with goatee,I'm a fan.
It's lovely to see.
Speaker 8 (24:57):
One thing you did come in with was great sense of
theater.
You're one of the bestperformers.
Everybody had their skill and Ithink everybody was so fierce
and it was so hard.
It was so nice to see you guysnot get eliminated because we
got to see the whole package.
We got to see everything.
We got to see all of yourepresent all your talents, so
it was really fun to see you.
I do notice you've got theperfectly timed releases.
You've got let me see a TrevorProject shirt that came out.
Speaker 9 (25:20):
Yeah, so I paired with a Columbus-based company
called Homage, which they're apretty famous national brand
based here in my hometown, andI've partnered with them in the
past during season 11.
They did a charity t-shirt forKaleidoscope Youth Center.
So again like this is nostranger to me, like doing these
kind of activations and workingwith brands that I have a long
(25:42):
history with to raise money andawareness for organizations.
And so this time we're doing wedid a brand new t-shirt and
it's the Go Big, Be Kind, GoWest shirt, and 20% of all the
proceeds go to the TrevorProject.
So that's on sale now and we'reexcited to make another sizable
donation to that wonderfullife-saving organization.
Speaker 8 (26:00):
I already have ordered mine, so there we go.
And then also you've got an EPthat dropped recently, and of
course it includes the anthemthat you unleashed during the
finale.
Speaker 9 (26:12):
Yeah, the Drag is for Everyone, which I did on the
finale, which was choreographedby Mark Kinamara, who's a
fantastic friend of mine, andco-written by my friend, mark
Byers, aka Markaholic, who'swritten for everybody from
rupaul to you know, incredibleartists and, like renton lincoln
and me so, yeah, yeah, so youknow, so it's.
(26:33):
The song is a great joy.
It's a send-up of, you know, ofthe billion broadway style, you
know, kind of an ode to sometony openings that I really,
really loved, delivering amessage in a really camp, fun
way that I think is reallyaccessible and palatable to
people who may not otherwisereceive it.
Speaker 8 (26:49):
You also did a video and it was a spoof of a Gilbert
Sullivan song, modern MajorGeneral, but listing every
single competitor, at least inthe original RuPaul's franchise.
Like how many?
160-something?
Speaker 9 (27:03):
Hold on, I had to do the math.
It might be 206, or it's 190.
I forget what it is.
Or 209, I think maybe.
But the task of that is to getthe rhyme in and the reference
in for every single person fromevery single season.
In the meter of Modern MajorGeneral.
(27:23):
So I was attracted to the ideaof doing a patter song.
I had watched Only Murders inthe meter of Modern Major
General, so I was attracted tothe idea of doing a patter song.
I had watched Only Murders inthe Building and it was the
episode where Steve Martin wasdoing which of the big quick
triplets did it in the group?
And so I was like I want to doa patter song, I have to do a
patter song.
And I was like, well, what'sthe best, what's the biggest and
best patter song of all time?
Modern Major General fromPirates of Penzance.
(27:45):
And so I was like, well, I'mgoing to task myself with this
idea of naming every singleperson who's ever walked in the
workroom of the originalRuPaul's Drag Race.
So the American version, fromseason one to season 16.
I mean, it's a Herculean effortto fit milk with lactaceous,
which had to rhyme withpunicaceous.
(28:07):
I mean there's like it isfree-form rhyme too, so it's
like we're making up some wordswhich they do in the Gilbert and
Sullivan version.
We're definitely paying homagewhile also creating something
new.
Speaker 8 (28:19):
Well, let's walk it back a little bit.
I have always been curiousabout what made you become the
drag artist, nina West.
What were your roots?
I know you were in Columbus.
Speaker 9 (28:28):
I think I was a kid who really wanted to do theater
and I didn't have the theatricalopportunities in front of me to
do that.
So I went to college fortheater, I had my degrees in
theater and then I didn't moveto New York City like I wanted
to because of 9-11.
And so I had to kind of createmy own opportunity, and that's
(28:48):
kind of my life story was kindof carving out and creating my
own space, and drag was alwaysthe method with which I did that
.
So Nina kind of became thislike vessel for me to do
theatrical drag, or drag thatwas, you know, inspired by some
musical that I'd seen on theTony Awards or if I was lucky
enough to save my money fromserving tables in Columbus to go
(29:09):
to New York City and go see ashow and then be like, oh my God
, I saw this show.
Wait till the cast recordingcomes out.
The first people that everbooked me for shows were
charities.
Yes, I had an incredible dragmother who welcomed me and who
taught me the ropes of doingdrag.
And then I was surrounded byorganizations that were like,
hey, we're raising money forthis cause.
Would you come to our show forfree?
And I was like, well, wait, noone else is asking me to do a
(29:30):
show, but the columbus stompers,who were a country line dancing
lgbtq country line dancinggroup, wanted me to come perform
at a fundraiser for them orcolumbus eight's task force, and
so, like that's how I connectedthe drag to Charity.
So then here I am now doing dragand it's like I could connect
all of the pieces, and so thatinformed Nina and then I created
(29:50):
a character that I was tryingto distance myself from, but it
became intrinsically personaland very much Andrew, which was
not my intent.
But then you know, as you go onmany years later, fast forward
to RuPaul's Drag Race and itit's like, well, wait a minute,
the line is so blurred betweenthe performer and the character.
The line between RuPaul Charlesand RuPaul is really thin.
(30:12):
It's there.
I mean there are somedifferences, but it's there,
right.
But like Nina's, informed by, Ithink, charity, broadway,
disney, political activism,activation, lgbtqia+ equality.
Speaker 8 (30:27):
One night that we have here in Houston we have a
weekly drag show called theBroads Way and it's all Broadway
numbers and that's all they do.
I could just see Nina likecompletely taking that over It'd
be a lot of fun.
Speaker 9 (30:38):
I mean, listen, I love a showtunes night.
Speaker 8 (30:41):
So how many times did you actually audition for Drag
Race before you got on season 11?
Nine times my actually auditionfor Drag.
Speaker 9 (30:44):
Race before you got on season 11?
Nine times.
My ninth audition was my luckyaudition, lucky number nine,
which is kind of weird.
You know I love numerology, solucky number nine and I was on
All-Stars nine.
Speaker 8 (30:54):
Was that your lucky number nine?
Your Taylor Swift lucky number,hers, is 13.
It is.
But, I'm saying like she has 13.
Speaker 9 (31:01):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm a Swifty too.
Don't even try it, I am aSwifty.
Speaker 8 (31:09):
What do you think sealed the deal for you with
that final audition?
Speaker 9 (31:12):
I think I had stopped with kind of the errors, the
false errors of it all.
You know, like the first eightaudition tapes I was giving them
what I thought they wanted andthe ninth audition tape I just
gave them myself and I think Iwas like, think I was cutting
through the noise and justsaying, ah, this is me.
It's a hard lesson for anybodyto learn, especially in this
(31:35):
world where drag is such apretense, where it can be so
heightened and drag queens canbe really great chameleons and
you can figure out oh, I canadapt quickly, quickly.
That's one of the skills welearn as performers and
especially in a like a bar or anenvironment where it's loud,
you have to adapt quickly.
So you're constantly on theballs of your feet, like doing a
dance.
You want to become what theywant, right, even like any actor
(31:59):
, you're like oh, I can be, Ican do this, this is what the
audition is calling for.
I can do that.
I'm malleable, I'm flexible, Ican be what they want.
When in Drag Race, realitytelevision world, they want the
person they're looking for, whoyou are.
They need to see who you arebefore all that is built up and
future auditionees show up asyourself, because you're going
(32:20):
to naturally put a wall up whenyou walk into that workroom and
that's the thing they're goingto try to break away, so they
get good television.
Speaker 8 (32:26):
Well then, nina West, after Drag Race you got to put
on a character again withHairspray.
So how did Hairspray happenright after that?
Speaker 9 (32:35):
I was offered Hairspray in July of 2019.
So our season had wrapped inMay of 2019.
Came to me because I had doneHarvey Fierstein as one of my
characters for Snatch Game andJerry Mitchell, who is the Tony
Award winning director andchoreographer he was the
choreographer for Hairspray.
He saw my Harvey on Drag RaceSeason 11 and said whoa, this
(33:01):
person could do Edna.
And Cold called me out of theblue and said hey, we think you
should be Edna, what do youthink about that?
And I was like who is this?
I was like what is happeninghere?
I went to New York and I did awork session with Jack O'Brien.
I was like, oh my gosh, I don'tknow how this is going to go.
When I walk out of the session,my agent called like literally,
(33:21):
it was a 42nd Street Stages andI'm walking up 42nd Street, I
think, and my agent calls me andsays you booked it, they want
you, and I was like I startedcrying.
I was like I can't believe thisis happening.
I can't believe this dream ishappening.
And so that's how it happened.
Speaker 8 (33:37):
That's interesting because you know who I recently
interviewed was Greg Califatis,who took over for you as Edna I
think I read that interview andyou were rooting for God.
Speaker 9 (33:46):
Who are you rooting for in the season?
You said oh, I like Nina, butI'm rooting for somebody else.
I read that interview.
Speaker 8 (33:52):
Oh my gosh, my words come back to haunt me.
But I remember drag when it wasrebellious and you went to like
little basement bars and saw it.
Now it's like at every bar andnow it's it's kind of this
omnipresent thing and I we canprobably blame rupaul for this,
but because it just kind of cameout into the light it's a lot
(34:13):
of things right, because I thinkpeople it's the apps.
Speaker 9 (34:16):
You know people don't necessarily feel like they.
They need to go out to, youknow, meet somebody to date or
hook up with.
They can do it on their phone.
At home they can stay in.
People think that there is anidea and a false narrative or
sense that we have equitable,we're equal under the law, which
I think is not a safeassumption, especially depending
(34:39):
on where you live in thecountry where there are laws on
the state level that might beagainst LGBTQIA plus people.
Actually, now more than ever,the need and identity for queer
space for people to feel safe in, for people to gather in, for
people to tell their stories,whether that's through drag,
burlesque, queens, kings,however it kind of unfolds queer
(35:00):
theater, whatever that might bethat storytelling has to have a
space that's safe and preservesthat.
Speaker 8 (35:04):
Well, I'm in Texas so I completely get it.
It's definitely a hot pointhere, but this is why we are
here today.
You, nina West, you're hostingMurray Peters, a drag queen
Christmas.
It will be here on December17th at the Bayou Music Center.
Are you a big Christmas queen?
Are you going to give Chanel arun for her money here?
Are you a big Christmas queen?
Speaker 9 (35:24):
Are you going to give Chanel a run for her money here
?
Honey, honey, honey.
I am the biggest Christmasqueen.
I mean, chanel might have aChristmas business, fine, that
might make her the Christmasqueen.
But what I love about theholiday season is the kind of
the overness of it all, how itis just so decadent and over the
(35:47):
top and just fabulous right.
It's like it's not the Chanel,it's not the like Coco Chanel
rule of leave the house and takeone thing off before you leave
the house.
It is like the opposite.
It's like put five more thingson before you leave the house.
It's gaudy, so done and it's sofabulous.
A season that is reminding usto be our best selves and to
(36:08):
give of ourselves and to tomaybe approach the world with a
little bit more kindness and joy, and so in that sense, yeah, I
think I'm the christmas queenbecause those are things that I
intrinsically believe at my core.
Yeah, it's my favorite time ofthe year because it's it's about
joy and hope I'm gonna get backto the tour in just a second.
Speaker 8 (36:24):
But you hit on kindness and you're known as the
kindness queen.
How did that start with you?
Because I think that a lot ofdrag artists really kind of
shoot for something a little bitdifferent than that space.
There's maybe more of acattiness.
Speaker 9 (36:39):
It was.
My exit line was go big, bekind, go west.
And I think people saw that andwere like oh yeah, and I am.
That's something I really leaninto because it is who I am.
I'm not pretending to beanything, I'm not and I think
that I wanted to give it.
I really have just kind ofembraced it because I personally
think it's okay to be nice topeople.
I personally think it's okay toengage with compassion.
(37:01):
It's just how I want, again,the world that I live in to be
and you know, I think it's okayfor me to stay to people Like
I'm a pretty badass entertainer.
I have accomplished a lot in my25 years of doing drag and I
also am on the other side of theother.
I'm on a different chapter ofmy career.
(37:22):
That allows me the ability tosay I just choose not to engage
with that.
That allows me the ability tosay I just I choose not to
engage with that, and I thinkthat kindness and love and
compassion are the weapons thatI choose to use in my arsenal.
There are types of drag, again,like I would never want to do a
big brushstroke on scientists,or a brushstroke on doctors, or
a brushstroke on lawyers, alllawyers are whatever.
(37:43):
Or a brushstroke on lawyers.
Or all lawyers are whatever.
Or a brushstroke on reporters,right, you know, like?
And I, and I don't appreciatepeople wanting to do a
brushstroke on drag drag.
We each have our own identityand our own autonomy and mine
exists in a world that I thinkis really authentic to the
creator, to andrew.
I choose to exercise that andperform that in a way that is
resonates true to me and I thinka lot of people, a lot of
(38:05):
people, respond to that.
There is a time and a place forthe cattiness and I think it it
does well in its own space andtime and I think the people who
do really well with it also arecouching it in there.
That there is the queer natureof our art, right, like our
queer language.
It's not really not allcattiness and bitchiness is
actually rooted in, like there'snuance to it.
(38:26):
Right, it's nuanced, and I'mnot sure when people consume the
show they understand the nuanceof what that is.
Bianca Del Rio is one of thenicest people I know.
She is one of the most fabulous, kindest people I know would
give you the shirt off her back.
I'm not sure if people, whenthey consume her comedy,
actually understand that there'sa nuance to what she's doing.
It's couched in a language thatis deeply queer and deeply
(38:50):
historic in our own engagementwith one another.
This hour, everyone talks toeach other Tongue pop, tongue
pop, nasty comment, nastycomment.
When actual, in all actuality,when people engage like that,
they're missing the nuance andthey're missing like it's just
not, it's not an elevated way toengage when the art of reading
and the art of insult isactually.
It has a much deeper historythan that.
(39:12):
But I like to be the queen ofkindness.
Speaker 8 (39:15):
Well, who all is with you on this?
Speaker 9 (39:16):
tour.
This tour is so, so fierce.
It's Murray and Peter's 10thanniversary for Drag Queen
Christmas and it is stacked.
Anniversary for drag queenchristmas, and it is stacked.
It's sasha, colby, jimbo,brooklyn height, plasma,
sapphira, cristal plain jane,shea coulain, some cities.
It is a crystal method.
It is a really rocking lineup.
Some of these people I'vetoured with before on this tour
and so it's like a familyreunion, like roxy, andrews,
(39:39):
angeria, paris and michaels.
I mean like it's a really greatgroup of people and we're gonna
bring the joy and celebrationto the.
I mean like it's a really greatgroup of people and we're going
to bring the joy andcelebration to the cities near
you.
Speaker 8 (39:47):
And it's booked in one of the biggest venues that
I've seen for a drag tour.
You're in Bayou Music Center,which I mean popular bands play
it.
I mean like Megan Thee Stallionstarted there and things like
that.
I mean it's like it's not justa little teeny tiny.
Speaker 9 (39:59):
We're in Surrey.
Speaker 8 (40:05):
It's amazing that you have that pull and that this
tour is so big that it could behoused in a center like that.
I mean, who would have everthought that drag would have
done that 20 years ago?
All right, Queer Voice isexclusive.
Everybody wants to know are yousingle?
Are you taken?
Are you married to your artform?
What's your status?
Speaker 9 (40:23):
Who wants to know, not so exclusive.
She's very single.
I mean, I'm dating.
It's not like anyone right inmy life right now, especially on
a holiday tour when I'm goingto be on the road for two months
, it makes it a little bitdifficult.
But hopefully on mymanifestation list for the next
year someone comes into my life,that'd be great.
(40:43):
You know, on my manifestationlist for the next year someone
comes into my life, that'd begreat.
Speaker 8 (40:45):
You know, this is one of the things that I always ask
touring artists is how does itaffect your personal life,
because you are literally on theroad?
I know you're home based inColumbus, right, but you, how
much time do you even spendthere?
Speaker 9 (40:55):
I mean, I mean like it's very little, it's like it's
like maybe one or two days aweek, depending on if I get the
chance to come home and changemy bags out.
So like yeah, I mean it wreakshavoc a little bit on the
personal life, but like also Ireally love what I do and you
know, I love the fans and I lovethe art and I love, I just love
(41:15):
it.
I love seeing the country andif I can find somebody who can,
you know, meet me there and likeis fiercely independent and
also loves all of those things,loves the road, loves meeting
people, then like that could bereally magical, you know, but in
the meantime I'm having thetime of my life you certainly
bring a sense of joy to your artform that is just so infectious
(41:35):
.
Speaker 8 (41:36):
And I will say that before the all-star season I
said if there was anybody that Iwould pick for a friend, it
would definitely be n Nina West,because you always seem to be
just the most authentic.
You bring so much of this inhere and all of your activism,
all of your just attention tothings like charity work and of
course you're the ultimatetheater.
But luckily Houston gets to seeyou December 17th at the Bayou
(41:59):
Music Center doing the and Ididn't realize this was the 10th
Murray and Peters at Drag QueenChristmas.
Speaker 9 (42:04):
We've gone that far.
Yeah, it's the 10th anniversary.
This is my third one hosting.
I'm excited to host this bigblowout for 10 years.
It's fantastic.
Speaker 8 (42:11):
That's amazing.
Who would know?
It's one of the biggestChristmas tours ever.
That's pretty exciting.
Speaker 9 (42:18):
It's us and Mannheim Steamroller Look out.
Speaker 8 (42:21):
Yes, and the Siberian Trans Orchestra?
Okay, and I have your communitycalendar for the last half of
August.
On Sunday, august 11th, fortBend County Pride is happening.
(42:41):
They're going to be at thefairgrounds, which are the Fort
Bend County Fairgrounds, and theevent will last from 2 pm until
8 pm.
It's a family-friendly event,so bring everybody, bring the
kids, bring your relatives.
Whatever Fort Bend County Pridehappens on August 11th, I wanted
to mention running throughAugust 10th at the Match Complex
(43:02):
in Midtown, melville andHawthorne, presented by
Thunderclap Productions.
That will go through August10th and it's about two of our
greatest American literaryartists getting together and
becoming romantically involved.
You don't want to miss this one.
On August 24th, rupaul theall-stars from Season 9, invade
(43:23):
the 713 Music Hall.
This is going to be a big eventfor people that are fans of the
show.
There are going to be severalof the queens that competed on
All-Stars Season 9, includingMiss Vanjie and Gottmik, so this
will be a great one for fans ofthat show.
On August 30th, we haveGalveston Gay Beach Weekend.
It will run that last weekendin August and that's your last
(43:45):
chance to blow out the summerwith all your friends.
That is the Galveston Gay BeachWeekend they're starting August
30th and the 31st and goingback to Melville and Hawthorne.
I actually got a chance todiscuss this play with both the
writer and the producer.
We talked a lot about thethemes and different things and
(44:05):
what they're hoping toaccomplish with this particular
production and it's veryinteresting because they're
trying to really tie it to ourcurrent time and it's very
interesting to think about the1850s to now.
This is Brett Cullum.
Today.
I am joined by Jason Nodler, afounder and director of the
Catastrophic Theater.
The company was formallylaunched in this current
incarnation in 2007 and rosefrom the ashes of another
(44:28):
popular theater troupe.
They are known for theirwickedly delirious presentations
of avant-garde and experimentaltheater.
Thank you, jason, for takingthis time to talk to me about
your new season, and welcome toQueer.
Speaker 3 (44:39):
Voices.
Thanks so much for having me,Brad.
It's wonderful to be here.
Speaker 8 (44:43):
All right, let's run through next year's shows you
open with Spirits to Enforce andthat's going to be coming to us
in late September.
Tell us a little bit about thatone.
Speaker 3 (44:55):
Well, this is a Mikkel Maher play.
It's played by Mikkel Maher andwe have produced his plays more
often than anyone's, butTamarie's her very popular
original summer musicals.
I often feel like he's thegreatest American playwright
that you've never heard of.
His plays are deceptivelycomplex.
They feel just like really funrides, or mashed up of disparate
(45:18):
elements that don't seem tomake any sense together and in
the end they all sort ofconverge and the whole thing
comes true and you realize thatit's been something far more
than a simple entertainment.
Spiritstone Force is a mashup ofTelefondraisers, the Tempest by
Shakespeare and superheroes.
So the premise is that thereare a series of 12
(45:39):
telefundraisers sitting at aphone bank dialing for dollars.
You know.
I mean they're calling to raisemoney for the production itself
and to sell tickets to aproduction of the Tempest to be
performed by the local superheroteam, the Fathom City Enforcers
.
So it's like, first of all,it's going very poorly.
They're not raising any money,they haven't sold any tickets,
(46:02):
rehearsals aren't going well,some of them don't particularly
seem to like each other andevery line is delivered into a
telephone.
So the actors are not speakingto one another.
It's 12 actors facing out.
They never get up pretty much,and yet they take you on the
wildest ride, and the languageitself creates a sort of
cacophonous symphony.
One reviewer said that the playwas sort of more to be conducted
(46:25):
than directed, and I feel thatway very much.
It's a real tour-de-forceaspect of the production.
If you get it right, it's alsoincredibly funny, and it becomes
tremendously moving and you arethinking along the way like
what do these three things haveto do with each other?
And when you realize, itbecomes a deeply profound
(46:47):
experience.
Mostly, though, I just want tosay because people like this,
it's hilarious, the cast istremendous, it's a super fun
play.
I can't wait to get intorehearsals.
We did this once before in 2008,as we were just forming as Cast
Traffic.
I think it was our fourthproduction.
The time between thatproduction and this one was a
person that would probably havetheir driver's license by now,
(47:10):
so the people who saw it thelast time and we were just
forming at that time too havenot seen it.
I mean, that will be in ouraudience this time Somewhere.
Around 90% of your audience hasnever seen that play before and
never will again, and so yourproduction is the one that
they'll see.
Speaker 8 (47:27):
I think what surprises me the most about when
I see Mikkel's work,particularly in your company's
hand, is that it's funny, likeyou said.
I mean, it makes you think, itmakes you feel certain things,
but it's also very funny andvery unexpectedly funny, and
it's a good vehicle for a lot ofyour company to kind of show
their comedy chops.
Okay, so second up, brian Yukapresents Love Bomb, so I'm
(47:51):
assuming it's dance.
Presents Love Bomb, so I'massuming it's dance.
Speaker 3 (47:56):
Brian makes experimental dance theater that
is extremely informed byensemble work.
So they get together and theycreate compositions together.
It's viewpoints-based.
Brian was in on the groundfloor of Viewpoints Theory.
His plays are just.
They're imagination machines.
They defy description.
Is he solo usually?
Speaker 8 (48:13):
Or does he have?
A whole company behind him.
Speaker 3 (48:15):
We're his company.
He had a company for many yearsin New York.
He was in a company that AnneBogart led, but that company has
been defunct for some time.
We're the ones that he makestheater with now, which is sort
of extraordinary given that hewas the first collaborator
outside of our core group thatwe worked with Brian just.
He's extraordinarily creativeand the work that we do with him
(48:38):
is unlike any other work thatwe do.
It's one of maybe five or sevendifferent types of work that we
make that we feel like isunique to us.
Speaker 8 (48:47):
One of the things that I think is interesting
about you guys is youcollaborate over and over with
these same artists, and one ofthe things that I'm excited
about coming up next season,candice DeMesa is going to give
us Miss LaRage's House ofDystopian Futures, and I am
assuming that last year was herfirst collaboration with you
guys.
Is that correct?
Speaker 3 (49:07):
We produced three short films by her, fully
produced short films during thepandemic, called 30 Ways to Get
Free A Maroon's Guide to Timeand Space, which was thrilling,
wasn't?
It Was a sort of a follow-up tothat and certainly concerned
itself also with very broaddefinitions of freedom and how
we can achieve it.
Candice is the sort of artistthat makes a theater like ours
(49:32):
go, that makes a theater likeours go, that makes a theater
like ours move forward.
She's a seeker, so herimagination is off the charts.
I mean the the world of hermind is.
Speaker 8 (49:42):
It's incredible well, and I think that anybody that
hasn't seen it.
It is an absolute collage ofspoken word, sound film,
lighting effects, sets, I mean.
And then she has this afro punksci-fi.
It's like if Prince were aliveand dialed into the future.
This is what you would get.
She is so exciting to see andto interact with.
(50:06):
If I was going to pick who isthe next voice just so
impressive to see.
Speaker 3 (50:11):
She is going to be a very important voice in the
American theater going forwardand outside of it.
I mean she works in so manymediums, as you just referenced.
She's busy being boring all thetime, you know.
I mean she's never the sameartist from one day to the next.
This is why we work with thesame people over and over time,
because we believe very deeplyin ensemble.
(50:31):
We believe deeply in creatingsafe and open spaces for people
to express themselves inever-evolving ways.
And that happens when they feelthe trust from the theater that
they're working with and theydon't feel like they're writing
in order to please them orwriting in order to have a hit
(50:52):
or something like that.
And in all of our years we'revery proud that we have never
programmed a single play becausewe thought it would do well at
the box office.
We do the work that we feellike is important to our
audiences, to our artists, thatwe feel like will get through to
them, that we feel like will bemeaningful to them.
And if we do well at the boxoffice based on that, then how
wonderful.
If we get through to one personover the course of a production
(51:13):
, then we have if we really getthrough to them, then we have so
very much more than done ourjob.
Speaker 8 (51:24):
Another voice that I'm excited about seeing is the
Frozen section, a comedy onaisle nine by Lisa D'Amour.
So this one's her latest.
Speaker 3 (51:27):
This is a world premiere production.
Lisa is an old friend of thecompany's and a lot of these
people, people, a lot of themore, a lot of the more, let's
say, famous, well-recognizednationally or internationally,
artists that we've worked with.
We worked with them very earlyin their careers, before most of
them before they had reallyblown up black francis.
We collaborated with danieljohnston, we collaborated with
(51:48):
they.
They were already veryestablished music stars.
But lisa we met when she wasperforming with her
multidisciplinary duo, pearlDeMoore.
With Katie Pearl I saw a verysmall production in sort of the
upstairs of a bar or somethinglike that.
That production went on to winan Obie Award several years
(52:10):
later.
When we met her I mean she wasjust an experimental playwright
pretty much straight out of UTAustin she came down to Houston
to talk to me about making newwork with our company.
That was right around the timethat I was leaving.
So I encouraged her to stickaround and meet the company and
see what might come from thatand they wound up developing a
new play called Hidetown.
Her play Detroit was thefinalist for the Pulitzer Prize
(52:33):
in Drama.
It won a lot of awards.
She's a very importantplaywright in modern American
theater history, but mostly tous.
She's a friend who we loveworking with.
Jim Parsons we did 16 playswith in three years.
Lizzo made her acting debut onour stage.
We don't work with these peoplebecause they're famous or
(52:54):
because they're important,nationally or internationally
recognized.
We work with them because welove what they do and we love
working with them.
We're not only collaborators,we become friends, we become
chosen family, you know, and wedon't fall out of touch with
these people.
I mean, we're still in touchwith them.
Jim remains a very close friendof the company and our largest
(53:14):
annual donor, and Lisa, havingreceived the accolades that she
had, came back to us and saidI've done that thing that maybe
people want to do as artists.
I want to get back to doing thething that really fed my soul,
which is working with groupslike yours.
So we went back and forth onseveral plays that she had been
working on and this one reallyjust really rang a bell with me.
(53:35):
It's subtitled A Comedy onAisle 9, but it's very much
about the existential dilemmabeing.
You know, I used to say allInfernal Bridegroom or all
Catastrophic plays are aboutthis one thing, because people
wanted us to say what's it about?
What does your theater do?
And so the only shorthand Icould come up with at the time
was it.
And so the only shorthand Icould come up with at the time
was it's about how strange it isto be a human animal living on
(53:57):
the planet Earth, and that'swhat this play is about.
I mean, it's about we came fromnature, we're animals, and now
we walk upright and we'recivilized and we go and get our
food from air-conditionedbuildings with pre-packaged
produce that's under plastic,frozen cuts of meat or that sort
(54:18):
of thing.
I mean, we're so far afieldfrom our roots and these people
are very alienated from oneanother and they're struggling
existentially to understandtheir place in the world and
what seems off, what seems wrongin their lives, which they
can't quite put their fingers on, and they create a chosen
family, which is a theme of manyof Lisa's works.
Speaker 8 (54:41):
Speaking of longtime collaborators, chosen family.
You wrap up the season as youdo every year it's the start of
summer, if you know that TamariCooper launches something, and
this year we've got another dingdang tamri show.
So no reveal of what thesubject material is, but there
is the title came from notknowing yet.
Speaker 3 (55:04):
This was a challenging season announcement.
It took us a while to get itout, and one of the reasons it
was is that 80 of the work isnew work.
Two of the pieces are createdduring the process.
Tamri shows the book is writtenin advance, but it's not
written a year in advancebecause she's in the middle of
the prior one.
I mean she's creating anoriginal musical every single
(55:25):
year.
Normally it's around the end ofthe run that Tamri and her
writing partner, patrickReynolds, have the idea and
start to flesh it out, and somaybe we have something to and
start to flesh it out, and somaybe we have something to write
about in the seasonannouncement.
So we didn't yet.
When we were writing that, Ididn't know what to write about
Brian's work because it's notbeen developed.
It's developed in the room.
So these two plays were verychallenging to write about, and
(55:50):
Candice's work, too, is alwayschanging and she's so filled
with ideas and those ideas areever-changing, and so it was
hard to nail that one down too.
Lisa's also a work in progress.
So here are four plays thatwe're not sure how to talk about
yet.
Tamri said I said, well, I couldjust write something around the
phenomenon of the Tamri Coopershow.
(56:11):
She said I'll just call itanother Ding Dang Tamri show and
maybe that is the title.
And then the next day she waslike you know, we have been
talking about a few things.
It turns out that there'sabsolutely a concept for it and
it is very much abehind-the-scenes.
Look at how these plays aremade, why these huge casts keep
coming back, why the audienceskeep coming back.
(56:34):
What's the trick, what's thesecret recipe.
Think of it as Catastrophic'sNoises Off, because it's very
much a look, a peek backstage.
Everything in our season isgoing to be very, very
surprising, I think.
Speaker 1 (56:47):
That was Jason Nodler of Catastrophic Theatre in
conversation with Brett Cullum.
For more information, visitCatastrophicTheatrecom.
This has been Queer Voices,which is now a home-produced
(57:09):
podcast and available fromseveral podcasting sources.
Check our webpageQueerVoicesorg.
For more information.
Queer Voices executive produceris Brian Levinka.
Andrew Edmondson and DeborahMoncrief-Bell are frequent
contributors.
The News Wrap segment is partof another podcast called this
(57:32):
Way Out, which is produced inLos Angeles.
Speaker 6 (57:36):
Some of the material in this program has been edited
to improve clarity and runtime.
This program does not endorseany political views or animal
species.
Views, opinions andendorsements are those of the
participants and theorganizations they represent.
In case of death, pleasediscontinue use and discard
remaining products.
Speaker 1 (57:49):
For Queer Voices.
I'm Glenn Holt.
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