Eye Zen's SYLVESTER THE MIGHT REAL to Open in August

Eye Zen Presents has announced new dates for the world premiere of Sylvester, The Mighty Real, fifth in the company's OUT of Site series of performance-driven walking tours, rediscovering the hidden queer history of San Francisco. The show will now open on Friday, August 11 and run through Sunday, October 1. Five performances will take place each weekend throughout the run – at noon on Fridays, and again at noon and 4 p.m. each Saturday and Sunday. The event starts on the sidewalk outside 1035 Haight Street and travels approximately one mile through the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. Tickets are now available on a sliding scale from $15 - $125 at eyezen.org/oos-mighty.

“We are moving forward with Nic Summerfeld and Cemora Valentino Devine, two of the amazing artists that we have already cast, and we can't wait to celebrate the legacy of Sylvester,” said Eye Zen Founder and Artistic Director Seth Eisen. “At this time, and with our current funding, we have decided not to recast the role of Sylvester, but we are excited to finally share this project with the world.”

Sylvester was San Francisco's very own disco diva, a Black, flamboyant, gender-fluid artist and activist who soared to international fame in the 1970s with his pioneering blend of disco beats and gospel vocals. In 2019, his song “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)" was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for its cultural, historical and aesthetic significance.

In loving homage to Sylvester, Eye Zen's newest performance project will transport audiences back to the places where Sylvester lived and performed in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, to the era of love-ins and be-ins, to the counterculture revolution of the 1970s and its backlash in the 80s as HIV/AIDS gripped the nation.

Conceived by Eisen, Sylvester, The Mighty Real features an original script by poet, performer and public theologian Marvin K. White, currently the Minister of Celebration at Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco.

Directing Sylvester, The Mighty Real is Michael French. Originally from London, England, French has enjoyed a career that has taken him from Europe to New York to the Bay Area. He is currently a resident director for PlayGround, an associate artist for the Oakland Theatre Project and the director of an artist fellowship program at the Afro Urban Society.

“In light of the more than 400 new laws in the United States banning public drag events and the accompanying violence against trans and queer people, we are proud to tell the remarkable story of Sylvester,” said Eisen. “His example in the face of the pervasive homophobia and racism of his era serves as a blueprint for a whole generation of queer and trans people of color today who refuse to be defined by a gender binary.”

“We recognize that in these times an unapologetic, unyielding and undeniably Black, gay, disco supernova is needed now more than ever,” added White. “Sylvester has taught us that to effect change, we must show up as our authentic queer selves on any and every platform we have access to. It is our duty to sound the queer alarm and make our voices heard, spreading the message of love, acceptance and liberation to every corner of the world.”

Joining the artistic team for Sylvester, The Mighty Real is visual designer and dance artist Sharon Virtue, a British-born artist of mixed Jamaican and Irish heritage, currently based in the Bay Area. Her career has spanned the globe, from the design of a community art space in Mozambique to painted murals in the United Kingdom, United States and Uganda, to teaching ceramics and dance in Brazil.

Additional collaborators include James Ard, sound designer; Natalie Green, choreographer; and Kipper Snacks, costume designer.

OUT of Site launched in 2018 with a sold-out run of performances in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood. The project continued in 2019 and 2020 with a new edition spotlighting San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood, home of the world's first Leather and LGBTQ Cultural District. In 2021, OUT of Site moved to the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, a hub for the gay liberation movement from the 1960s to 80s.

This year the series returns to the Haight with stops at Buena Vista Park and the Doolan-Larson Building, among others. The Doolan-Larson Building will also be the location for a multimedia installation exploring Sylvester's personal history and his music as well as his relationship to the gay liberation movement. The installation will be open to the public Mondays through Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Fridays from 3 to 6 p.m., as well as during the five scheduled tours each weekend.

The commission and production of Sylvester, The Mighty Real is made possible in part by the Gerbode Foundation Special Award in the Arts program, The Kenneth Rainin Foundation and The MAP Fund. For more information visit eyezen.org/oos-mighty.

 

ABOUT EYE ZEN PRESENTS

Founded by Seth Eisen in 2007, Eye Zen Presents is a San Francisco-based transdisciplinary ensemble theater company working to unearth and elevate the stories of our queer ancestors. The organization promotes social change by preserving and disseminating LGBTQIA+ and QTBIPOC stories and traditions in danger of obsolescence. Eye Zen's productions engender an experimental aesthetic that blends performance and the visual arts: puppetry and live drawing is fused with contemporary dance, drag, live music, physical theater and video. Its critically acclaimed works include Blackbird: Honoring a Century of Pansy Divas (2007), Buffet Flats: Queering Slow Food (2011-12), Homo File: Chronicling the Life of Samuel Steward (2012) and Rainbow Logic: Arm in Arm with Remy Charlip. The first chapter of its San Francisco queer history walking tours, OUT of Site: North Beach, premiered in 2018, followed by OUT of Site: SOMA in 2019 and 2020; and OUT of Site: Haight-Ashbury in 2021. For more information visit eyezen.org.

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