Fierce, Fabulous, & Fully Coiffed: Eugene Edition!
$25 ($10 students w/ ID)
Charles Aznavour — What Makes a Man a Man?
Nicholas Yandell — A Musical Lecture
Jennifer Wright — Rant
Daniel Vega — The Gay Agenda (world premiere)
Jessie Marino — Rot Blau
Timothy Arliss O'Brien — Elegy for the Left Hand (world premiere)
Lucas Marshall Smith — Always Meeting Ourselves
Nicholas Yandell — Ode to a Flamer (world premiere)
Jennifer Wright — (Do Ya Like My) Unicorn Trapper Keeper (Extra-Extra Extended Dance Remix)
Drag queens! Rants! Jazz! Tragedy! Comedy! Confetti! Double entendres! More wigs and sequins than you'd ever thought could be gathered into one place!
Join us for a fantabulous romp celebrating the undeniable gloriousness of the multifaceted contributions that the LGBTQ+ community has made to world culture since the dawn of entertainment!
Co-produced by the composer-performer trio of Jennifer Wright, Nicholas Yandell, and Timothy Arliss O'Brien in partnership with Cascadia Composers, "Fierce" combines new music and drag in a glorious extravaganza for all to take pride in!
Fierce features a glittering group of local drag icons, classical musicians, and performance artists in a show bubbling over with fabulousness and fresh interpretations of queer art forms in all their diversity and glory. Exploring themes of gender and identity in a variety of styles, this rainbow-drenched explosion of expression celebrates the local and global LGBTQ+ community in style.
And its super fun for straights too! Fans of art music, drag, dance, song, comedy, fashion, spectacle, pixelated 80s videos, witty storytelling, and audience participation will all find lots to love. LGBTQ+ listeners can enjoy a safe and joyful space to enjoy the arts and take pride in their cultural heritage.
Suitable for audiences ages 13 and older.
What's on the roster:
Special guest appearance by Eugene's own Eugene Difficult Music Ensemble (EDME)!! *How* difficult will they find it to play amazing music...for the first time in fabulous dresses?! Let's find out!!
Portland drag pianist/icon Saint Syndrome (a.k.a Marshall Cuffe) tickles the ivories and impresses as "The Lowest Bass With the Smallest Waist" on several pieces, including the luscious, lounge-y What Makes a Man a Man?
Composer Daniel Vega (who has starred as Dr. Frank-n-Furter in the live Rocky Horror Picture Show at Portland's historic Clinton Street Theater!) considers what happens when a saxophone, live computer processing, and a whole load of banned queer books walk into a bar together.
Happily recognizing that anyone can be a woman these days, Jennifer Wright (appearing as drag personality Tartie FaLouze) has a few choice words to share with anyone thinking of giving it a go in her bluesy Rant.
The tongue-in-cheek A Musical Lecture by Nicholas Yandell (appearing as drag personality The Midnight Maestro) uses everything from a theramin to a keytar to demonstrate how music can help you find yourself! And as if that wasn't enough, he also wrote a new song for this special Eugene Edition of "Fierce": Ode to a Flamer!
Guest composer Lucas Marshall Smith from Ohio contributes Always Meeting Ourselves, which presents a deliciously ambiguous original text that can lean in any number of ways while performers consider their reflections in a multitude of mirrors.
Timothy Arliss O'Brien, appearing as drag personality Tabitha Acidz, tackles some heavy stuff head-on with solo piano and spoken (and sometimes shouted) word in Elegy for the Left Hand.
The grand finale is Jennifer Wright's hilarious memoir of her cringe-worthy youthful attempts to form a coherent identity growing up in the 1980s while surrounded by a barrage of confusing and colorful pop culture influences, entitled (Do Ya Like My) Unicorn Trapper Keeper (Extra-Extra Extended Dance Remix). There will be line dancing, multiple keytars, retro pixelated video and, of course, Trapper Keepers galore!
And more more more more more, but we won't tell you EVERYTHING now – you'll just have to show up and be wowed!
All together, "Fierce" is a night you won't soon forget!
A FREE PRIDE FLAG goes to anyone wearing a costume! Tickets available now!
Generously supported in part by a grant from the Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC).
About Eugene Difficult Music Ensemble
The Eugene Difficult Music Ensemble performs and commissions underrepresented experimental works in order to open ears and minds. We work to expand the definition of what music can be and what music is capable of achieving, as well as who is capable of achieving it.
https://www.edmensemble.org/