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Albuquerque musical explores origin of gay activism
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What: "Revolting Drag Queens: A Story of Stonewall," written by Kenneth Ansloan and performed by the Dolls.
Where: Vortex Theater, 2004 1/2 Central Ave. S.E. (on Buena Vista Drive, just south of Central Avenue.)
When: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 6 p.m. Sundays, June 29 through July 15.
How much: $12. Call 247-8600, or go to reservation vortexabq.org.
What else: "Pay what you can night" is Sunday. There will be a post-show discussion with cast and crew on July 8.
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Resistance to police raids at a gay club in New York City's Greenwich Village 38 years ago gave birth to the gay activism of today.
The "Stonewall riots" also inspired a musical comedy revue that opens tonight at the Vortex Theater.
Kenneth Ansloan, co-founder of the Dolls, an Albuquerque drag troupe, wrote "Revolting Drag Queens: A Story of Stonewall."
He says he was moved and shocked by the true story of 200 homosexuals who took a stand against New York police who raided Greenwich Village's Stonewall Inn on June 28, 1969.
In the 1960s, gay or transgender people could be arrested on charges of public indecency if they kissed, held hands or cross-dressed in public.
"I was amazed the law was against homosexuality," Ansloan says.
One of the Dolls' first performances was a cabaret-style show based on the riots.
But Ansloan says that only amounted to a few pages of script, and he had always wanted to do something more in-depth.
Nearly 10 years passed before he researched and solidified the project and wrote "Revolting Drag Queens" in about a month's time.
Ansloan says the Stonewall riots were significant because they marked the first time drag queens fought back.
After that, he says, the gay activist community got bigger.
A little less than two hours long, the play starts as a comedy and becomes increasingly more dramatic, Ansloan says.
Although the play revolves around the fictional lives of three drag queens during the 1960s, he says it is rooted in fact and aims to be enlightening as well as entertaining.
Pandora Spox, the Lady Eve and Ginger Hale are the three main characters of the story.
Ansloan, using the stage name Tequila Mockingbyrd, plays Spox, who has a relationship with a cop. Ansloan says he wanted to create tension and show the cops' side of the story as well.
A.J. Carian, who has been a member of the Dolls troupe for about five years, plays Ginger Hale, a gay man from Albuquerque who is introduced to New York City's gay scene in 1965.
"He sees the tribulations the drag queen community experiences during the Stonewall riots," says Carian, who studied gay and lesbian history while pursuing his political science degree at the University of California at Los Angeles.
Carian says he is looking forward to performing in a small venue such as the Vortex because the limited space creates an intimacy between the performers and the audience.
He says the show is not just for gay audiences.
"Everyone would get something from seeing a fictional story surrounding a real event," he says.
Since the troupe's founding, the Dolls have been best known for shows that poke fun at Christmas TV specials, horror films, fairy tales and sci-fi movies.
Ansloan and co-founder Matthew Bubb have been responsible for the writing, directing and the producing of past productions.
But first-time director Russell Maynor will be at the helm of "Revolting Drag Queens," the Dolls' most serious effort to date.
Maynor says even though he has never directed anything other than a photo shoot, he felt he had something to contribute to the project.
"Directing this play is a privilege," he says.
