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Providing Platforms: Emilio Rodriguez Brings Queer Latino Play ‘Swimming While Drowning’ to UH

Posted on March 30, 2018
A photo of Emilio Rodriguez, playwright of Swimming While Drowning.

“You just don’t have the look.” This was the argument that queer Latino actor and playwright Emilio Rodriguez continuously faced from casting directors. After receiving his Bachelor of Fine Arts in theatre studies from the University of California at Irvine, Rodriguez eagerly entered the industry only to have one audition inquiry after another declined. “So, I began writing roles for characters that look like me,” Rodriguez explains. “To represent characters who were experiencing what I went through, no matter what…

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Talk Derby To Me: Meet Houston Roller Derby Production Manager Sweetie Todd

Posted on March 28, 2018
A photo of Houston Roller Derby's Sweetie Todd

“I wish I would’ve found it when I was a little younger,” laughs Belinda Pedraza, AKA Sweetie Todd. At age 55, she’s one of the oldest members of Houston Roller Derby (HRD), but arguably one of the most versatile. Sweetie joined the league over a decade ago and has been happily ingrained in the female-dominated sport ever since, volunteering her time first as a medic, then skater, official, coach, and now production manager.…

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Living Out Loud: Trans Activist Dee Dee Watters Rediscovers Passion for Poetry

Posted on March 19, 2018
A photo of Dee Dee Watters.

On a warm summer night in 2013, I walk by myself across the parking lot of the Montrose Center. My youth group peers have left me behind, chatting amongst themselves. Dee Dee Watters notices me walking alone, smiles, and waves a hand with long decorated nails. “I don’t know you, but I love you,” she says. “Have a good night. I’ll see you around.”…

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This Ain’t My First Rodeo: The Problem With Your Cowboy Drag

Posted on March 15, 2018
A photo from Rodeo Houston.

It’s March, and in Houston, that means three things: annoyingly ambivalent weather, springing our clocks ahead for the dreaded tradition of daylight saving time, and the most popular of the three by a long shot, Houston’s Livestock Show and Rodeo. Talk about tradition, this three-week-long event (celebrating 86 years this month) brings in over two million attendees every year and has committed more than $430 million to youth since its inception. No wonder it’s known far and wide as the…

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Hear Me: The T.R.U.T.H. Project Puts LGBTQ Youth of Color and Ally Voices Center Stage

Posted on March 13, 2018
A photo of LGBTQ youth from Hear Me of The T.R.U.T.H. Project.

On February 24, LGBTQ and allied youth artists stood side-by-side, center stage at Houston’s MATCH with one declaration: “HEAR ME.” Their voices were shared as part of The T.R.U.T.H. Project’s first-ever installment that incorporated storytelling by LGBTQ youth and allies. Through intimate spoken word, movement, song, and visual art, this next generation of voices addressed and challenged stigma, rose above adversity, and united themselves with the audience for an incredible journey.…

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Josh Inocéncio’s ‘The Little Edelweiss’ Brings Queer Theatre to Houston

Posted on March 12, 2018
A photo of the puppets used in The Little Edelweiss.

While queer theatre certainly hasn’t breached mainstream Houston culture, one local playwright is trying to change that. On March 24, Houston-native, playwright, and performer Josh Inocéncio brings audiences a developmental production of The Little Edelweiss; or, An Immigrant’s Fairytale, the second installment in Splintered in Three: An American Trilogy, a trilogy that shines light on each of his three cultural backgrounds—Latino, Austrian, and Appalachian. The first play, Purple Eyes, which dramatizes the intersections of Latinidad and queerness, recently had its…

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That Damn Dame: Mars Capone Promotes Body Positivity Through Burlesque

Posted on March 9, 2018
A photo of Houston burlesque performer, Mars Capone.

It’s the last Friday night of the month, and a burlesque troupe dressed in pirate-themed garb takes the stage at Numbers night club in Houston. The dancers of Dem Damn Dames slink their way through tantalizing choreography, peeling off layers of costume jewelry, dresses, and hats. During an interlude, dancers swing to a piano- and drum-heavy tune about pirate code.…

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Take Risks, and the Audience Will Appear: Catastrophic Theatre Premieres Brave Queer Play

Posted on February 12, 2018
A photo of The Catastrophic Theatre's 'Leap and the Net Will Appear.'

Rarely do theatres in Houston offer rich experimental plays that depart starkly from the theatrical canon. But The Catastrophic Theatre, building upon its tradition of producing work that “will destroy you,” is premiering a play that is experimental and queer. The company, housed in the MATCH through the facility’s residency program, has consistently produced harrowing works, from Sam Shepard’s Buried Child to Eugene Ionesco’s Rhinoceros. But Leap and the Net Will Appear, which premiered on February 9 and runs through…

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Reclaiming Roots: Sin Muros Theatre Festival Puts Queer Latinx Talent Center Stage

Posted on January 29, 2018
A photo of Josh Inocéncio performing Purple Eyes at Sin Muros Latino Theatre Festival.

Texas Latinx talent takes center stage this February 1 through 4 at Houston’s Stages Repertory Theatre during the inaugural Sin Muros Theatre Festival. Headlining this four-day event is the world premiere of the ancestral autobiography Purple Eyes, written and performed by queer Latino playwright Josh Inocéncio. Inocéncio, who is also a member of the Sin Muros task force committee, speaks on the festival’s intent. “We were looking to consciously represent diversity. A Latin theatre festival that pushes for female voices,…

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