The Music
Carole Pope
On the Polaris Prize short list, Carole Pope’s work has been recognized with three Juno Awards multiple independent music awards, a Genie Award, 4 gold, 1 platinum and 1 double platinum album. Pope has toured with David Bowie and performed at Roskilde, World Pride, AGO, MOCCA, Fashion Cares 25 with Elton John, The Brooklyn Museum of Art, The AGO, Luminato, Joes Pub, The Global Cabaret Festival, The Frostbite Festival, Reykjavik, and countless others. She has contributed music to film and television, including: Transparent Season Two, Love or Whatever, Pretty Hard Cases, The L Word, General Idea Art AIDs and the fin de siecleThe Trailer Park Boys Movie, This Revolution, Queer As Folk, The Five Senses, The Silencer, and Cruising.
Rough Trade
Rough Trade was a trailblazing, politically charged, punk-inspired New Wave rock band. It was formed in Toronto in 1975 by multi-instrumentalist Kevan Staples and Manchester-born, Scarborough-raised vocalist Carole Pope. Notorious for the openly sexual nature of their songs and the burlesque theatricality of their live performances — which often included bondage and sexual satire — the band was one of the first mainstream musical acts to include explicitly gay and lesbian references. They enjoyed critical and commercial success in the early 1980s and won four Juno Awards before disbanding in 1986. Rough Trade was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2020 and the Canadian Music Week Indy Hall of Fame in 2007.
The Book
Kate Rigg
A CanAsian graduate of the Juilliard School of Drama Kate Siahaan-Rigg is an award-winning playwright, performance artist, stand-up comedian and lead singer of the punk comedy band Slanty Eyed Mama. Her plays have been produced at Theatre Passe Muraille, The Tarragon Theatre, Center Theater Group Los Angeles, The Brava Theater Center San Francisco. HERE NYC. Dixon Place NYC, La Mama ETC (in NYC and Melbourne, Australia), Out North Alaska, New World Theater, Theater Offensive Boston, The Comedy Central Theater Los Angeles, Magic Theater SF and many more. She has been invited to perform original works at the Smithsonian Institute and major theater festivals across North America.
Associated Artists
Artists associated with the development process of Rough Trade include:
Rob Preuss
80s rocker Rob Preuss joined Burlington new wave band ‘the Spoons’ at the age of 15. They became a sensation all throughout Canada, with several radio hits and 2 gold records. After leaving the Spoons, he joined the band Honeymoon Suite, and they went on to win a Juno award and toured throughout North America, Europe and Asia. Rob began playing musical theater at age 23, and has played many shows including Beauty and The Beast, Phantom of The Opera, Tommy, Miss Saigon, Starlight Express and Blood Brothers. Rob spent 15 years playing and conducting Mamma Mia! in Toronto and on Broadway, and was also the associate musical supervisor of ‘Once The Musical’ on Broadway, which won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album in 2013.
