We speak with local community photographer, Nora Dayton, about their work in the community. Then we catch up with Annise Parker, former mayor of Houston, who has announced a run for Harris County Judge. We also speak with the Pride Chorus of Houston artistic director David York about Rainbow on the Green happening Friday, June 27th. Finally, we catch up with Catastrophic Theater's Tamarie Cooper and Kyle Sturdivant about their production, "Another Ding Dang Tamarie Show," which opens on June 27th and runs through August 2nd.
Tickets for Tamarie:
https://matchouston.org/events/2025/another-ding-dang-tamarie-show
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/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello everybody, this is Queer Voices, a podcast
version of a broadcast radioshow that's been on the air in
Houston, texas, for severaldecades.
This week, ethan Michelle Gantztalks with Nora Dayton, a
transgender, lgbtq communityphotographer, about her work.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
But I appreciate the people that I'm photographing so
much because they give me awonderful energy that I somehow
can capture and hopefully showto others.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Brian Levinka interviews former Houston mayor
and now candidate for HarrisCounty judge Anise Parker.
Candidate for Harris CountyJudge Anise Parker.
Deborah Moncrief-Bell has aconversation with Frankie Ortega
, the marketing director forDiscovery Green, and David York,
the artistic director of thePride Chorus Houston, about this
(00:56):
year's Rainbow on the Greenevent June 27th.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
It is a retrospective of the music of the 80s and it
has been such fun to producebecause there's just a treasure
trove of great music from thattime period and a lot of gay
artists were coming out in thosedays.
We are happy to be able tofeature that music in a dynamic
performance that includes dance.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
And Brett Cullum talks with the producers of the
latest version of the Ding DangTamari show at the match.
Queer Voices starts now.
Speaker 4 (01:33):
This is Ethan Michelle Ganz talking to Nora
Dayton today about herphotography.
Nora, how are you today?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
I'm doing good.
I actually just got back fromtaking a bunch of pictures.
There was the no Kings rally inHouston.
I've been volunteering and justbeing out at some of the events
that have been being organizedand just showing up and taking
pictures, and people haveappreciated that and so I was
there again today.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
Nora is part of the trans community as I am, and we
are friends.
I've known her for years andshe shows has shown up to take a
lot of pictures in a lot ofreally important places, taking
a lot of pictures of history aswe make it.
How did you get intophotography?
Speaker 2 (02:26):
as a little kid.
I remember having a camera at areally young age and enjoying
taking pictures.
But then I got in high school Idecided to take a photography
class and that really expandedmy interest it was black and
white and you know in doingdarkroom work and I, expanding
from that and kind of having myown darkroom in my house and
kind of enjoyed that, I went tocollege and did some photography
(02:51):
for newspaper and also yearbookand then it was kind of again
always just hobby for me and itwould be different amounts of
time being spent on it atdifferent points in my life and
it would be different amounts oftime being spent on it at
different points in my life,like when my kids were born.
That would always kind of renewmy interest in taking pictures
(03:12):
and things.
So yeah, it's been somethingI've always considered a hobby
and done my whole life.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
Well, it's interesting that you call it a
hobby, because your photographyis beautiful.
You've won awards for it, whichI find just amazing.
And even today, as we were outin the crowd, what did you hear
someone scream to you today?
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Sometimes I'm surprised that people recognize
me and there was a group and Itook their picture and someone
introduced themselves and I saidyeah, I'm Nora Dayton, here's
my card.
And somebody else turned aroundand like that's Nora Dayton.
She takes absolutely beautifulphotos, and so I'm always
(03:53):
humbled by that sort of response.
There's a few things todaywhere people went out of their
way to come up to me and tell methey appreciated what the
photos that I've taken and putout there and what have you
enjoyed photographing the most?
Well, my work lately withcommunity has been really great
(04:14):
for me.
It's given me a comfort, it'sgiven me kind of a place in the
community.
It's given me the opportunityto be aware of what I can
contribute and feel theappreciation and love from other
community members and then I'mproud to be able to give
something to the community thatthat is appreciated so much.
(04:36):
It's a healing thing for me tobe hearing how how people
appreciate it and respect what Ido, the events that we've done,
trips to the Capitol, and I'vetaken photos there, both the
2023 legislative session and thelegislative session that just
ended.
(04:56):
Advocacy Day.
I took photos for the All Infor Equality Coalition with
Equality Texas.
Especially this place that I'vefound within our community has
really made my photography takeoff and has enabled me to see it
in a whole new way.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
You've taken some pictures of me, some really
great pictures of me In fact,when I ran for city council, the
people that did my mailers andstuff like that no-transcript.
(05:53):
I've noticed now that you'vebranched out from the trans
community and you've takenpictures at other groups,
protests and get-togethers.
You photograph them just asbeautifully.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Thank you.
Yeah, no, I don't.
I don't even know the formulathat I have for it or how I how
I capture.
I know what you mean withcapturing the emotion on
people's faces.
I don't necessarily know how Ido it, I mean.
I think I mean as much asanything is people on
photographing.
They're giving me that love.
I don't necessarily know what Ido to bring it out, but I
(06:26):
appreciate the people that I'mphotographing so much because
they give me a wonderful energythat I somehow can capture and
hopefully show to others.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
Well, it definitely does show through.
The work that you do is reallyimportant to me because it
really shows our community andour history through the eyes of
someone experiencing itthemselves, and it's something
for us to tell our own story.
What do?
Speaker 2 (07:00):
you plan in the future for your photography?
Where can people look at yourpictures?
I share my work on my website,noradaytoncom, Kind of just by
different events that Ivolunteer and take pictures of,
I put up there and just makethings available to everyone to
use and share as they wish.
My website is my namenoradaytoncom.
Is there?
Speaker 4 (07:18):
anything that I haven't asked you about that
you'd like to talk about or addto the conversation?
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Here's some feedback.
That's been really special tome has been you were someone who
said this to me, but alsoothers were like a photo I took
helped them feel that it reallyshowed them as themselves, and
so that's that's been realmeaningful.
I remember somebody told methat a picture that I took
helped their mom appreciate themand their transition.
(07:47):
Things like that mean a lot tome because I recognize I'm
someone who's actuallyself-conscious seeing myself in
photos and I recognize thatthat's something that the trans
community I feel like weprobably all have things about
ourselves where we'reself-conscious about our
appearance.
I always hope that when I sharephotos that people are able to
see the beauty that I see.
(08:08):
And then I don't know kind ofanother point on that.
On the beauty, I just, yeah,sometimes I come back after
taking a bunch of photos at anevent or something and then I
look at them and I'm just amazedby the love and happiness that
I see from everyone and that'smeant a lot to me.
That's been a special thing.
(08:29):
I've had times where I'm goingthrough photos and I have tears
running down my face justbecause of the happiness and
love that I feel looking atthose photos and again, that's a
testament to the people who areallowing me to take their photo
.
They're putting that energy out.
I'm glad to be able to captureit and I'm glad to hear that
others can see it too in myphotos.
Speaker 4 (08:51):
Thank you so much for talking to me today.
You and I were together at thatprotest today, so I've seen you
most of the day.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Absolutely.
Thank you, Ethan.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
I'm Ethan Michelle Gantz and I've been talking with
Nora Dayton today.
Thank you everyone.
Have a queer day.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Did you know that KPFT is completely
listener-funded?
There are no underwriters, soit's up to all of us to pay for
the freedom to say what you hearhere on Queer Voices and on
this station in general.
That means you participate inour programming just by
listening and also by pledgingyour support.
(09:31):
Please do that now by going tothe KPFT website and clicking on
the red Donate Now button, andplease mention Queer Voices when
you do.
Thank you.
Speaker 5 (09:46):
This is Brian Levinka , and I have the honor of
interviewing former mayor ofHouston, Anise Parker.
Anise, welcome to the show.
Speaker 6 (09:53):
Always glad to visit with you.
I'm actually very amped upright now.
I just left the no Kingsprotest march.
Speaker 5 (10:02):
You're kind of protesting in your own way by
running for Harris County judge.
Can you tell me why you'rerunning and why now?
Speaker 6 (10:08):
For the same reason, I was at the protest march today
.
I'm horrified at what'shappening in our country and,
instead of trying to bringpeople together, trying to lower
the temperature, we have apresident who is trying to amp
things up.
And, of course, in Minnesotathis morning, there were two
(10:30):
people assassinated and anattempt on the lives of two
others.
This has to stop, and the onlything, in my view, that stops
what's happening is to putpeople in those rooms of power,
and that means that we have tohave candidates who run and win
every election day, thosecandidates who are thoughtful
(10:52):
and willing to work together onsolutions rather than constantly
attacking people they disagreewith.
Speaker 5 (10:59):
Can you clarify for us what does the Harris County
judge actually do?
I don't know if a lot of peopleknow.
Speaker 6 (11:04):
It's not actually a judge.
It's every other place in thecountry that I know of they call
it the county executive.
It's the top administrativeofficial within Harris County.
You preside over thecommissioner's court meetings
and work with the other electedofficials to manage the budget
(11:29):
of Harris County.
When we really notice, thecounty judge is in an emergency
situation hurricane is coming,something like that because they
are the chief emergency officerfor the region.
Speaker 5 (11:42):
And so it's kind of like the CEO of a very large
county.
Can you talk about that andkind of what your experience has
been with large organizations?
Speaker 6 (11:51):
Well, I understand that Harris County is the fourth
largest county in the UnitedStates and there are 34 cities
within Harris County, but thereare about 2 million people who
live in unincorporated HarrisCounty and this is a really
urbanized area.
So there's about 2 millionpeople whose government is the
(12:14):
Harris County government and,having been the mayor of Houston
, representing 2.3 millionpeople, I have experience in a
large bureaucracy.
I have experience in crisisleadership, but also the
day-to-day workings ofgovernment, and I am the first
(12:35):
candidate announced in theDemocratic primary.
We're actually talking about arace that is in 2026, but the
primary is in March, so this isnine months out, which is an
appropriate time to get outthere and start working for it.
So I would need to win theprimary as a Democrat and then
general election.
I'd have to win that as well,but I've won nine consecutive
(12:58):
races in Houston.
I have to introduce myself tothe county at large.
I mean, I've been in the mediamarket.
They know who I am.
I'm embarking on what I wouldcall a listening tour.
I've been out of office fornine and a half years now.
I think I know the issuesbecause I live here and I've
always lived here, but thecrucial things in various
(13:21):
neighborhoods are what I want togo find out.
Speaker 5 (13:23):
So what have you been doing for the past nine and a
half years?
Speaker 6 (13:27):
I worked at an amazing nonprofit.
It used to be calledNeighborhood Centers and it
changed its name to Baker Ripley.
For a year and a half I taughtat Rice University.
For two years Some of thesethings overlapped, and then I
spent seven years leading theLGBTQ Plus Victory Fund and
Victory Institute.
(13:47):
They're a Washington-based PACthat only works with LGBTQ plus
candidates for office, everylevel of the ballot, all parts
of the country and even someinternational work.
So that's been the last sevenyears and actually that's part
again of why I decided to runfor county judge.
I'm looking at what's happeningin Washington and in Austin and
(14:10):
the dysfunction.
Local government is the onelevel of government that
absolutely has to work.
Everything rolls downhill it'slaw enforcement, it's the
hospital district, it's floodcontrol, and for the last seven
years I've been working withcandidates mostly in local
(14:31):
politics, entry-level politics,city councils, school boards,
statehouse, even mosquitocontrol board, water board and
it helped remind me of whatreally matters in politics, and
that is that you just have tohave people who care and are
willing to show up, roll uptheir sleeves and do the work,
and I want to do that.
Speaker 5 (14:51):
What challenges do you see facing Harris County in
the coming years?
Speaker 6 (14:55):
The challenges don't change significantly, in that
the primary responsibilities arelaw enforcement and health care
.
Harris County has the HarrisCounty Hospital District, harris
Health, there's flood control.
I mean, we have parks andlibraries and other things too,
(15:17):
roads and bridges, but it's thatpublic health, public safety
and emergency management thatpeople really desperately need.
But what's happening in DC withthis big beautiful bill
so-called is that Trump iscutting Medicaid.
That impacts the hospitaldistrict.
(15:38):
We know we live in thehurricane belt.
We know we have problems withflooding.
Trump has announced that he'sgoing to do away with FEMA and
he has decimated the ranks ofthe hurricane forecasters.
We are in hurricane seasonright now.
All of these cuts, the slashand burn Trump is doing through
(16:00):
the national bureaucracy notthat it couldn't afford to be
cut, but this is instead ofthoughtfully figuring out ways
to create efficiencies, they'rejust lopping off important
levels of government, andthey're not levels of government
or they're not functions thatwe can do without.
We have to have hurricaneweather forecasters, we have to
(16:21):
have a disaster responseprotocol, and if we're not going
to have a federal partner, ifFEMA is going to be dismantled,
then we have to do it ourselves.
So they're the normalpriorities.
The big difference is we're notgoing to have a partner in
Washington and we barely have apartner in Austin.
Now I truly believe that in anemergency, that our leaders in
(16:43):
Austin will understand thatwe're all Texans and step up.
I had a productive workingrelationship with both Greg
Abbott and Rick Perry when I wasmayor.
I disagree with them on a wholelot of things, but in an
emergency I could call and theywould be responsive.
I no longer believe that thatis true of Washington and that
means that we have to wirearound it.
Speaker 5 (17:03):
I was going to ask what you were most proud of in
your time in office.
Speaker 6 (17:08):
I came into office as mayor.
Well, I was a council memberfor three terms.
I was controller for threeterms.
I was mayor for three terms.
I am proud of different thingsin each of those different roles
but and there's not one thingI'm going to be able to point at
I came into office promising tofocus on infrastructure, the
built environment of Houston.
(17:30):
I went to the voters at the endof my first year and said we
have to put more money intostreet and drainage work, and
now we have rebuilt Houston andbeing partially paid for by the
drainage fee.
I had a major initiative forparks and green space and all of
those new trails along the biosin the city happened on my
(17:53):
watch.
The big transformation ofMemorial Park started on my
watch, buffalo Bile Park,emancipation Park so
infrastructure, parks.
And then the final thing welaunched an initiative on
homelessness and reducedhomelessness in Houston by 60%
and there was enough robustenergy in that program and we
(18:15):
built enough infrastructure intothat program.
Even though homelessness is onthe rise again, we're still the
national model for how to tacklehomelessness.
But the problem is you can'tcure homelessness once and for
all.
You have to manage homelessnessand manage the circumstances of
people who fall intohomelessness.
The problem is, you can't curehomelessness once and for all.
You have to manage homelessnessand manage the circumstances of
people who fall intohomelessness.
And so if an administrationdoesn't keep their eye on the
(18:38):
ball and their foot on the gas,it makes a metaphor things start
to fall apart.
Speaker 5 (18:42):
People are excited about this race.
How can they get involved?
Speaker 6 (18:46):
It's a rudimentary website website.
We just put it up to getstarted and, uh, one of the
things you'll notice on mywebsite that's a little bit
different is the first thing youdon't get a donate button.
The first thing you get on isyou get a little bit of
information about me and we askfor how to contact you because,
uh, this should be a two-wayinformation flow.
We do ask for donations, butbut, uh, right now you have to
(19:07):
look for it.
It's about reintroducing myselfto people who many people who
already know me, but nowintroducing myself as the
potential county judge ratherthan the former mayor, and I
anticipate that there will beother people running.
At this point, I'm the only onein the Democratic primary.
There are two or three peoplealready announced in the
(19:30):
Republican primary.
The election is next March, sowe have plenty of time to put a
strong campaign together.
Speaker 5 (19:39):
We are speaking with Anise Parker, former mayor of
Houston, now candidate for theHarris County judge of Harris
County.
Thank you for coming on.
Speaker 6 (19:47):
Thank you, brian, it is always a treat.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
This is Queer Voices.
Speaker 8 (19:52):
This is Deborah Moncrief-Bell, and I'm talking
with Frankie Ortega, themarketing director for Discovery
Green.
So, frankie, we have somethingspecial coming up on Friday,
june the 27th.
I want you to tell me about it,but first give me a little
background on Discovery Green.
Speaker 7 (20:13):
Discovery Green is the 12-acre park in front of the
George R Brown.
It is probably one of myfavorite places in Houston.
It opened in 2008.
That's the same year that Imoved to Houston and so I just I
cannot imagine Houston withoutit.
(20:34):
When I moved here I was a youngsingle mom and I didn't really
know anybody in the city, so wewere there quite a bit, going to
all of their free events, and Ijust pretty much raised my
daughter there.
And now I've been working forDiscovery Green almost six years
(20:54):
and I just love it.
If you haven't been check usout, it is a beautiful place
Lots of grass and trees andflowers and gardens, and then,
as a nonprofit, part of ourmission is to show and highlight
the diversity of traditionsthat exist in Houston, and we do
(21:17):
that by putting on freecultural programs, free concerts
, free exercise classes, and wejust really try to bring people
together and have a good timewith our neighbors.
It's a great community locationand just very, very grateful to
(21:38):
be able to work there.
Speaker 8 (21:40):
Where is it located?
Speaker 7 (21:42):
It's right in the heart of downtown.
It is pretty much the George RBrown's front yard, so we
consider ourselves Houston'syard.
It's where you can go, bringsome balls, bring a picnic
blanket, have a picnic with yourfamily, enjoy the grounds.
It's like everybody's outdooryard.
Speaker 8 (22:05):
For several years now , Discovery Green has hosted an
event called Rainbow on theGreen as part of Pride Month.
Do you know how many yearsthat's been going on?
Speaker 7 (22:18):
I believe it started in 2010.
How many years is that now?
15, 16 years.
One of our presidents his namewas Barry Mandel.
He was very active in the gaycommunity and when he was
looking at our mission we try tobe an open welcoming place for
(22:38):
all of Houston, all families andhe said you know what?
We need a family friendly prideevent here in the center of
Houston.
And that's what he did.
He created Rainbow on the Green.
We have a new president now.
Her name is Catherine Lott andshe has taken that mission
forward and we still have afamily-friendly Pride event
(23:01):
called Rainbow on the Green.
It's happening Friday, june27th, from 7 to 10 pm.
Speaker 8 (23:08):
Can you recall some of the events of the past?
What has taken place?
Speaker 7 (23:18):
of the past.
What has taken place?
Lots of dancing, lots ofmusical acts.
Last year we had ZomajiRobinson, zomaji Robinson and
the Glitterati.
He's a singer musician.
He performs with the Suffersquite a bit.
He put together a fantasticshow for us.
It was an amazing celebrationLots of dancing, lots of
(23:43):
families came out.
We had a really good time.
Speaker 8 (23:48):
This year we have something very
community-oriented because wehave the Pride Chorus of Houston
and joining us is the ArtisticDirector, david York.
David, we've had you as a gueston Queer Voices a number of
times.
Tell me about the program thatwill be presented at Rainbow on
(24:09):
the Green this year.
It's called.
Speaker 3 (24:11):
True Colors and it is a retrospective of the music of
the 80s and it has been suchfun to produce because there's
just a treasure trove of greatmusic from that time period and
a lot of gay artists were comingout in those days.
We are happy to be able tofeature that music in a dynamic
(24:32):
performance that includes dance,and we're not going to have our
whole band there, but we'll besinging with the effect of the
whole band.
We'll have tracks and it'll bea great show.
Speaker 8 (24:43):
Is there a particular part of the program that you
find particularly exciting?
Speaker 3 (24:49):
I would describe the program as starting very
exciting, very high energy, withI Am what I Am.
We're doing a Gloria Gaynorversion of that classic song
from La Cage Au Faux and we keepit pretty upbeat there for a
little while.
But you can't do a concert thathas a retrospective of the 80s
(25:10):
without acknowledging the AIDSepidemic and how that affected
the gay community.
Now we're not going to lingerthere a long time For those of
us who lived through it.
We don't need to live throughit twice.
But it is sort of necessary tohonor that part of our history,
appropriate remembrance of that.
And we do it musically.
We're not doing lots oftestimonies in this concert.
(25:30):
We're just going to keep itwith the music and we tell that
story through songs of the 80s.
We start with Memory from Catsand then we sing a song by
Michael Callan called Love Don'tNeed a Reason, and then we dip
into the world of musicals andwe sing from Les Miserables,
empty Chairs and Empty Tables,and then we move out of that,
ultimately using a song byIndigo Girls called Closer to
(25:53):
Fine, and then we move into thepart of the concert that I most
enjoy.
We even have a little bit of asing-along.
We're going to invite the folksto sing with us on we Are the
World and Karma, chameleon andFaith.
And perhaps my favorite part ofthe concert is an extended
piece that we're calling my 80sMixtape, and in seven and a half
(26:14):
minutes we sing 38 songs.
It's literally only a measurelong.
Sometimes it's four measureslong, sometimes we get a whole
verse in there.
It's all these songs packedtogether and it's really fun,
even for people who didn't livein the 80s, just to hear the way
the songs fit together.
They tell a story.
Speaker 8 (26:35):
And I don't suppose that you can have a program
called True Colors withouthaving Cindy Law.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
Yes, we're doing an a cappella arrangement of True
Colors and we have a fabuloussoloist.
Speaker 8 (26:47):
I'm not even going to say any more about it because
you just have to come to theconcert and hear, but it is
beautiful have to come to theconcert in here, but it is
beautiful and this is a bonusconcert because your June 14th
program of the Pride Chorusoffering for June is also True
Colors.
You will have been wellrehearsed before the event on
the 27th.
(27:08):
So, frankie, back to you.
Give me some more of theparticulars about Discovery
Green and Rainbow on the Green.
What should people expect asfar as getting there?
Where to park that sort ofthing?
Speaker 7 (27:25):
Every year.
This is an audience that showsup ready to have a good time.
So if you haven't been, you'vebeen warned.
This is a feel-good audience.
People come out in costume, soreally want to encourage
everybody put on those 80soutfits, wear your colors and
(27:47):
come out just ready to have agood time.
Speaker 8 (27:50):
Let's just remind people again that it's a totally
free event.
Speaker 7 (27:54):
Exactly Free event.
We have two fantastic emcees.
We have Jay Michaels he's aradio personality on 96.5.
And Desi Love Blake, who is afantastic queen.
We love her and we're soexcited that she's going to be
(28:15):
coming on stage and emceeingwith Jay Michaels.
So getting there just putDiscovery Green into your maps
your Apple Maps, your GoogleMaps, whatever you choose For
parking.
There is a parking lotunderneath Discovery Green.
You can access it throughAvenida de las Americas.
If you get there a little bitearly, street parking is free
(28:38):
after 6 pm, so you can drivearound a little bit.
If you don't want to pay thatmoney, find some street parking
and maybe walk a block or twoover to the park.
Speaker 8 (28:48):
David, is there anything else that you would
like to share about this programat Discovery Green on Friday
that I didn't ask you about?
Speaker 3 (28:58):
On June 14th, pride Chorus performed with about 120
people on stage and dancers anda full band gave a great show.
We're bringing a lot of that toRainbow on the Green and we're
really pleased to be able to dothat.
It's fun for us to be able toperform it again, but it's
especially important to mepersonally, and I'm confident,
for those in Pride Chorus to beable to share it with the
(29:20):
community, and that it's open tothe public without cost is just
a real boon.
We're bringing about 50 singers, most of our dancers, and we're
going to be using the screensand so you'll have the lyrics
for the sing-alongs and you'llbe able to see what we're up to.
We're really happy to be ableto share this program again.
Speaker 8 (29:40):
We're talking with David York, the Artistic
Director of Pride Chorus ofHouston, and Frankie Ortega,
marketing Director at DiscoveryGreen, about this Friday's event
, rainbow on the Green part oftheir annual celebration of what
goes on during Pride, and it'sa great opportunity for folks to
(30:03):
come out and be with oneanother and just have a lot of
fun, because we are remindedagain that finding your joy is
what keeps us strong.
Thanks for being with us today.
On Queer Voices.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
This is KPFT 90.1 FM Houston, 89.5 FM Galveston, 91.9
FM Huntsville, and worldwide onthe internet at kpftorg.
Worldwide on the internet atkpftorg.
Speaker 10 (30:35):
Tamari Cooper has been churning out her summer
musicals for over 28 years andthis year no different, totally
new.
Another ding-dang Tamari showopens up at the Match June 27th
and runs through August 2nd.
Now this show is a Houstonsummer tradition and it is the
catastrophic theater's versionof like A Christmas Carol at the
(30:57):
Alley or the Nutcracker at theHouston Ballet.
Except every year this one's anew script, a new ball of crazy
to enjoy.
And today I'm joined by theChanteuse herself, the creator,
tamari Cooper, as well as herassistant director, her partner
in crime, sex symbol and bestfriend, kyle Sturdivant, to talk
all things Tamarie.
(31:17):
So welcome Tamarie and Kyle, hi, hi.
Speaker 11 (31:21):
Hey, Sex symbol I'll take it.
Speaker 10 (31:26):
Oh you are, please.
I've seen you in so many showswhere I'm just like that's right
there.
Speaker 12 (31:31):
He is this year.
He's a sexy candy man.
Speaker 10 (31:35):
There you go perfect typecasting, here we go.
So first up.
Okay, for what is the plot orthe theme of another ding dang
tamri show?
They always kind of have thislittle vignette going on right.
Speaker 12 (31:49):
Yeah, as I've said before, the plots of my shows.
It's not a big, it's not aheavy lift, right.
And then there is somethingmore of like a review kind of
feeling to my shows,vaudevillian, a mixture of, you
know, comedy sketches withinsane musical numbers, but I do
always pick some underlyingtheme.
Sometimes they're insanelybroad, like love, and then other
(32:12):
times it's more specific.
Last year was Texas, this yearoh.
And the other thing I should say, interrupting myself and
starting over, is that there'salways this pressure around this
time of year to come up withwhat I'm doing the next year.
And so we're in rehearsals andeveryone's like, well, what's
next year going to be?
And of course we have toannounce our season.
So I've got to write a blurb.
(32:33):
I got to get stuff out thereand I think I was in the hallway
at Match and I was like gosh,just another Ding Dang Tamri
show, right when the title camefrom.
But then I started to thinkabout it, and it does touch on
that that I have to keep comingup with different ideas every
year, and so we went looselyinto my creative process so that
(32:56):
gets displayed in the show.
And then also, just why do Ikeep doing these ding dang tamri
shows like what is it thatbrings me out there every year?
Why do I put myself throughthis?
Why do I have to come up withthis?
Is it just my own sick,narcissistic love of the
audience?
Speaker 11 (33:15):
or oh gosh, sorry, I had something in my throat or
is it something beyond that?
Speaker 12 (33:24):
and so those questions are sort of the theme
throughout it, like looking atthe creative process involved
and then just what exactly is myreason for for being out there
and doing these shows year afteryear?
You'll have to come see it tofind out Exactly.
Speaker 10 (33:40):
I did some math this morning and currently you have
written more musicals thanStephen Sondheim.
That is crazy when I thinkabout it.
Speaker 11 (33:48):
Bravo, Bravo Cooper.
Speaker 12 (33:51):
Yes, well, too bad, he couldn't have stuck around a
little longer and perhapsreached my total.
And, as I always say, I cannottake the credit for these
extravaganzas withoutacknowledging so many people
that make them happen, becauseit isn't just me by any means.
The spark comes from me andgeneral themes and you know,
(34:15):
obviously, direct choreography,costuming, but I have people
that help write them.
I have my book writer, patrickReynolds, who lives in New
Mexico, actually, and thanks totechnology we're able to Zoom
and talk on the phone and shareGoogle Docs, so we can be
working in real time on editingtogether.
He likes to yell at me a lotand complain, and then I tell
(34:36):
him he's funny and he keepsworking for me, so that's good.
And then people like Kyle, whohas been my partner in crime, as
you said, for many, many years.
Kyle, how many of these showshave you done, do you know?
Speaker 11 (34:48):
I think about 27,.
Something like that.
All but four.
Speaker 12 (34:54):
Yeah, yeah, he's done a lot of them, so be like
24 shows that you've done.
Okay, he wasn't here when Ifirst started doing them and
then he came back in 1999 and,without having really known him,
I threw him into one of theshows and that was the beginning
of a beautiful friendship.
And then you took one year offto go to Southern Decadence.
(35:19):
That's right, yes, and thenthere was one year where you
know and we've acknowledged thisin our friendship where other
people that are longtimeveterans of the show will say I
am not going to be able to dothe show this summer, this is
the summer I'm taking mychildren to able to do the show
this summer.
You know, this is the summerI'm taking my children to Disney
World.
Or you know, I have a hugefamily reunion and I just can't
(35:40):
do it and I'm like, oh, okay,well, it's okay, we'll get you
back, you know, next year.
And then, to put a strain onour relationship, kyle's always
felt like he doesn't really havethat choice, which I think in
therapy was actually realizedmany years ago.
So I have given him somefreedom, but most of the time he
knows I'm just so desperate tohave the help and that the
(36:02):
audience also think of it as theTamri Cooper show starring Kyle
Sturtivant.
So luckily he hasn't completelyrebelled yet and left me
hanging in the lurch.
Speaker 10 (36:13):
What makes you keep coming back, kyle?
I mean, really give us thetherapy answer.
Speaker 11 (36:18):
Well, you know, it's just been part of half my life
now.
So it's the kind of thing thatyou can't get away from that you
love very much, even though attimes it's completely great on
your physical and mental health.
But you know, when I moved toNew Yorkork in 98 and I was
going to try to go to new yorkand you know, do the acting
(36:39):
thing there and failed miserably, hated new york and moved back
within nine months and I hadsome friends who were in tamry
show and she's like well come, Iwant you to come back, come
back to houston, I'll make tamryput you in this show.
And I'm like, thanks, yes, Ihad seen her shows and I loved
them.
And so I was like, yeah, and Icome back and my first rehearsal
is Madam Cooper, with like acast on her leg with a cane, and
(37:03):
she goes.
Today we will be rehearsing thedrag number I Will Survive on
the Sherpa Mountains inSwitzerland.
And I was like, perfect, okay,this is for me, I'm here and
yeah.
And you know, over the yearswe've developed not only a close
friendship but, I think, aclose professional relationship
(37:24):
where we just have ways ofcommunicating with each other
and bringing mostly the best outof each other.
And who could ever not, whocould ever just say no to doing
that, Even though I've tried acouple of times?
Speaker 12 (37:36):
I mean we really do.
We've been in so manyproductions together, not just
the Tamarie show but so manyother shows with Infernal,
bridegroom Productions, ourformer company, and now, of
course, with Catastrophic, andwe've both directed each other
in big, meaty, juicy roles.
We've been sort of like part ofwhat we call the brain trust of
Catastrophic.
(37:56):
We're working with Jason.
Where of what we call the braintrust of Catastrophic, we're
working with Jason, where wework on the casting and
developing seasons as well.
So, yeah, there's a sharedlanguage.
For sure, there's a shorthandbetween us and I find it
invaluable in my shows to havehim there, because there are
definitely times when I'm onstage and some numbers he's not
in and he can really help me bemy eyes out there too for just
(38:18):
things that I can't possiblyreally see.
That's going on.
And then, just in general,kyle's a great director I'll
find with with my shows or othershows I'm directing and where
you'll find the person justgoing.
I mean the thing is do this andthat and trying to come up with
all these philosophical things,and he'll just come in with
like one sentence that is sospot on and so exactly what the
actor needs to hear.
So again.
(38:39):
That is very valuable to me tohave him in the room for that.
And we have that thing thatCarol Burnett, harvey Korman, we
always kind of jokerelationship, you do.
Speaker 10 (38:47):
It's so funny because you have this electric
charisma.
It's unique to both of you andwhen you're on stage together
it's just like amps up like alot, which I think is just crazy
.
I mean, do you have like afavorite memory or skit or song
or routine that you did togetherin a Tamariz show?
Speaker 12 (39:06):
Man, that's a tough one.
Speaker 11 (39:07):
I always think back to me playing your husband.
I can't remember which show itwas, that was 2008.
It was such a bad send-up of herhusband and he saw it.
Such a bad send-up of herhusband and he saw it.
But that was like one of thefirst times where it really
became evident that that's oneof those scenes where we're just
making it new and fresh eachtime we do it, because it became
(39:31):
so much about not trying tomake each other laugh.
But there is that underlyingthing of it's the two of us
doing this and anything couldhappen at any moment.
Speaker 12 (39:41):
Sometimes it gets set up for it, like last year
when he was playing.
He was playing the Confederateflag, if you remember.
At a moment.
Speaker 10 (39:51):
I do One of your best roles, yeah super awful
Typecasting all over the place.
Speaker 12 (39:58):
You know I set it up .
I know, going into that everynight, that I'm just who knows
what he's going to do.
You know like, and there aremoments where he did get me.
He always, I think there'salways some moment where it's a
challenge for you to try tobreak me on stage, and so
usually he does succeed duringthe run several times and people
love that the same way we lovedit in the Carol Burnett show.
(40:20):
You know, when the people thatare in the audience that do have
that history with us and theydo love to see those moments
where we just can't keep astraight face and keep going.
Speaker 10 (40:30):
I always joke that it's the Indy 500 and the
audience is there for the reps.
They are absolutely waiting forsomebody to go up against that
wall.
Yes, it happened.
I love it.
Speaker 11 (40:42):
I mean, we're not trying to fool anybody here with
these particular shows.
We're not recreating the wheel.
It is a kind of dig-dig,wink-wink, nudge-nudge type of
theater where we're there tohave a good time.
Let's all realize we're all inthe same room to have fun and
laugh, and if you get some storyout of it, that's great.
But it is really about comingtogether and just having a good
(41:06):
time with the audience, witheach other, and I think that's
really what appeals to everyone.
And the fact that most peopleon stage, you see, are not
traditional, you know musicaltheater, actors and actresses.
It's a wide range of people andbodies, shapes and ages and
theater styles and it makes iteven wackier.
Speaker 12 (41:23):
So yeah, yeah, I always say it's more interesting
to see someone who's like Idon't know just seems like a
real person, like right there.
And the intimacy of doing thatkind of broad vaudevillian
performance but so close in thatspace at match, I think also
makes it special, where youdon't have that removal and that
(41:44):
slickness that you'll see inlike obviously a big highfalutin
musical production.
And then I think theaccessibility comes into,
because a lot of the storiesthat end up being made into
sketches and musical numbers arethings that people can relate
to over the years, whether itwas going all the way back to
things like my parade ofex-boyfriends and I, you know,
(42:05):
have people come up after theshow and be like, how did you
know that I dated all the sameguys you know like, sir, we all
did.
Yeah, you know, always there'llbe something like that that I
think they can relate to.
One thing this year I won't givetoo much away, but there is a
trip to the Catastrophic TheaterStorage Unit.
(42:31):
Everybody has some attic orstorage unit or closet or
something that they just can'tcontrol right, that is just
festering and multiplying andbreeding and creating its own
little monster, and so thatagain everyone can relate to
that.
I feel very sane right now.
Speaker 10 (42:53):
I feel very sane.
We've been to my storage unit.
Speaker 12 (42:57):
You'll be excited.
Mr Sturdivant has a starringrole in that number.
Speaker 10 (43:02):
Of course Mr Sturdivant always has a starring
role.
Speaker 11 (43:05):
Yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 10 (43:07):
It's very interesting though, because the
cast and we were talking aboutSturdivant being like 24 times
or something crazy like that.
Speaker 12 (43:14):
I don't feel like there's ever a time when someone
has come in and just don't feellike there's ever a time when
someone has come in and justdon't feel welcome.
Speaker 10 (43:19):
Well, and then you notoriously have this big spread
of food during Tech Week thatI've seen.
What is that like?
Sponsored by Whataburger orsomething?
Speaker 12 (43:26):
Well, no, it's last year we did have the Whataburger
tailgating burger packagecompliments of Kyle, he did that
but we just I guess it's justthe perfect combination of food
addicts in the cast the size ofthe cast.
And then we already have had, Ithink, three official
conversations during rehearsalsabout the tech food.
(43:49):
We are not at tech yet, but weneed to have one more thing that
we discuss tonight what are youbringing to the tech spread?
It gets out of control.
That's one thing.
I can say that we truly do havethe greatest tech spread of all
theaters in town, so I willstand on that statement yeah, so
we have to like keep guard areyou part of the show no, get off
(44:12):
, get awaythere was one year where sean
patrick, judge actor, was in theshow and his husband, eddie's
grandmother I think maybe hermother made homemade Vietnamese
egg rolls for us in this giantpan and they were so amazing and
we all went on stage and wecame back out and they were gone
(44:34):
and the Main Street Theateryouth kids went off with egg
rolls.
They will never live this down.
They will never live it down.
I think we actually knew one ofthe actresses who was in the
cast and she was like I justneed you to know, it's not part
of the egg roll theft.
I didn't do it, I'm done.
Speaker 11 (44:55):
He's getting the tea today?
Hunty, yes, we are.
Speaker 10 (45:01):
Can't wait until Main Street hears about this one
, I know right.
Speaker 11 (45:03):
There better be egg rolls showing up at the theater.
Yeah.
Speaker 10 (45:09):
Well, they've got that little tie place next to
them.
They can get you some egg rolls, I know they can.
Speaker 11 (45:13):
I don't know if you can tell from last year's show
or two years ago.
Tammy's very particular abouther egg rolls.
Speaker 10 (45:18):
Oh yes, completely last year's show, or two years
ago.
Tammy's very particular abouther egg rolls.
Oh yes, oh, completely.
A whole number about egg rollsat one point, my lord.
Well, it does feel like youguys are a family and that's, I
think, what really sells thiswhole thing is that you do have
all of this closeness and thisknit stuff and everything like
that.
But do you have like some settropes?
Do you have some things whereyou go?
This has to be in every show.
Speaker 12 (45:39):
Well, there's a thing now we call the Abe-ism,
where you probably haveremembered this from seeing the
shows, but Abe Zapata has somemoment usually, where he has a
joke that he tells I'm usuallythe only person on stage who has
(45:59):
to suffer through this moment,and these jokes are filthy,
really very, very lewd andhilarious.
We don't know what he's goingto say.
He does not actually run thempast me.
I just give him this moment andmuch, sometimes to the thrill,
groans and horror of variousaudience members, and so that is
(46:20):
something that we always seemto find a place to put in there.
And it just started with him,sometimes to the thrill, groans
and horror of various audiencemembers, and so that is
something that we always seem tofind a place to put in there.
And it just started with himimprov-ing something in 2011
that really only the band couldhear, because, as he was exiting
, he would say something and thewhole band would crack up, and
soon after the show, we'd belike what did you say?
What did you say?
And then he kept finding newplaces to put them, and so, yeah
(46:41):
, I think this year we mighteven have a disclosure show up
on the screen.
That's like.
This material is not.
The Catastrophic Theater is notresponsible for this moment in
this play, but I look forward tothem and he's so witty and
funny and crude, so that'sprobably something that's always
there.
I also feel like there's alwaysa moment of just genuine
(47:03):
sentimental sort of emotionfeeling that comes.
Usually it's towards the end ofthe play, but there's some
moment where maybe our theme haskind of wrapped itself up again
and and I just have a momentwith the audience.
I mean, I know I've I've hadsome moments where I my voice
breaks, as I'm saying, just forexample, in 2022, when we got to
do the show again after thepandemic and just having a
(47:25):
moment in the finale where I waslike you don't know how much
this means to us to be back herewith you, you know, and so that
was certainly emotional.
Speaker 11 (47:34):
Last year when we celebrated Houston the good and
the bad.
That felt really nice in a way,to leave the theater going.
Yeah, we live in a great place.
Speaker 12 (47:46):
So I do try to have some emotional honesty and
genuine heartfelt sentimentwrapped up in it at some point.
Speaker 11 (47:51):
And of course, we always talk about her big behind
.
Yeah, Of course.
Speaker 12 (47:54):
There's usually jokes about that.
Food seems to be I don'tintentionally put it in there,
but there's a lot of food in myshows.
I mean, obviously, duh, we justspent 15 minutes talking about
the tech spread, exactly Trulylike next year is going to be
another greatest hits show.
Every 10 years I stop and I doa reflection where I pull out a
(48:17):
handful of numbers from the last10 years of shows and tie them
together with some ridiculousthrough line and I'm starting to
think about the numbers and Iwas like, oh, that's got food in
it.
That's got food in it.
That's got food in it too.
Speaker 10 (48:30):
No, you just make it all food.
That'll be it.
This'll be great.
Well, you know what one thingabout this show is?
It always comes up during Pride, basically, and this weekend
you are premiering during Prideweekend, and one thing that I've
admired the CatastrophicTheater about is, my gosh, so
much diversity.
I mean you've got trans,non-binary, you've got gay,
(48:51):
you've got straight, you've gotpeople that I don't even know
they're spending new stuff outin the future that I can't even
fathom.
I mean it's so great and youlet them do that very much in an
artistic way, which I think isvery cool.
I mean I think it's one of theserious sides of your company
that you actually do that, andit's so wonderful to do it
around pride.
Speaker 12 (49:11):
It is.
I have been, you know.
I guess you would just say thatI've been an ally for A long
time.
Speaker 10 (49:21):
Basically my whole life.
I I just yeah, but I I did.
Speaker 12 (49:23):
I even grew up as a little girl where, like my mom,
I remember just having like gayfriends and I went and stayed
with her best friend and her herwife at the time and and I
remember in the 70s I havepictures of me at this like
(49:46):
lesbian picnic with a bunch ofyou know really hairy, happy
1970s lesbians we're all playingwater balloon and I knew that
they were, you know, a couple.
I knew that they had intimacyand I didn't.
It wasn't any different.
It was never presented to me asbeing any different than my
mother and father, right.
And so it was actually shockingfor me to come into the world
(50:06):
and discover people had issuewith that.
I was like, but why, you know?
And so, yeah, and then I didstay in bubbles.
I mean, I grew up in the balletworld, right, you know, and
then going to HSPVA, and so I'vealways been in a more accepting
, tolerant sort of environment.
But, yeah, and my best friendsI don't know why, but that's
(50:27):
just my best friends have alwaysbeen in the community too, I
mean this guy here and so manypeople over the years.
And so I am hugely moved, forpolitical reasons, to be
involved in any way I can aswell.
And yes, I'm thrilled that ourtheater obviously is more
diverse in those ways.
I mean, you can always say thatthere's been a lot of gays in
(50:51):
the theater, right?
Speaker 11 (50:54):
That's not true.
I think we're very fortunate ina position to be the theater
company in this city that can dothis kind of work.
We're not so big that we'regoing to get a lot of flack from
you know long-time patrons,Like why are you doing it?
We have drag queens in yourshow.
But we are large enough that weattract really great talent and
are able to have an audienceand show it to people really
(51:15):
great talent and are able tohave an audience and show it to
people.
So, if not us, who toincorporate these different
stories that are, you know,haven't been told, and that
always comes from the having theartists who are living them to
be involved.
And I think we're just sofortunate, especially over the
last five years or so, to workwith so many wonderfully kooky,
(51:36):
weird, interesting people,regardless of their you know
orientations and all that.
Speaker 12 (51:42):
It's kind of our responsibility to show that off,
I think, in a way, we certainlydon't try to like tell somebody
to not be who they are, right,yes, I mean, it's important for
us Usually whenever we'recasting anything.
It's less about going home andbuilding a character and that
type of thing.
It's more of just like findinga way to relate to a character
based on your own experiences.
(52:03):
Just there's gotta be somethingwhen you read this text that
you can connect to and so bringyourself and bring your own
experiences, as opposed totrying to imagine and create
something that doesn't come fromyou.
Speaker 11 (52:14):
Plus, Tamri just has a habit of getting drunk at
parties and going you want to bein my show?
Speaker 10 (52:19):
Exactly, and you guys are really best friends,
right.
Speaker 11 (52:23):
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 10 (52:26):
Why do you guys not have like a podcast together or
something where weekly we canget a dose of this wild
chemistry that you have?
Speaker 12 (52:34):
It's so funny because we have a group of
friends it's me and Kyle andDennis Draper, rebecca Randall
and our friend JenniferBlessington, who's actually a
quite successful novelist andteacher.
Back in 2020, when the pandemicstarted, we all got Marco Polo
accounts and I will credit thatapp for saving all of our sanity
(52:55):
.
That app for saving all of oursanity.
Each one of us at some momenthad a complete, absolute
emotional breakdown about allkinds of things and the fact
that we were all still able tosomehow connect and see each
other and respond visually thatway Again, it was a godsend for
us.
Speaker 11 (53:14):
And we have always wanted to say we want to do a
podcast, we should share it, butI think it's just laziness, I
don't know.
Speaker 10 (53:22):
If you could produce an entire musical every year
for going on 30 years, I thinkyou can handle a podcast.
Speaker 11 (53:32):
I think you're right .
It's just a trigger.
Speaker 12 (53:36):
It's finding that eighth day of the week to
schedule it.
I think that's more the problem.
Yeah, it's finding that eighthday of the week to schedule it.
I think that's more the problem.
Anyhow, I'm sure there's someof us thinking well, we think
we're hilarious.
Speaker 10 (53:46):
Oh no, all of Houston thinks that you guys are
hilarious.
I always wonder when you go outtogether, do people stop you
and say, oh my gosh, you'reTamri, you're Kyle.
Speaker 11 (53:57):
Yes, tamri more than me.
I'm not as outgoing offstage asTamri is, so I think she'll get
that more than me.
But yeah, it happens.
And then I climb up like ashell.
Speaker 10 (54:07):
Yeah With you, kyle.
Usually you're in a really wildoutfit.
I mean, we've alreadyreferenced this, so seeing you
in the real world it is kind ofjarring, because it's like, oh
my gosh, he wears normal things,what?
Speaker 12 (54:19):
No turkey costume, sorry exactly you're more
introverted in your off stagelife, which is always
interesting to me to see, likewhen you see someone on stage
who is so just wildly over thetop and big and animated, and
then when they're off stage,just so much more chill and just
(54:40):
you know more in their ownworld.
And that's definitely Kyle.
Somewhat I tend to be.
I mean, the Tamri person yousee on stage is a somewhat
exaggerated version of me,obviously, and I'm not oh, she's
so dumb, she's dumb.
We make me real dingbat, tamriis dumb.
Speaker 11 (54:59):
Oh my gosh, okay, I thought you were talking about a
real one.
No, no, no, okay.
Speaker 10 (55:06):
Well, of course, you can see another Ding Ding Tamri
show at the Match Theater June27th Pride Weekend, as we
mentioned and it runs throughAugust 2nd.
I always say it's not summerwithout a Tamri Cooper musical
in Houston, because it really isjust like an institution and
something that I look forward toevery year and it's definitely
the highlight of thecatastrophic theater season for
(55:26):
me, which I think you guys aregoing to announce soon what it
is, aren't you?
Speaker 12 (55:31):
Yes, I think it'll probably be announced around the
time we open my show.
So we always aim for earlier,but we can't get our together.
You can't get our together.
But he can.
Speaker 10 (55:41):
You can't even get it together to do a podcast, how
are you going to design a wholeseason?
Speaker 12 (55:46):
Exactly, but I am very excited about it and I will
say that once again.
In a time where there's a lotof uncertainty, particularly
with funding, future of theater,a lot of theaters have chosen
to just do well-known.
You know, this is going to be ashow that everybody knows and
(56:06):
it will sell well, and that'swhy we're programming it,
because we can't take any risks.
We've got to just do the oldstandards and things that people
don't have to maybe bechallenged by, and we are not
doing that next season.
So there is going to be a lotof new work, as usual, as part
of our mission to continue tocreate new work and
(56:27):
lesser-produced works andchampion new voices.
Speaker 10 (56:30):
Well shoot this last season.
More than half of it was worldpremieres.
Speaker 12 (56:34):
Yep, yep, and I believe this next year it's
going to be the same, well, morethan half.
Speaker 10 (56:40):
Like most theater companies, brag when they have
one every couple of years andyou guys continuously do it as a
part of your season, a routinething, and, of course, tamri's
show always part of that Worldpremiere.
Every year Something new, sowe're excited.
Thank you both for being here.
It's so crazy that we got themboth.
Speaker 11 (56:56):
Thank you.
Thank you both for being here.
It's so crazy that we got themboth.
Speaker 10 (56:58):
Oh, thank you, thank you for this, thank you, we
will see you in the theater thissummer.
Speaker 1 (57:03):
This has been Queer Voices, heard on KPFT Houston
and as a podcast available fromseveral podcasting sources.
Check our webpageQueerVoicesorg for more
information.
Queervoicesorg for moreinformation.
Queer Voices executive produceris Brian Levinka.
Deborah Moncrief-Bell isco-producer, brett Cullum and
(57:27):
David Mendoza-Druzman arecontributors.
Speaker 9 (57:38):
The News Wrap segment is part of another podcast
called this Way Out, which isproduced in Los Angeles.
Thank you.
Hello everybody, this is Queer Voices, a podcast
version of a broadcast radioshow that's been on the air in
Houston, texas, for severaldecades.
This week, ethan Michelle Gantztalks with Nora Dayton, a
transgender, lgbtq communityphotographer, about her work.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
But I appreciate the people that I'm photographing so
much because they give me awonderful energy that I somehow
can capture and hopefully showto others.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Brian Levinka interviews former Houston mayor
and now candidate for HarrisCounty judge Anise Parker.
Candidate for Harris CountyJudge Anise Parker.
Deborah Moncrief-Bell has aconversation with Frankie Ortega
, the marketing director forDiscovery Green, and David York,
the artistic director of thePride Chorus Houston, about this
(00:56):
year's Rainbow on the Greenevent June 27th.
Speaker 3 (01:04):
It is a retrospective of the music of the 80s and it
has been such fun to producebecause there's just a treasure
trove of great music from thattime period and a lot of gay
artists were coming out in thosedays.
We are happy to be able tofeature that music in a dynamic
performance that includes dance.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
And Brett Cullum talks with the producers of the
latest version of the Ding DangTamari show at the match.
Queer Voices starts now.
Speaker 4 (01:33):
This is Ethan Michelle Ganz talking to Nora
Dayton today about herphotography.
Nora, how are you today?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
I'm doing good.
I actually just got back fromtaking a bunch of pictures.
There was the no Kings rally inHouston.
I've been volunteering and justbeing out at some of the events
that have been being organizedand just showing up and taking
pictures, and people haveappreciated that and so I was
there again today.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
Nora is part of the trans community as I am, and we
are friends.
I've known her for years andshe shows has shown up to take a
lot of pictures in a lot ofreally important places, taking
a lot of pictures of history aswe make it.
How did you get intophotography?
Speaker 2 (02:26):
as a little kid.
I remember having a camera at areally young age and enjoying
taking pictures.
But then I got in high school Idecided to take a photography
class and that really expandedmy interest it was black and
white and you know in doingdarkroom work and I, expanding
from that and kind of having myown darkroom in my house and
kind of enjoyed that, I went tocollege and did some photography
(02:51):
for newspaper and also yearbookand then it was kind of again
always just hobby for me and itwould be different amounts of
time being spent on it atdifferent points in my life and
it would be different amounts oftime being spent on it at
different points in my life,like when my kids were born.
That would always kind of renewmy interest in taking pictures
(03:12):
and things.
So yeah, it's been somethingI've always considered a hobby
and done my whole life.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
Well, it's interesting that you call it a
hobby, because your photographyis beautiful.
You've won awards for it, whichI find just amazing.
And even today, as we were outin the crowd, what did you hear
someone scream to you today?
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Sometimes I'm surprised that people recognize
me and there was a group and Itook their picture and someone
introduced themselves and I saidyeah, I'm Nora Dayton, here's
my card.
And somebody else turned aroundand like that's Nora Dayton.
She takes absolutely beautifulphotos, and so I'm always
(03:53):
humbled by that sort of response.
There's a few things todaywhere people went out of their
way to come up to me and tell methey appreciated what the
photos that I've taken and putout there and what have you
enjoyed photographing the most?
Well, my work lately withcommunity has been really great
(04:14):
for me.
It's given me a comfort, it'sgiven me kind of a place in the
community.
It's given me the opportunityto be aware of what I can
contribute and feel theappreciation and love from other
community members and then I'mproud to be able to give
something to the community thatthat is appreciated so much.
(04:36):
It's a healing thing for me tobe hearing how how people
appreciate it and respect what Ido, the events that we've done,
trips to the Capitol, and I'vetaken photos there, both the
2023 legislative session and thelegislative session that just
ended.
(04:56):
Advocacy Day.
I took photos for the All Infor Equality Coalition with
Equality Texas.
Especially this place that I'vefound within our community has
really made my photography takeoff and has enabled me to see it
in a whole new way.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
You've taken some pictures of me, some really
great pictures of me In fact,when I ran for city council, the
people that did my mailers andstuff like that no-transcript.
(05:53):
I've noticed now that you'vebranched out from the trans
community and you've takenpictures at other groups,
protests and get-togethers.
You photograph them just asbeautifully.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Thank you.
Yeah, no, I don't.
I don't even know the formulathat I have for it or how I how
I capture.
I know what you mean withcapturing the emotion on
people's faces.
I don't necessarily know how Ido it, I mean.
I think I mean as much asanything is people on
photographing.
They're giving me that love.
I don't necessarily know what Ido to bring it out, but I
(06:26):
appreciate the people that I'mphotographing so much because
they give me a wonderful energythat I somehow can capture and
hopefully show to others.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
Well, it definitely does show through.
The work that you do is reallyimportant to me because it
really shows our community andour history through the eyes of
someone experiencing itthemselves, and it's something
for us to tell our own story.
What do?
Speaker 2 (07:00):
you plan in the future for your photography?
Where can people look at yourpictures?
I share my work on my website,noradaytoncom, Kind of just by
different events that Ivolunteer and take pictures of,
I put up there and just makethings available to everyone to
use and share as they wish.
My website is my namenoradaytoncom.
Is there?
Speaker 4 (07:18):
anything that I haven't asked you about that
you'd like to talk about or addto the conversation?
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Here's some feedback.
That's been really special tome has been you were someone who
said this to me, but alsoothers were like a photo I took
helped them feel that it reallyshowed them as themselves, and
so that's that's been realmeaningful.
I remember somebody told methat a picture that I took
helped their mom appreciate themand their transition.
(07:47):
Things like that mean a lot tome because I recognize I'm
someone who's actuallyself-conscious seeing myself in
photos and I recognize thatthat's something that the trans
community I feel like weprobably all have things about
ourselves where we'reself-conscious about our
appearance.
I always hope that when I sharephotos that people are able to
see the beauty that I see.
(08:08):
And then I don't know kind ofanother point on that.
On the beauty, I just, yeah,sometimes I come back after
taking a bunch of photos at anevent or something and then I
look at them and I'm just amazedby the love and happiness that
I see from everyone and that'smeant a lot to me.
That's been a special thing.
(08:29):
I've had times where I'm goingthrough photos and I have tears
running down my face justbecause of the happiness and
love that I feel looking atthose photos and again, that's a
testament to the people who areallowing me to take their photo
.
They're putting that energy out.
I'm glad to be able to captureit and I'm glad to hear that
others can see it too in myphotos.
Speaker 4 (08:51):
Thank you so much for talking to me today.
You and I were together at thatprotest today, so I've seen you
most of the day.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Absolutely.
Thank you, Ethan.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
I'm Ethan Michelle Gantz and I've been talking with
Nora Dayton today.
Thank you everyone.
Have a queer day.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
Did you know that KPFT is completely
listener-funded?
There are no underwriters, soit's up to all of us to pay for
the freedom to say what you hearhere on Queer Voices and on
this station in general.
That means you participate inour programming just by
listening and also by pledgingyour support.
(09:31):
Please do that now by going tothe KPFT website and clicking on
the red Donate Now button, andplease mention Queer Voices when
you do.
Thank you.
Speaker 5 (09:46):
This is Brian Levinka , and I have the honor of
interviewing former mayor ofHouston, Anise Parker.
Anise, welcome to the show.
Speaker 6 (09:53):
Always glad to visit with you.
I'm actually very amped upright now.
I just left the no Kingsprotest march.
Speaker 5 (10:02):
You're kind of protesting in your own way by
running for Harris County judge.
Can you tell me why you'rerunning and why now?
Speaker 6 (10:08):
For the same reason, I was at the protest march today
.
I'm horrified at what'shappening in our country and,
instead of trying to bringpeople together, trying to lower
the temperature, we have apresident who is trying to amp
things up.
And, of course, in Minnesotathis morning, there were two
(10:30):
people assassinated and anattempt on the lives of two
others.
This has to stop, and the onlything, in my view, that stops
what's happening is to putpeople in those rooms of power,
and that means that we have tohave candidates who run and win
every election day, thosecandidates who are thoughtful
(10:52):
and willing to work together onsolutions rather than constantly
attacking people they disagreewith.
Speaker 5 (10:59):
Can you clarify for us what does the Harris County
judge actually do?
I don't know if a lot of peopleknow.
Speaker 6 (11:04):
It's not actually a judge.
It's every other place in thecountry that I know of they call
it the county executive.
It's the top administrativeofficial within Harris County.
You preside over thecommissioner's court meetings
and work with the other electedofficials to manage the budget
(11:29):
of Harris County.
When we really notice, thecounty judge is in an emergency
situation hurricane is coming,something like that because they
are the chief emergency officerfor the region.
Speaker 5 (11:42):
And so it's kind of like the CEO of a very large
county.
Can you talk about that andkind of what your experience has
been with large organizations?
Speaker 6 (11:51):
Well, I understand that Harris County is the fourth
largest county in the UnitedStates and there are 34 cities
within Harris County, but thereare about 2 million people who
live in unincorporated HarrisCounty and this is a really
urbanized area.
So there's about 2 millionpeople whose government is the
(12:14):
Harris County government and,having been the mayor of Houston
, representing 2.3 millionpeople, I have experience in a
large bureaucracy.
I have experience in crisisleadership, but also the
day-to-day workings ofgovernment, and I am the first
(12:35):
candidate announced in theDemocratic primary.
We're actually talking about arace that is in 2026, but the
primary is in March, so this isnine months out, which is an
appropriate time to get outthere and start working for it.
So I would need to win theprimary as a Democrat and then
general election.
I'd have to win that as well,but I've won nine consecutive
(12:58):
races in Houston.
I have to introduce myself tothe county at large.
I mean, I've been in the mediamarket.
They know who I am.
I'm embarking on what I wouldcall a listening tour.
I've been out of office fornine and a half years now.
I think I know the issuesbecause I live here and I've
always lived here, but thecrucial things in various
(13:21):
neighborhoods are what I want togo find out.
Speaker 5 (13:23):
So what have you been doing for the past nine and a
half years?
Speaker 6 (13:27):
I worked at an amazing nonprofit.
It used to be calledNeighborhood Centers and it
changed its name to Baker Ripley.
For a year and a half I taughtat Rice University.
For two years Some of thesethings overlapped, and then I
spent seven years leading theLGBTQ Plus Victory Fund and
Victory Institute.
(13:47):
They're a Washington-based PACthat only works with LGBTQ plus
candidates for office, everylevel of the ballot, all parts
of the country and even someinternational work.
So that's been the last sevenyears and actually that's part
again of why I decided to runfor county judge.
I'm looking at what's happeningin Washington and in Austin and
(14:10):
the dysfunction.
Local government is the onelevel of government that
absolutely has to work.
Everything rolls downhill it'slaw enforcement, it's the
hospital district, it's floodcontrol, and for the last seven
years I've been working withcandidates mostly in local
(14:31):
politics, entry-level politics,city councils, school boards,
statehouse, even mosquitocontrol board, water board and
it helped remind me of whatreally matters in politics, and
that is that you just have tohave people who care and are
willing to show up, roll uptheir sleeves and do the work,
and I want to do that.
Speaker 5 (14:51):
What challenges do you see facing Harris County in
the coming years?
Speaker 6 (14:55):
The challenges don't change significantly, in that
the primary responsibilities arelaw enforcement and health care
.
Harris County has the HarrisCounty Hospital District, harris
Health, there's flood control.
I mean, we have parks andlibraries and other things too,
(15:17):
roads and bridges, but it's thatpublic health, public safety
and emergency management thatpeople really desperately need.
But what's happening in DC withthis big beautiful bill
so-called is that Trump iscutting Medicaid.
That impacts the hospitaldistrict.
(15:38):
We know we live in thehurricane belt.
We know we have problems withflooding.
Trump has announced that he'sgoing to do away with FEMA and
he has decimated the ranks ofthe hurricane forecasters.
We are in hurricane seasonright now.
All of these cuts, the slashand burn Trump is doing through
(16:00):
the national bureaucracy notthat it couldn't afford to be
cut, but this is instead ofthoughtfully figuring out ways
to create efficiencies, they'rejust lopping off important
levels of government, andthey're not levels of government
or they're not functions thatwe can do without.
We have to have hurricaneweather forecasters, we have to
(16:21):
have a disaster responseprotocol, and if we're not going
to have a federal partner, ifFEMA is going to be dismantled,
then we have to do it ourselves.
So they're the normalpriorities.
The big difference is we're notgoing to have a partner in
Washington and we barely have apartner in Austin.
Now I truly believe that in anemergency, that our leaders in
(16:43):
Austin will understand thatwe're all Texans and step up.
I had a productive workingrelationship with both Greg
Abbott and Rick Perry when I wasmayor.
I disagree with them on a wholelot of things, but in an
emergency I could call and theywould be responsive.
I no longer believe that thatis true of Washington and that
means that we have to wirearound it.
Speaker 5 (17:03):
I was going to ask what you were most proud of in
your time in office.
Speaker 6 (17:08):
I came into office as mayor.
Well, I was a council memberfor three terms.
I was controller for threeterms.
I was mayor for three terms.
I am proud of different thingsin each of those different roles
but and there's not one thingI'm going to be able to point at
I came into office promising tofocus on infrastructure, the
built environment of Houston.
(17:30):
I went to the voters at the endof my first year and said we
have to put more money intostreet and drainage work, and
now we have rebuilt Houston andbeing partially paid for by the
drainage fee.
I had a major initiative forparks and green space and all of
those new trails along the biosin the city happened on my
(17:53):
watch.
The big transformation ofMemorial Park started on my
watch, buffalo Bile Park,emancipation Park so
infrastructure, parks.
And then the final thing welaunched an initiative on
homelessness and reducedhomelessness in Houston by 60%
and there was enough robustenergy in that program and we
(18:15):
built enough infrastructure intothat program.
Even though homelessness is onthe rise again, we're still the
national model for how to tacklehomelessness.
But the problem is you can'tcure homelessness once and for
all.
You have to manage homelessnessand manage the circumstances of
people who fall intohomelessness.
The problem is, you can't curehomelessness once and for all.
You have to manage homelessnessand manage the circumstances of
people who fall intohomelessness.
And so if an administrationdoesn't keep their eye on the
(18:38):
ball and their foot on the gas,it makes a metaphor things start
to fall apart.
Speaker 5 (18:42):
People are excited about this race.
How can they get involved?
Speaker 6 (18:46):
It's a rudimentary website website.
We just put it up to getstarted and, uh, one of the
things you'll notice on mywebsite that's a little bit
different is the first thing youdon't get a donate button.
The first thing you get on isyou get a little bit of
information about me and we askfor how to contact you because,
uh, this should be a two-wayinformation flow.
We do ask for donations, butbut, uh, right now you have to
(19:07):
look for it.
It's about reintroducing myselfto people who many people who
already know me, but nowintroducing myself as the
potential county judge ratherthan the former mayor, and I
anticipate that there will beother people running.
At this point, I'm the only onein the Democratic primary.
There are two or three peoplealready announced in the
(19:30):
Republican primary.
The election is next March, sowe have plenty of time to put a
strong campaign together.
Speaker 5 (19:39):
We are speaking with Anise Parker, former mayor of
Houston, now candidate for theHarris County judge of Harris
County.
Thank you for coming on.
Speaker 6 (19:47):
Thank you, brian, it is always a treat.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
This is Queer Voices.
Speaker 8 (19:52):
This is Deborah Moncrief-Bell, and I'm talking
with Frankie Ortega, themarketing director for Discovery
Green.
So, frankie, we have somethingspecial coming up on Friday,
june the 27th.
I want you to tell me about it,but first give me a little
background on Discovery Green.
Speaker 7 (20:13):
Discovery Green is the 12-acre park in front of the
George R Brown.
It is probably one of myfavorite places in Houston.
It opened in 2008.
That's the same year that Imoved to Houston and so I just I
cannot imagine Houston withoutit.
(20:34):
When I moved here I was a youngsingle mom and I didn't really
know anybody in the city, so wewere there quite a bit, going to
all of their free events, and Ijust pretty much raised my
daughter there.
And now I've been working forDiscovery Green almost six years
(20:54):
and I just love it.
If you haven't been check usout, it is a beautiful place
Lots of grass and trees andflowers and gardens, and then,
as a nonprofit, part of ourmission is to show and highlight
the diversity of traditionsthat exist in Houston, and we do
(21:17):
that by putting on freecultural programs, free concerts
, free exercise classes, and wejust really try to bring people
together and have a good timewith our neighbors.
It's a great community locationand just very, very grateful to
(21:38):
be able to work there.
Speaker 8 (21:40):
Where is it located?
Speaker 7 (21:42):
It's right in the heart of downtown.
It is pretty much the George RBrown's front yard, so we
consider ourselves Houston'syard.
It's where you can go, bringsome balls, bring a picnic
blanket, have a picnic with yourfamily, enjoy the grounds.
It's like everybody's outdooryard.
Speaker 8 (22:05):
For several years now , Discovery Green has hosted an
event called Rainbow on theGreen as part of Pride Month.
Do you know how many yearsthat's been going on?
Speaker 7 (22:18):
I believe it started in 2010.
How many years is that now?
15, 16 years.
One of our presidents his namewas Barry Mandel.
He was very active in the gaycommunity and when he was
looking at our mission we try tobe an open welcoming place for
(22:38):
all of Houston, all families andhe said you know what?
We need a family friendly prideevent here in the center of
Houston.
And that's what he did.
He created Rainbow on the Green.
We have a new president now.
Her name is Catherine Lott andshe has taken that mission
forward and we still have afamily-friendly Pride event
(23:01):
called Rainbow on the Green.
It's happening Friday, june27th, from 7 to 10 pm.
Speaker 8 (23:08):
Can you recall some of the events of the past?
What has taken place?
Speaker 7 (23:18):
of the past.
What has taken place?
Lots of dancing, lots ofmusical acts.
Last year we had ZomajiRobinson, zomaji Robinson and
the Glitterati.
He's a singer musician.
He performs with the Suffersquite a bit.
He put together a fantasticshow for us.
It was an amazing celebrationLots of dancing, lots of
(23:43):
families came out.
We had a really good time.
Speaker 8 (23:48):
This year we have something very
community-oriented because wehave the Pride Chorus of Houston
and joining us is the ArtisticDirector, david York.
David, we've had you as a gueston Queer Voices a number of
times.
Tell me about the program thatwill be presented at Rainbow on
(24:09):
the Green this year.
It's called.
Speaker 3 (24:11):
True Colors and it is a retrospective of the music of
the 80s and it has been suchfun to produce because there's
just a treasure trove of greatmusic from that time period and
a lot of gay artists were comingout in those days.
We are happy to be able tofeature that music in a dynamic
(24:32):
performance that includes dance,and we're not going to have our
whole band there, but we'll besinging with the effect of the
whole band.
We'll have tracks and it'll bea great show.
Speaker 8 (24:43):
Is there a particular part of the program that you
find particularly exciting?
Speaker 3 (24:49):
I would describe the program as starting very
exciting, very high energy, withI Am what I Am.
We're doing a Gloria Gaynorversion of that classic song
from La Cage Au Faux and we keepit pretty upbeat there for a
little while.
But you can't do a concert thathas a retrospective of the 80s
(25:10):
without acknowledging the AIDSepidemic and how that affected
the gay community.
Now we're not going to lingerthere a long time For those of
us who lived through it.
We don't need to live throughit twice.
But it is sort of necessary tohonor that part of our history,
appropriate remembrance of that.
And we do it musically.
We're not doing lots oftestimonies in this concert.
(25:30):
We're just going to keep itwith the music and we tell that
story through songs of the 80s.
We start with Memory from Catsand then we sing a song by
Michael Callan called Love Don'tNeed a Reason, and then we dip
into the world of musicals andwe sing from Les Miserables,
empty Chairs and Empty Tables,and then we move out of that,
ultimately using a song byIndigo Girls called Closer to
(25:53):
Fine, and then we move into thepart of the concert that I most
enjoy.
We even have a little bit of asing-along.
We're going to invite the folksto sing with us on we Are the
World and Karma, chameleon andFaith.
And perhaps my favorite part ofthe concert is an extended
piece that we're calling my 80sMixtape, and in seven and a half
(26:14):
minutes we sing 38 songs.
It's literally only a measurelong.
Sometimes it's four measureslong, sometimes we get a whole
verse in there.
It's all these songs packedtogether and it's really fun,
even for people who didn't livein the 80s, just to hear the way
the songs fit together.
They tell a story.
Speaker 8 (26:35):
And I don't suppose that you can have a program
called True Colors withouthaving Cindy Law.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
Yes, we're doing an a cappella arrangement of True
Colors and we have a fabuloussoloist.
Speaker 8 (26:47):
I'm not even going to say any more about it because
you just have to come to theconcert and hear, but it is
beautiful have to come to theconcert in here, but it is
beautiful and this is a bonusconcert because your June 14th
program of the Pride Chorusoffering for June is also True
Colors.
You will have been wellrehearsed before the event on
the 27th.
(27:08):
So, frankie, back to you.
Give me some more of theparticulars about Discovery
Green and Rainbow on the Green.
What should people expect asfar as getting there?
Where to park that sort ofthing?
Speaker 7 (27:25):
Every year.
This is an audience that showsup ready to have a good time.
So if you haven't been, you'vebeen warned.
This is a feel-good audience.
People come out in costume, soreally want to encourage
everybody put on those 80soutfits, wear your colors and
(27:47):
come out just ready to have agood time.
Speaker 8 (27:50):
Let's just remind people again that it's a totally
free event.
Speaker 7 (27:54):
Exactly Free event.
We have two fantastic emcees.
We have Jay Michaels he's aradio personality on 96.5.
And Desi Love Blake, who is afantastic queen.
We love her and we're soexcited that she's going to be
(28:15):
coming on stage and emceeingwith Jay Michaels.
So getting there just putDiscovery Green into your maps
your Apple Maps, your GoogleMaps, whatever you choose For
parking.
There is a parking lotunderneath Discovery Green.
You can access it throughAvenida de las Americas.
If you get there a little bitearly, street parking is free
(28:38):
after 6 pm, so you can drivearound a little bit.
If you don't want to pay thatmoney, find some street parking
and maybe walk a block or twoover to the park.
Speaker 8 (28:48):
David, is there anything else that you would
like to share about this programat Discovery Green on Friday
that I didn't ask you about?
Speaker 3 (28:58):
On June 14th, pride Chorus performed with about 120
people on stage and dancers anda full band gave a great show.
We're bringing a lot of that toRainbow on the Green and we're
really pleased to be able to dothat.
It's fun for us to be able toperform it again, but it's
especially important to mepersonally, and I'm confident,
for those in Pride Chorus to beable to share it with the
(29:20):
community, and that it's open tothe public without cost is just
a real boon.
We're bringing about 50 singers, most of our dancers, and we're
going to be using the screensand so you'll have the lyrics
for the sing-alongs and you'llbe able to see what we're up to.
We're really happy to be ableto share this program again.
Speaker 8 (29:40):
We're talking with David York, the Artistic
Director of Pride Chorus ofHouston, and Frankie Ortega,
marketing Director at DiscoveryGreen, about this Friday's event
, rainbow on the Green part oftheir annual celebration of what
goes on during Pride, and it'sa great opportunity for folks to
(30:03):
come out and be with oneanother and just have a lot of
fun, because we are remindedagain that finding your joy is
what keeps us strong.
Thanks for being with us today.
On Queer Voices.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
This is KPFT 90.1 FM Houston, 89.5 FM Galveston, 91.9
FM Huntsville, and worldwide onthe internet at kpftorg.
Worldwide on the internet atkpftorg.
Speaker 10 (30:35):
Tamari Cooper has been churning out her summer
musicals for over 28 years andthis year no different, totally
new.
Another ding-dang Tamari showopens up at the Match June 27th
and runs through August 2nd.
Now this show is a Houstonsummer tradition and it is the
catastrophic theater's versionof like A Christmas Carol at the
(30:57):
Alley or the Nutcracker at theHouston Ballet.
Except every year this one's anew script, a new ball of crazy
to enjoy.
And today I'm joined by theChanteuse herself, the creator,
tamari Cooper, as well as herassistant director, her partner
in crime, sex symbol and bestfriend, kyle Sturdivant, to talk
all things Tamarie.
(31:17):
So welcome Tamarie and Kyle, hi, hi.
Speaker 11 (31:21):
Hey, Sex symbol I'll take it.
Speaker 10 (31:26):
Oh you are, please.
I've seen you in so many showswhere I'm just like that's right
there.
Speaker 12 (31:31):
He is this year.
He's a sexy candy man.
Speaker 10 (31:35):
There you go perfect typecasting, here we go.
So first up.
Okay, for what is the plot orthe theme of another ding dang
tamri show?
They always kind of have thislittle vignette going on right.
Speaker 12 (31:49):
Yeah, as I've said before, the plots of my shows.
It's not a big, it's not aheavy lift, right.
And then there is somethingmore of like a review kind of
feeling to my shows,vaudevillian, a mixture of, you
know, comedy sketches withinsane musical numbers, but I do
always pick some underlyingtheme.
Sometimes they're insanelybroad, like love, and then other
(32:12):
times it's more specific.
Last year was Texas, this yearoh.
And the other thing I should say, interrupting myself and
starting over, is that there'salways this pressure around this
time of year to come up withwhat I'm doing the next year.
And so we're in rehearsals andeveryone's like, well, what's
next year going to be?
And of course we have toannounce our season.
So I've got to write a blurb.
(32:33):
I got to get stuff out thereand I think I was in the hallway
at Match and I was like gosh,just another Ding Dang Tamri
show, right when the title camefrom.
But then I started to thinkabout it, and it does touch on
that that I have to keep comingup with different ideas every
year, and so we went looselyinto my creative process so that
(32:56):
gets displayed in the show.
And then also, just why do Ikeep doing these ding dang tamri
shows like what is it thatbrings me out there every year?
Why do I put myself throughthis?
Why do I have to come up withthis?
Is it just my own sick,narcissistic love of the
audience?
Speaker 11 (33:15):
or oh gosh, sorry, I had something in my throat or
is it something beyond that?
Speaker 12 (33:24):
and so those questions are sort of the theme
throughout it, like looking atthe creative process involved
and then just what exactly is myreason for for being out there
and doing these shows year afteryear?
You'll have to come see it tofind out Exactly.
Speaker 10 (33:40):
I did some math this morning and currently you have
written more musicals thanStephen Sondheim.
That is crazy when I thinkabout it.
Speaker 11 (33:48):
Bravo, Bravo Cooper.
Speaker 12 (33:51):
Yes, well, too bad, he couldn't have stuck around a
little longer and perhapsreached my total.
And, as I always say, I cannottake the credit for these
extravaganzas withoutacknowledging so many people
that make them happen, becauseit isn't just me by any means.
The spark comes from me andgeneral themes and you know,
(34:15):
obviously, direct choreography,costuming, but I have people
that help write them.
I have my book writer, patrickReynolds, who lives in New
Mexico, actually, and thanks totechnology we're able to Zoom
and talk on the phone and shareGoogle Docs, so we can be
working in real time on editingtogether.
He likes to yell at me a lotand complain, and then I tell
(34:36):
him he's funny and he keepsworking for me, so that's good.
And then people like Kyle, whohas been my partner in crime, as
you said, for many, many years.
Kyle, how many of these showshave you done, do you know?
Speaker 11 (34:48):
I think about 27,.
Something like that.
All but four.
Speaker 12 (34:54):
Yeah, yeah, he's done a lot of them, so be like
24 shows that you've done.
Okay, he wasn't here when Ifirst started doing them and
then he came back in 1999 and,without having really known him,
I threw him into one of theshows and that was the beginning
of a beautiful friendship.
And then you took one year offto go to Southern Decadence.
(35:19):
That's right, yes, and thenthere was one year where you
know and we've acknowledged thisin our friendship where other
people that are longtimeveterans of the show will say I
am not going to be able to dothe show this summer, this is
the summer I'm taking mychildren to able to do the show
this summer.
You know, this is the summerI'm taking my children to Disney
World.
Or you know, I have a hugefamily reunion and I just can't
(35:40):
do it and I'm like, oh, okay,well, it's okay, we'll get you
back, you know, next year.
And then, to put a strain onour relationship, kyle's always
felt like he doesn't really havethat choice, which I think in
therapy was actually realizedmany years ago.
So I have given him somefreedom, but most of the time he
knows I'm just so desperate tohave the help and that the
(36:02):
audience also think of it as theTamri Cooper show starring Kyle
Sturtivant.
So luckily he hasn't completelyrebelled yet and left me
hanging in the lurch.
Speaker 10 (36:13):
What makes you keep coming back, kyle?
I mean, really give us thetherapy answer.
Speaker 11 (36:18):
Well, you know, it's just been part of half my life
now.
So it's the kind of thing thatyou can't get away from that you
love very much, even though attimes it's completely great on
your physical and mental health.
But you know, when I moved toNew Yorkork in 98 and I was
going to try to go to new yorkand you know, do the acting
(36:39):
thing there and failed miserably, hated new york and moved back
within nine months and I hadsome friends who were in tamry
show and she's like well come, Iwant you to come back, come
back to houston, I'll make tamryput you in this show.
And I'm like, thanks, yes, Ihad seen her shows and I loved
them.
And so I was like, yeah, and Icome back and my first rehearsal
is Madam Cooper, with like acast on her leg with a cane, and
(37:03):
she goes.
Today we will be rehearsing thedrag number I Will Survive on
the Sherpa Mountains inSwitzerland.
And I was like, perfect, okay,this is for me, I'm here and
yeah.
And you know, over the yearswe've developed not only a close
friendship but, I think, aclose professional relationship
(37:24):
where we just have ways ofcommunicating with each other
and bringing mostly the best outof each other.
And who could ever not, whocould ever just say no to doing
that, Even though I've tried acouple of times?
Speaker 12 (37:36):
I mean we really do.
We've been in so manyproductions together, not just
the Tamarie show but so manyother shows with Infernal,
bridegroom Productions, ourformer company, and now, of
course, with Catastrophic, andwe've both directed each other
in big, meaty, juicy roles.
We've been sort of like part ofwhat we call the brain trust of
Catastrophic.
(37:56):
We're working with Jason.
Where of what we call the braintrust of Catastrophic, we're
working with Jason, where wework on the casting and
developing seasons as well.
So, yeah, there's a sharedlanguage.
For sure, there's a shorthandbetween us and I find it
invaluable in my shows to havehim there, because there are
definitely times when I'm onstage and some numbers he's not
in and he can really help me bemy eyes out there too for just
(38:18):
things that I can't possiblyreally see.
That's going on.
And then, just in general,kyle's a great director I'll
find with with my shows or othershows I'm directing and where
you'll find the person justgoing.
I mean the thing is do this andthat and trying to come up with
all these philosophical things,and he'll just come in with
like one sentence that is sospot on and so exactly what the
actor needs to hear.
So again.
(38:39):
That is very valuable to me tohave him in the room for that.
And we have that thing thatCarol Burnett, harvey Korman, we
always kind of jokerelationship, you do.
Speaker 10 (38:47):
It's so funny because you have this electric
charisma.
It's unique to both of you andwhen you're on stage together
it's just like amps up like alot, which I think is just crazy
.
I mean, do you have like afavorite memory or skit or song
or routine that you did togetherin a Tamariz show?
Speaker 12 (39:06):
Man, that's a tough one.
Speaker 11 (39:07):
I always think back to me playing your husband.
I can't remember which show itwas, that was 2008.
It was such a bad send-up of herhusband and he saw it.
Such a bad send-up of herhusband and he saw it.
But that was like one of thefirst times where it really
became evident that that's oneof those scenes where we're just
making it new and fresh eachtime we do it, because it became
(39:31):
so much about not trying tomake each other laugh.
But there is that underlyingthing of it's the two of us
doing this and anything couldhappen at any moment.
Speaker 12 (39:41):
Sometimes it gets set up for it, like last year
when he was playing.
He was playing the Confederateflag, if you remember.
At a moment.
Speaker 10 (39:51):
I do One of your best roles, yeah super awful
Typecasting all over the place.
Speaker 12 (39:58):
You know I set it up .
I know, going into that everynight, that I'm just who knows
what he's going to do.
You know like, and there aremoments where he did get me.
He always, I think there'salways some moment where it's a
challenge for you to try tobreak me on stage, and so
usually he does succeed duringthe run several times and people
love that the same way we lovedit in the Carol Burnett show.
(40:20):
You know, when the people thatare in the audience that do have
that history with us and theydo love to see those moments
where we just can't keep astraight face and keep going.
Speaker 10 (40:30):
I always joke that it's the Indy 500 and the
audience is there for the reps.
They are absolutely waiting forsomebody to go up against that
wall.
Yes, it happened.
I love it.
Speaker 11 (40:42):
I mean, we're not trying to fool anybody here with
these particular shows.
We're not recreating the wheel.
It is a kind of dig-dig,wink-wink, nudge-nudge type of
theater where we're there tohave a good time.
Let's all realize we're all inthe same room to have fun and
laugh, and if you get some storyout of it, that's great.
But it is really about comingtogether and just having a good
(41:06):
time with the audience, witheach other, and I think that's
really what appeals to everyone.
And the fact that most peopleon stage, you see, are not
traditional, you know musicaltheater, actors and actresses.
It's a wide range of people andbodies, shapes and ages and
theater styles and it makes iteven wackier.
Speaker 12 (41:23):
So yeah, yeah, I always say it's more interesting
to see someone who's like Idon't know just seems like a
real person, like right there.
And the intimacy of doing thatkind of broad vaudevillian
performance but so close in thatspace at match, I think also
makes it special, where youdon't have that removal and that
(41:44):
slickness that you'll see inlike obviously a big highfalutin
musical production.
And then I think theaccessibility comes into,
because a lot of the storiesthat end up being made into
sketches and musical numbers arethings that people can relate
to over the years, whether itwas going all the way back to
things like my parade ofex-boyfriends and I, you know,
(42:05):
have people come up after theshow and be like, how did you
know that I dated all the sameguys you know like, sir, we all
did.
Yeah, you know, always there'llbe something like that that I
think they can relate to.
One thing this year I won't givetoo much away, but there is a
trip to the Catastrophic TheaterStorage Unit.
(42:31):
Everybody has some attic orstorage unit or closet or
something that they just can'tcontrol right, that is just
festering and multiplying andbreeding and creating its own
little monster, and so thatagain everyone can relate to
that.
I feel very sane right now.
Speaker 10 (42:53):
I feel very sane.
We've been to my storage unit.
Speaker 12 (42:57):
You'll be excited.
Mr Sturdivant has a starringrole in that number.
Speaker 10 (43:02):
Of course Mr Sturdivant always has a starring
role.
Speaker 11 (43:05):
Yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 10 (43:07):
It's very interesting though, because the
cast and we were talking aboutSturdivant being like 24 times
or something crazy like that.
Speaker 12 (43:14):
I don't feel like there's ever a time when someone
has come in and just don't feellike there's ever a time when
someone has come in and justdon't feel welcome.
Speaker 10 (43:19):
Well, and then you notoriously have this big spread
of food during Tech Week thatI've seen.
What is that like?
Sponsored by Whataburger orsomething?
Speaker 12 (43:26):
Well, no, it's last year we did have the Whataburger
tailgating burger packagecompliments of Kyle, he did that
but we just I guess it's justthe perfect combination of food
addicts in the cast the size ofthe cast.
And then we already have had, Ithink, three official
conversations during rehearsalsabout the tech food.
(43:49):
We are not at tech yet, but weneed to have one more thing that
we discuss tonight what are youbringing to the tech spread?
It gets out of control.
That's one thing.
I can say that we truly do havethe greatest tech spread of all
theaters in town, so I willstand on that statement yeah, so
we have to like keep guard areyou part of the show no, get off
(44:12):
, get awaythere was one year where sean
patrick, judge actor, was in theshow and his husband, eddie's
grandmother I think maybe hermother made homemade Vietnamese
egg rolls for us in this giantpan and they were so amazing and
we all went on stage and wecame back out and they were gone
(44:34):
and the Main Street Theateryouth kids went off with egg
rolls.
They will never live this down.
They will never live it down.
I think we actually knew one ofthe actresses who was in the
cast and she was like I justneed you to know, it's not part
of the egg roll theft.
I didn't do it, I'm done.
Speaker 11 (44:55):
He's getting the tea today?
Hunty, yes, we are.
Speaker 10 (45:01):
Can't wait until Main Street hears about this one
, I know right.
Speaker 11 (45:03):
There better be egg rolls showing up at the theater.
Yeah.
Speaker 10 (45:09):
Well, they've got that little tie place next to
them.
They can get you some egg rolls, I know they can.
Speaker 11 (45:13):
I don't know if you can tell from last year's show
or two years ago.
Tammy's very particular abouther egg rolls.
Speaker 10 (45:18):
Oh yes, completely last year's show, or two years
ago.
Tammy's very particular abouther egg rolls.
Oh yes, oh, completely.
A whole number about egg rollsat one point, my lord.
Well, it does feel like youguys are a family and that's, I
think, what really sells thiswhole thing is that you do have
all of this closeness and thisknit stuff and everything like
that.
But do you have like some settropes?
Do you have some things whereyou go?
This has to be in every show.
Speaker 12 (45:39):
Well, there's a thing now we call the Abe-ism,
where you probably haveremembered this from seeing the
shows, but Abe Zapata has somemoment usually, where he has a
joke that he tells I'm usuallythe only person on stage who has
(45:59):
to suffer through this moment,and these jokes are filthy,
really very, very lewd andhilarious.
We don't know what he's goingto say.
He does not actually run thempast me.
I just give him this moment andmuch, sometimes to the thrill,
groans and horror of variousaudience members, and so that is
(46:20):
something that we always seemto find a place to put in there.
And it just started with him,sometimes to the thrill, groans
and horror of various audiencemembers, and so that is
something that we always seem tofind a place to put in there.
And it just started with himimprov-ing something in 2011
that really only the band couldhear, because, as he was exiting
, he would say something and thewhole band would crack up, and
soon after the show, we'd belike what did you say?
What did you say?
And then he kept finding newplaces to put them, and so, yeah
(46:41):
, I think this year we mighteven have a disclosure show up
on the screen.
That's like.
This material is not.
The Catastrophic Theater is notresponsible for this moment in
this play, but I look forward tothem and he's so witty and
funny and crude, so that'sprobably something that's always
there.
I also feel like there's alwaysa moment of just genuine
(47:03):
sentimental sort of emotionfeeling that comes.
Usually it's towards the end ofthe play, but there's some
moment where maybe our theme haskind of wrapped itself up again
and and I just have a momentwith the audience.
I mean, I know I've I've hadsome moments where I my voice
breaks, as I'm saying, just forexample, in 2022, when we got to
do the show again after thepandemic and just having a
(47:25):
moment in the finale where I waslike you don't know how much
this means to us to be back herewith you, you know, and so that
was certainly emotional.
Speaker 11 (47:34):
Last year when we celebrated Houston the good and
the bad.
That felt really nice in a way,to leave the theater going.
Yeah, we live in a great place.
Speaker 12 (47:46):
So I do try to have some emotional honesty and
genuine heartfelt sentimentwrapped up in it at some point.
Speaker 11 (47:51):
And of course, we always talk about her big behind
.
Yeah, Of course.
Speaker 12 (47:54):
There's usually jokes about that.
Food seems to be I don'tintentionally put it in there,
but there's a lot of food in myshows.
I mean, obviously, duh, we justspent 15 minutes talking about
the tech spread, exactly Trulylike next year is going to be
another greatest hits show.
Every 10 years I stop and I doa reflection where I pull out a
(48:17):
handful of numbers from the last10 years of shows and tie them
together with some ridiculousthrough line and I'm starting to
think about the numbers and Iwas like, oh, that's got food in
it.
That's got food in it.
That's got food in it too.
Speaker 10 (48:30):
No, you just make it all food.
That'll be it.
This'll be great.
Well, you know what one thingabout this show is?
It always comes up during Pride, basically, and this weekend
you are premiering during Prideweekend, and one thing that I've
admired the CatastrophicTheater about is, my gosh, so
much diversity.
I mean you've got trans,non-binary, you've got gay,
(48:51):
you've got straight, you've gotpeople that I don't even know
they're spending new stuff outin the future that I can't even
fathom.
I mean it's so great and youlet them do that very much in an
artistic way, which I think isvery cool.
I mean I think it's one of theserious sides of your company
that you actually do that, andit's so wonderful to do it
around pride.
Speaker 12 (49:11):
It is.
I have been, you know.
I guess you would just say thatI've been an ally for A long
time.
Speaker 10 (49:21):
Basically my whole life.
I I just yeah, but I I did.
Speaker 12 (49:23):
I even grew up as a little girl where, like my mom,
I remember just having like gayfriends and I went and stayed
with her best friend and her herwife at the time and and I
remember in the 70s I havepictures of me at this like
(49:46):
lesbian picnic with a bunch ofyou know really hairy, happy
1970s lesbians we're all playingwater balloon and I knew that
they were, you know, a couple.
I knew that they had intimacyand I didn't.
It wasn't any different.
It was never presented to me asbeing any different than my
mother and father, right.
And so it was actually shockingfor me to come into the world
(50:06):
and discover people had issuewith that.
I was like, but why, you know?
And so, yeah, and then I didstay in bubbles.
I mean, I grew up in the balletworld, right, you know, and
then going to HSPVA, and so I'vealways been in a more accepting
, tolerant sort of environment.
But, yeah, and my best friendsI don't know why, but that's
(50:27):
just my best friends have alwaysbeen in the community too, I
mean this guy here and so manypeople over the years.
And so I am hugely moved, forpolitical reasons, to be
involved in any way I can aswell.
And yes, I'm thrilled that ourtheater obviously is more
diverse in those ways.
I mean, you can always say thatthere's been a lot of gays in
(50:51):
the theater, right?
Speaker 11 (50:54):
That's not true.
I think we're very fortunate ina position to be the theater
company in this city that can dothis kind of work.
We're not so big that we'regoing to get a lot of flack from
you know long-time patrons,Like why are you doing it?
We have drag queens in yourshow.
But we are large enough that weattract really great talent and
are able to have an audienceand show it to people really
(51:15):
great talent and are able tohave an audience and show it to
people.
So, if not us, who toincorporate these different
stories that are, you know,haven't been told, and that
always comes from the having theartists who are living them to
be involved.
And I think we're just sofortunate, especially over the
last five years or so, to workwith so many wonderfully kooky,
(51:36):
weird, interesting people,regardless of their you know
orientations and all that.
Speaker 12 (51:42):
It's kind of our responsibility to show that off,
I think, in a way, we certainlydon't try to like tell somebody
to not be who they are, right,yes, I mean, it's important for
us Usually whenever we'recasting anything.
It's less about going home andbuilding a character and that
type of thing.
It's more of just like findinga way to relate to a character
based on your own experiences.
(52:03):
Just there's gotta be somethingwhen you read this text that
you can connect to and so bringyourself and bring your own
experiences, as opposed totrying to imagine and create
something that doesn't come fromyou.
Speaker 11 (52:14):
Plus, Tamri just has a habit of getting drunk at
parties and going you want to bein my show?
Speaker 10 (52:19):
Exactly, and you guys are really best friends,
right.
Speaker 11 (52:23):
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
Speaker 10 (52:26):
Why do you guys not have like a podcast together or
something where weekly we canget a dose of this wild
chemistry that you have?
Speaker 12 (52:34):
It's so funny because we have a group of
friends it's me and Kyle andDennis Draper, rebecca Randall
and our friend JenniferBlessington, who's actually a
quite successful novelist andteacher.
Back in 2020, when the pandemicstarted, we all got Marco Polo
accounts and I will credit thatapp for saving all of our sanity
(52:55):
.
That app for saving all of oursanity.
Each one of us at some momenthad a complete, absolute
emotional breakdown about allkinds of things and the fact
that we were all still able tosomehow connect and see each
other and respond visually thatway Again, it was a godsend for
us.
Speaker 11 (53:14):
And we have always wanted to say we want to do a
podcast, we should share it, butI think it's just laziness, I
don't know.
Speaker 10 (53:22):
If you could produce an entire musical every year
for going on 30 years, I thinkyou can handle a podcast.
Speaker 11 (53:32):
I think you're right .
It's just a trigger.
Speaker 12 (53:36):
It's finding that eighth day of the week to
schedule it.
I think that's more the problem.
Yeah, it's finding that eighthday of the week to schedule it.
I think that's more the problem.
Anyhow, I'm sure there's someof us thinking well, we think
we're hilarious.
Speaker 10 (53:46):
Oh no, all of Houston thinks that you guys are
hilarious.
I always wonder when you go outtogether, do people stop you
and say, oh my gosh, you'reTamri, you're Kyle.
Speaker 11 (53:57):
Yes, tamri more than me.
I'm not as outgoing offstage asTamri is, so I think she'll get
that more than me.
But yeah, it happens.
And then I climb up like ashell.
Speaker 10 (54:07):
Yeah With you, kyle.
Usually you're in a really wildoutfit.
I mean, we've alreadyreferenced this, so seeing you
in the real world it is kind ofjarring, because it's like, oh
my gosh, he wears normal things,what?
Speaker 12 (54:19):
No turkey costume, sorry exactly you're more
introverted in your off stagelife, which is always
interesting to me to see, likewhen you see someone on stage
who is so just wildly over thetop and big and animated, and
then when they're off stage,just so much more chill and just
(54:40):
you know more in their ownworld.
And that's definitely Kyle.
Somewhat I tend to be.
I mean, the Tamri person yousee on stage is a somewhat
exaggerated version of me,obviously, and I'm not oh, she's
so dumb, she's dumb.
We make me real dingbat, tamriis dumb.
Speaker 11 (54:59):
Oh my gosh, okay, I thought you were talking about a
real one.
No, no, no, okay.
Speaker 10 (55:06):
Well, of course, you can see another Ding Ding Tamri
show at the Match Theater June27th Pride Weekend, as we
mentioned and it runs throughAugust 2nd.
I always say it's not summerwithout a Tamri Cooper musical
in Houston, because it really isjust like an institution and
something that I look forward toevery year and it's definitely
the highlight of thecatastrophic theater season for
(55:26):
me, which I think you guys aregoing to announce soon what it
is, aren't you?
Speaker 12 (55:31):
Yes, I think it'll probably be announced around the
time we open my show.
So we always aim for earlier,but we can't get our together.
You can't get our together.
But he can.
Speaker 10 (55:41):
You can't even get it together to do a podcast, how
are you going to design a wholeseason?
Speaker 12 (55:46):
Exactly, but I am very excited about it and I will
say that once again.
In a time where there's a lotof uncertainty, particularly
with funding, future of theater,a lot of theaters have chosen
to just do well-known.
You know, this is going to be ashow that everybody knows and
(56:06):
it will sell well, and that'swhy we're programming it,
because we can't take any risks.
We've got to just do the oldstandards and things that people
don't have to maybe bechallenged by, and we are not
doing that next season.
So there is going to be a lotof new work, as usual, as part
of our mission to continue tocreate new work and
(56:27):
lesser-produced works andchampion new voices.
Speaker 10 (56:30):
Well shoot this last season.
More than half of it was worldpremieres.
Speaker 12 (56:34):
Yep, yep, and I believe this next year it's
going to be the same, well, morethan half.
Speaker 10 (56:40):
Like most theater companies, brag when they have
one every couple of years andyou guys continuously do it as a
part of your season, a routinething, and, of course, tamri's
show always part of that Worldpremiere.
Every year Something new, sowe're excited.
Thank you both for being here.
It's so crazy that we got themboth.
Speaker 11 (56:56):
Thank you.
Thank you both for being here.
It's so crazy that we got themboth.
Speaker 10 (56:58):
Oh, thank you, thank you for this, thank you, we
will see you in the theater thissummer.
Speaker 1 (57:03):
This has been Queer Voices, heard on KPFT Houston
and as a podcast available fromseveral podcasting sources.
Check our webpageQueerVoicesorg for more
information.
Queervoicesorg for moreinformation.
Queer Voices executive produceris Brian Levinka.
Deborah Moncrief-Bell isco-producer, brett Cullum and
(57:27):
David Mendoza-Druzman arecontributors.
Speaker 9 (57:38):
The News Wrap segment is part of another podcast
called this Way Out, which isproduced in Los Angeles.
Thank you.
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