Join us at Virgil’s Sea Room on Wednesday, September 13th for COCKTAILS FOR A CAUSE, a night of boozing in support of LGBTQ-focused arts!
Raise a glass (and a bit of funding) for the upcoming production of Compton’s Cafeteria Riot, an interactive play directly inspired by the historical 1966 riot — one of the first recorded militant uprising by the transgender and queer community against police harassment in US history — produced by the Tenderloin Museum.
Supporters of the museum are integral in keeping the history of LGBTQ communities alive in San Francisco. The history of these marginalized groups is an essential component of the city’s identity, and together with allies like you, we are honored to recognize the individuals whose tenacious spirit spawned a movement against the long history of discrimination and violence.
With your help, we can bring the stories of the pioneering trans and queer individuals to a new generation of San Franciscans.
How can you help? By joining us for a cocktail! Sip a Vicki Marlane, a specialty sweet and sassy cocktail named after the famed Tenderloin drag queen herself. A portion of each drink sold, in addition to the $5-$10 suggested donation at the door, will go directly to support production costs of the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot.
Come by from 6pm to 9pm to hang out with Tenderloin Museum on Virgil’s patio, raise a glass, and celebrate the queer groups that help make San Francisco, San Francisco.
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About the Play:
Compton’s Cafeteria Riot, is an upcoming interactive play by Bay Area-based artist Mark Nassar inspired by the eponymous 1966 uprising for TLGB rights. Taking place in the Tenderloin and predating the more famous Stonewall Inn riot in New York City by three years, the Compton’s Cafeteria Riot still remains relatively unknown. With San Francisco on the verge of creating the nation’s first-ever TLGB Cultural District—a move grounded partly in the significance of the Compton’s riots—there has never been a better time to support cultural projects that celebrate this rich history.
This project will combine artistic innovation with powerful historical reference, emphasizing research, high-quality production, and contemporary staging through site-specific location and audience interaction. In this way, program partners will deploy vibrancy and creativity of the Bay Area’s theater community to share this critical LGBTQ story with a wide audience.
Since 2016, the Tenderloin Museum has been a key partner in the development of the play, connecting Nassar with Tenderloin LGBT history expert Victor Silverman, as well as legendary neighborhood drag queens Donna Personna and Collette LeGrande, for academic and first-hand accounts of the scene at Compton’s Cafeteria. Nassar has completed the script, and early readings and feedback sessions at the Museum have been packed with interested audiences.
Mark Nassar along with Tenderloin Museum director Katie Conry conceived of the idea of an interactive play based on the Compton’s Cafeteria riot, inspired by the Tenderloin Museum’s exhibits on the subject. Nasser, in collaboration with long-term Tenderloin drag queens Donna Persona and Collette LeGrande, has spent the past year writing the play The Riot in Compton’s Cafeteria.
Compton’s Cafeteria Riot is set to premiere in early 2018.