Chilina Kennedy, Amy Spanger, John Battagliese & More to Star in ROUGH TRADE THE MUSICAL at Joe's Pub

ROUGH TRADE, a new glam bam thank you ma'am rock musical, will present a one-night-only concert performance on Sunday, October 23, 2022, at 9:30 pm at Joe's Pub (425 Lafayette Street). The performance will feature a special appearance by Carole Pope of the iconic Canadian rock group Rough Trade. Seeded by a generous gift from The P. Austin Family Foundation, Rough Trade's political, genre-busting songs of sexual freedom and rebellion are the backdrop for a new pop-rock musical set during the 1980s AIDS pandemic. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at tinyurl.com/RoughTrade1023.

Inducted last year into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame for their homo-erotic anthem "High School Confidential," Rough Trade's music provided a soundtrack for activism, queer coming of age, and the synthesis of pop and politics throughout the 1980s.

Using Pope and Rough Trade's extensive Juno Award-winning pop-rock catalog, ROUGH TRADE tells the true story of Pope's brother Howie who moved to New York from Toronto in the mid-80s in pursuit of sexual freedom, rock n' roll, and a new life. Landing in the middle of a global pandemic - the AIDS crisis - he becomes a founding member of queer activist group ACTUP, and tragically sacrifices his life for love. The show takes us back in time to an era when art and activism coalesced around a global pandemic that robbed the world of thousands of our brothers, sisters, and best friends. ROUGH TRADE examines the role we all play in remembering the ones we loved while advancing the causes they cared about the most.

The creative team features a book by Kate Siahaan-Rigg (disORIENTATLISM, Zombie Asian Moms), musical direction by Logan Medland (Rocktopia, A Bronx Tale), and early arrangements by Rob Preuss (Once, Mamma Mia!).

The cast is led by Chilina Kennedy (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Paradise Square, Jesus Christ Superstar) as Carole Pope. She is joined by Amy Spanger (Rock of Ages, Tick Tick Boom), Korie Lee Blossey (Aladdin, Elf the Musical), John Battagliese (Cruel Intentions), Danaya Esperanza (For Colored Girls), Julius Chase (The Tina Turner Musical), and Genesis Adelia Collado (Reefer Madness).

For more information on ROUGH TRADE , visit RoughTradeMusical.com. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at tinyurl.com/RoughTrade1023.

Photo credit: Zachary Maxwell Stertz