Brian Butterick to Direct NYC Reading of Jackie Curtis's GLAMOUR, GLORY AND GOLD

Some Serious Business and Howl! Happening: An Arturo Vega Project present Jackie Curtis' Glamour, Glory and Gold, a staged reading directed by Brian Butterick AKA Hattie Hathaway, on Friday, September 22 and Saturday, September 23 at 7 pm. Free!

Starring Joyce Miller, Eileen Dover, Flloyd, Poison Eve, Tina Benéz, David Ilku, Tennessee, and featuring Mr. Joe Preston as Flo Ziegfeld and Brian Butterick as Mrs. Gerald Freeman.

As part of Love Among the Ruins, Some Serious Business and Howl! Happening present Jackie Curtis' legendary Glamour, Glory and Gold, directed by the incomparable Brian Butterick. The camp classic will be delivered as a staged reading: hearkening back to the cacophonous rhapsody of 56 Bleecker, and beckoning whispers of The Pyramid Players, The Blacklips Performance Cult, and Jackie's Playhouse to illuminate Curtis' spot-on crafting of a theatrical masterpiece.

Fifty years ago, in 1967, the Off-Off-Broadway classic Glamour, Glory and Gold (The Life & Legend of Nola Noonan, Goddess & Star) by Jackie Curtis had its initial run at The Playwrights Workshop Club starring Melba La Rose, Jr. and featuring the gorgeously fragile Candy Darling. The show was remounted the following year, starring Jackie herself as well as a young and handsome Robert De Niro. The show's third run was interrupted after Jackie had an altercation on Avenue D with a knife-wielding assailant, collapsing onstage mid-performance due to a damaged kidney. Jackie would return to the boards some weeks later to finish the run-less one kidney.

The 1988 staging of the play at 56 Bleecker was one of the most legendary events held at the gallery. Poet, painter, and comedian extraordinaire, Taylor Mead directed a cast that boggles the mind even today: the great actor Ondine; the iconoclastic performer Harry Koutoukas; Ruby Lynn Reyner; John Edward Heys; the brilliant critic and writer Gary Indiana; Penny Arcade; and the extraordinary Dame Margo Howard-Howard-described by Penny as having "the body of a woman and the head of a fish."

In the 90s, there was a revival starring the incomparable D'Arcy Drollinger, featuring Laverne Cox and directed by Jackie's cousin Joe Preston, and in 2003 it was mounted at La MaMa. But it was the performance under the auspices of the 56 Bleecker Gallery in the 80s that was, by all reports, truly a surreal affair-harrowing, heavenly, and absolutely genius. With Hattie Hathaway at the helm, this reading should top them all!

Directed by Brian Butterick AKA Hattie Hathaway with David Van Leesten. Son et lumière by Carter Edwards. Special thanks to Ozzie Rodriguez at the LaMama Archive.

About Love Among the Ruins: 56 Bleecker Gallery and Late 80s New York

56 Bleecker Gallery held a unique position in the late 80's art world. Part serious gallery, part happening, the space was a scene that reflected the explosive intersection of art, performance, music, fashion and the incredible nightlife culture of that era. While it was a time of enormous creativity, it was also one of deep sorrow. The exhibition and catalogue focus upon love and loss and the impact of the AIDS epidemic on our community at a time when lights dimmed as dear friends, colleagues, and role models succumbed to the disease. Love Among The Ruins is co-curated by Susan Martin, Bill Stelling, and Maynard Monrow. All three curators were close friends of Dean Rolston, co-owner of 56 Bleecker who died of AIDS and serves as inspiration for the exhibition. The exhibition runs through October 6th.

Photo Credit: Eric Stephen Jacobs