Artist Statement
Imagine your ten best friends. Now imagine losing six of them in the space of 5 years. And being told by the government that your grief was unseemly, inappropriate and wrong. That is what happened to thousands of lgbtq+ people in the mid-eighties. This musical is about a pandemic, and being written / completed during a pandemic which has echoes of the social injustices of the AIDS crisis. This is a tough story from a tough time; a time we got through with music, activism, and the birth of a newly galvanized lgbtq+ community. The aggressively fabulous style, ferocious pop music and commitment of the queer community (now and then) to rise above prejudice, is what we are channeling to bring this true story to life. We are in a unique position to do so, because our lead composer, an 80s rock star, lived it, lost a brother to it, and was writing hit songs of resistance and sexual freedom while it was happening. Those songs alongside newer ones written in the aftermath of her experience with that loss are what give this musical its edge, its glamor its fun and its truth.