Composer William Wade Reclaims His Title As Florida State's 1980 Homecoming Princess

Hang around New York's performing arts scene long enough and you're bound to have run into William Wade. Perhaps you spent an evening listening to him playing showtunes at Marie's Crisis. Maybe you enjoyed his music and lyrics for John Tartaglia's Drama Desk nominated Off-Broadway puppetry show IMAGINOCEAN.

He's created arrangements for Rosie's Theatre Kids, The Broadway Theatre Project, Mark Morris Dance Group and National Dance Institute. As a teacher and accompanist, his credits include Broadway Classroom, AMDA, Professional Musical Theatre Workshop at Manhattan School of Music, American Ballet Theatre, Metropolitan Opera, Juilliard, Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake on Broadway, University of Washington, Alvin Ailey, Ballet Hispanico, Broadway Dance Center, Steps, and many choreographers, including Karole Armitage, Donald Byrd, Jennifer Muller and Mark Morris.

But before coming to New York, the physically imposing but soft-spoken Wade held another, more surprising, accomplishment. As a 17-year-old junior at Florida State University, William Wade was among twenty students running for the title of 1980 Homecoming Princess. He won.

"I was a little surprise at the result of winning the election," he tells the Tampa Bay Times, "but I must say it was a contest between me and nineteen other girls. So, given that, I thought my odds were pretty good to pick up the 'none of the above' votes.'

Wade's campaign was about shining a light on how superficial he felt the school's homecoming tradition was and how the spectacle reinforced gender stereotypes. Along with the traditionally pretty princess, students would also vote for a hunky guy as homecoming chief.

He spent a total of $3.56 on his effort, enough for a few dozen photocopies and a roll of scotch tape to post flyers that described himself as "Billie Dahhling... A queen with a difference."

While there were grumblings among school administrators about the possible consequences if he won, with the backing of the drama department, the Women's Center and the student newspaper, he wound up besting the runner-up by 150 votes. And that's when all hell broke loose.

"There were points I was trying to make, but I wasn't trying to make them with a heavy hand. It wasn't until I found out that the school was trying to invalidate the election that I really felt the fire in my belly to fight back. And when I did fight back, things went south pretty quickly."

Death threats were carved into his dorm room door. He was publicly mocked and threatened on campus. Editorials were written denouncing him and school officials did their best to limit his visibility during the homecoming ceremonies.

"Because I was openly gay, that made me fair game for ridicule. I ran having nothing to do with being gay."

On the morning of homecoming school officials met with Wade's lawyers from the ACLU. After three hours of discussion they worked out a deal where he would receive the traditional feather headdress and bouquet of roses at the pep rally but would not participate in the homecoming parade nor be recognized during halftime at the homecoming football game. It was too dangerous.

At the pep rally, the roses arrive too late for the presentation. People threw trash at him and his friend's tires were slashed.

"The experiences I think this left me with were ones of denial. I had phobias for a couple of years of being in public, of crossing the street because people were trying to run me over, of interacting with strangers because I was concerned with what their reaction to me might be."

But like any creative artist, he uses his experiences.

"This does express itself in my work. I've written four ballets, an oratorio, I'm working on my fourth musical now... The common thread that they have is that they all deal with the underdog... Whatever I went through, it gave me an empathy for people who were fighting upstream and contending with circumstances way beyond their comprehension or control."

A surprise invitation brought Wade back to Florida State this November. The homecoming ceremony was to include a halftime parade of the university's past chiefs and princesses, and the 1980 princess was welcome to take his proper place among them.

Though he was prepared for the possible jeers and thrown objects, the ceremony proceeded without a hitch.

"It was something I had to go through just to get it out of the way. It gave me a clarity on things I had been avoiding and things I really need to step up my game with. So I came back with a stronger sense of purpose and also with that chapter just... It's done, it's finished, it's fine."

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Photo by Genevieve Rafter Keddy