Saturday 30 September 2017

HOMAGE TO QUEER ICON JEWEL'S CATCH ONE DISCO


Lesbian pioneer Jewel Thais-Williams opened her iconic Catch One disco
in Los Angeles in 1973 (Photo courtesy MIBFF)

American film director C. Fitz's superb 2016 documentary film Jewel's Catch One is about one of America’s first Black discos, Catch One, which lesbian pioneer Jewel Thais-Williams opened in Los Angeles in 1973. The legendary disco was a longtime sanctuary for LGBTQ people until it closed in July 2015 after 42 years.

This film explores the iconic disco's golden years — when everybody from Sylvester to Madonna used to hang out at "The Catch" — and the legacy of Jewel the pioneering businesswoman and activist who fought hate and discrimination for decades.

Talking heads in the film include Evelyn “Champagne” King, Bonnie Pointer, Thelma Houston and Sharon Stone.

Three Dollar Bill sat down with C. Fitz on the eve of her award-winning film’s October 1 screening at the Montreal International Black Film Festival.

Saturday 16 September 2017

SOPRANO MELODY MOORE ON BEING A DIVA, HER GAY FANS AND TOSCA

American soprano Melody Moore embraces divahood, her gay fans and her 
signature role Tosca (Photo via melodymooresoprano.com)

American soprano Melody Moore has appeared on many of the leading opera stages of the world, including as Mimi in La Bohème at the English National Opera, and as Regine St. Laurent in Rufus Wainwright’s Prima Donna at the New York City Opera.

One of the finest opera singers of her generation, Moore is probably best-known for her signature role, as Floria Tosca in Puccini’s masterpiece Tosca, a role she will reprise to open the 2017-2018 season of L’Opéra de Montréal.

Tosca is Moore’s first role at the OdeM since her company debut as Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly in 2015. When I met her recently at an OdeM rehearsal, I discovered she recently married her life partner Nicole Wagner.

So when I told Moore that I had planned for this to be the “gay interview,” she happily replied, “Yes! Let’s queen it up!”