The Cockettes

The Cockettes were a psychedelic drag queen troupe founded by Hibiscus in the late 1960s in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood. The troupe performed outrageous parodies of show tunes (or original tunes in the same vein) and gained an underground cult following that led to mainstream exposure.

In 1971, over differences in philosophy, the group split into two separate groups, the Cockettes and The Angels of Light. The Cockettes continued to work as paid performers while the Angels of Light chose to do free theatre without admission charge.

The Cockettes were the subject of a 2002 documentary, The Cockettes

Underground beginnings

On New Years Eve, 31 December 1969, at the Palace Theatre in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood, Steven Arnold ( Arnold, Steven ) invited the Cockettes perform as part of his "Nocturnal Dream Show", a showcase of underground films, in exchange for free admission. The show soon became a "must-see" for San Francisco's hip community. Combining LSD-influenced dancing, set design, costumes and their own versions of show tunes (or original tunes in the same vein), the Cockettes took to the stage every 6 weeks, performing prior to the Saturday midnight "Nocturnal Dream Show". Show titles included Gone With the Showboat to Oklahoma, Tinsel Tarts In A Hot Coma, Journey to the Center of Uranus, Smacky & Our Gang, Hollywood Babylon and Pearls Over Shanghai. Word quickly got out that nothing like these shows had ever been seen before, and within a few months the Cockettes were getting enormous attention from the media. Not only hippie magazines, such as Earth and Rolling Stone, wanted stories on the Cockettes, but also mainstream magazines such as Look, Life and Esquire were anxious to do features as well. After the success of the "Nocturnal Dream Show" escapades, Steven Arnold ( Arnold, Steven ) chose to feature the Cockettes in his surreal film opus, "Luminous Procuress", which was lauded by the New York art scene, including Salvador Dali, Andy Warhol, and others.

David Ferguson, who went on to become a notorious Punk Rock impresario, worked with The Cockettes on a number of different projects including producing one of their most famous shows on New Years Eve 1971. Even against the tolerant backdrop of San Francisco, The Cockettes' bawdy antics presented PR issues. A number of anecdotes made the rounds recounting the tactics Ferguson used to sneak the troupe and its outrageous stage behavior by wary club owners:

For nearly 20 years, Mr. Bimbo [Agostino Giuntoli, owner of Bimbo's] had presided over his lavish and busy supper club five nights a week, and he was nervous about renting the place out...In fact, he was so nervous about that prospect that he asked David Ferguson to sign a affidavit of sorts—on the back on an envelope—swearing that he would allow no naked women to perform onstage. It was only after seeing the show that Mr. Bimbo got the joke and realized how funny his prohibition was. 'David,' he said, as he approached the table, laughing. 'I can see that I have to be careful with you. You promised me no naked women, but you said nothing about naked men.'

In 1971, The Cockettes released the short film Tricia's Wedding, lampooning the wedding ceremony of Richard Nixon's daughter, Tricia Nixon; Nixon's chief of staff H. R. Haldeman arranged a secret screening of the film for White House staffers.

Philosophical split

During their first year the Cockettes were not paid for performances, although tickets to the shows sold for $2.00, the proceeds going to the theatre owner (during the first year the Cockettes sneaked many audience members into the theatre free through the back door). The reason for the lack of interest in payment was that the group, having come out of the Haight Ashbury hippie community, was not then focused on money. Later, when Cockette audiences began to consist of celebrities such as Truman Capote and members of European royal houses, the group insisted on being paid by the theatre owner. Even so, the amounts eventually paid were minimal.

New York City flop

In November 1971 the Cockettes, minus former Cockettes (now the Angels of Light), were booked for performances at the Anderson Theater in New York City. They opened with "Tinsel Tarts In a Hot Coma", a send-up of films about Broadway in the 1930s. According to accounts of the time, "Everybody who was anybody" came to the Cockette's New York opening, including such celebrities as John Lennon, Truman Capote, Gore Vidal, Angela Lansbury, Sylvia Miles, Holly Woodlawn, Candy Darling and Andy Warhol. But with their loose San Francisco magic, the opening night was a disaster (New Yorkers expected a tightly performed show). And in the theatre things went from bad to worse when Angela Lansbury walked out on the show, soon followed by Andy Warhol and most of the rest of the audience. After the show Gore Vidal quipped, "Having no talent is not enough." Apparently the New York professionals did not view the group as talented.

Apparently, what had seemed so fabulous in San Francisco did not translate well in New York City. Also, the group did not have ample opportunities to rehearse, so their performances in New York were not their best.

Of course, no one told New Yorkers that the Cockettes were rather anti-rehearsal. For the Cockettes, it NEVER was about being slick, that was considered a barrier between the performer and the audience. The idea was to have a blast onstage with a true spirit of 'inspiration rules'. For San Francisco, the Cockettes were beautiful, funny, liberating, psychedelic messengers from the gods. For most New Yorkers, they were "You've got to be kidding!". After a week of disastrous "Tinsel Tarts..."houses, they performed their original musical "Pearls Over Shanghai" for the remaining 2 weeks of their contract, and the Village Voice gave it a rave. But it was too little too late.

Notable members

After the New York bomb, the Cockettes came back to San Francisco and performed their final show in the summer of 1972, "Journey to the Center of Uranus". At this time Divine, star of films by noted filmmaker John Waters, joined the group, thus making her San Francisco debut. In that show Divine performed her song "The Crab at the Center of Uranus" while dressed as a lobster.

After the group disbanded in 1972, various Cockettes continued to perform, often as solo performers (John Rothermel, who was often cast in a lead roles due to his excellent singing voice and knowledge of 20's/30's music, had a successful cabaret career in San Francisco), but more often as a group, although no longer billed as The Cockettes. Later a few Cockettes formed the group Paula Pucker and the Pioneers, among others.

Among the more famous people of the Cockettes... Tomata duPlenty, an early member, who left the group and went on to sing in the seminal L.A. synthpunk band, the Screamers. Du Plenty went on to play a Cockettes-inspired lead role in the punk rock musical Population: 1. Also 70's disco diva Sylvester. In Cockette shows, Sylvester's incredible singing and rendition of Billie Holiday songs were always sure to get a standing ovation. After the demise of the Cockettes Sylvester became a well-known disco singer during the late 1970s. During the groups last year, John Waters screen diva, Divine became a member and performed in the final show of the Cockettes.

Other core members of the Cockettes were Link (aka Link Martin, aka Luther Cupp), Gary Cherry, Rumi Missabu, Tahara (whose parents had been rodeo clowns) (aka James W. Windsor), Goldie Glitters, "Johnny Cockette", Sweet Pam (aka Pam Tent), Martin Worman, Scrumbly Koldewyn (who wrote tunes to Link's Martin's lyrics), Fayette Hauser, Daniel Ware, Dusty Dawn, Linden, Brent Jensen, Pristine Condition, Reggie (aka Anton Dunigan), Miss Harlow (who had been an original Plaster Caster) and Kreemah Ritz (originally known as Big Daryl) and Chris Kilo who produced a few of the early shows after the Angels/Cockette split. Many other people too numerous to mention performed in only one or two shows.

Current lineup

In its history numerous performers and performing groups have spun off from the Cockettes, including, among others, the Seattle Ze Whiz Kidz (including actors Tomato Du Plenty and Screaming Orchids; the first Whiz Kidz show was a musical based on the life of Yma Súmac), The San Francisco Angels of Light, The New York Angels of Light and The Assorted Nuts. Many Cockettes also continue to perform in the theatre world today.

A 2009 revival of Pearls Over Shanghai (the screenplay was originally written by Link Martin) in San Francisco included the participation of Rumi Missabu and piano accompaniment by composer Scrumbly Koldewyn, with Tahara one of the costume collaborators.

On December 3, 2009 several members of the Cockettes (Harlow Hasse, Fayette Hauser, Scrumbly Koldewyn, Rumi Missabu, Sweet Pam, Tahara) came together at SFMOMA for a rare screening of the films Tricia's Wedding, Palace, and Elevator Girls in Bondage followed by discussions and memorable Cockettes moments. There was an afterparty at the Cafe du Nord on Market Street near Noe Street at which the Cockettes inspired New York drag troupe the Dixie Chicks performed.

Documentary

The Cockettes were the subject of a 2002 documentary, The Cockettes, directed by Bill Weber and David Weissman. The film debuted at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. It went on to a limited theatrical release and to play the film festival circuit. At the premiere at San Francisco's Castro Theatre many of the surviving Cockettes attended in genderfuck drag. THE COCKETTES received the LA Film Critics Award as Best Non-Fiction Film of 2002 and the Glitter Award for Best Documentary of 2003.

Related acts

In early 1971 a few members of the original group broke away from the Cockettes and formed their own theatre group, The Angels of Light. The Angels became a well-known and highly creative San Francisco theatre group during the 1970s. Angels performances were free, with no admission charge. The Angels lifestyle included communal living in an old three-story Victorian house in San Francisco on the north side of Haight Street just west of Divisadero Street. Within the Angel commune house meetings were held every morning, all personal money was pooled into a communal treasury, meals were bought and ate communally, and a form of complex marriage where each member was married to each other member evolved.

In 1972 Hibiscus, the founder of the Cockettes and of the Angels of Light, left the Angels and moved to New York City. There he formed his own group also known as the Angels of Light. The focus of his group was mostly drag revues in which members wore heavily sequinned costumes and did Jayne Mansfield style parodies of women. He moved back to his home town, New York, in 1978, and with his family (Harris) started doing more organized shows, including the fairly popular off-off-Broadway show, "Sky High" (performing under the name of George O'Hara). In 1982 Hibiscus died of AIDS in New York City (supposedly the 224th person to die in that epidemic).

Jack Coe (aka Angel Jack) was another renown member of the Angels of Light. He was seen later on as a regular performer at Studio 54 in NYC. In the 1990s, he moved to his mother's home in Gulf Port, FL. to help care for her. While in Florida, he would make random appearances and do occasional solo performances throughout the club circuit. In his final years, he befriended underground multi-media performance artist Mikee Plastik, whom he did his final work with (costume design and photo shoot). Coe died of an AIDS related illness in 2001 in St. Petersburg, FL. at St. Anthony's Hospital (the same hospital where famed beat poet Jack Kerouac died).

In 1976 a short lived group, known as The Assorted Nuts, was formed by Tahara, former Cockette/Angel of Light San Francisco. This group consisted mostly of institutionalized mental patients who performed in shows written by themselves. Among Assorted Nut shows were an anti-nuclear energy performance called "Atomic Testes", and a show on discrimination against mental patients called "Transcendental Medication." The Assorted Nuts stopped performing in 1981.)

In 1977 the Angels of Light San Francisco commune disbanded, although the group continued to perform until 1980. At present many of the male members of the Angels of Light have died of AIDS, while other members, still living, have moved on and currently live all over the world.

In 1978, John Rothermel (who had had a successful solo cabaret career in San Francisco, after leaving The Cockettes) moved to New York, after a year-long stopover in his home town of Minneapolis, MN. He had always been a junk shop shopper and had become a collector of Art Deco while still in San Francisco. Later in New York, he became an early collector of Mid-Century Modern/post-WWII furniture and decorative arts. After he initially worked in New York as stage manager for Hibiscus' most successful New York off-off Broadway show "Sky High", he developed into one of the most knowledgeable collectors of Mid-Century Modern. He worked at the Greenwich Auction Room, and independently bought and sold furniture and decorative arts before dying of AIDS on 4/21/94. (Among his most important find was a wood and metal model designed by William Lescaze as one of the finalists for the New York Museum of Modern Art building. Certainly worth $10,000.00 or more, John's mother, Della, donated it to the MOMA after John died.)

Another interesting member was Frank Bourquin, using the name Inez Paloma. Frank was John Rothermel's roommate on Market Street. Frank was deeply into 1920's history and was friends with a bunch of Palo Alto record collectors centered around Ed Linotti, who was director of the Stanford University music archives. Frank was working at the Post Office, but developed an ulcer and left on disability. He was featured in a number of the post-Hibiscus shows; one where he sung Happy-Go-Lucky You (and Broken-Hearted Me), a tune from 1932. Apparently, he later moved out to of San Francisco to Petaluma and was driving a cab, and died in late 1980s.

References

• Tent, Pam (2004). Midnight at the Palace: My Life as a Fabulous Cockette. Los Angeles:Alyson Books. ISBN 1-55583-874-X
• The Cockettes, 2002 documentary.
• The website for the definitive documentary about the troupe with a history brief
• Visco, Gerry (article) Cockettes Return! Gay City News June 12, 2008.

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External links

• A site with information about The Cockettes and the 2002 documentary about their history.
• The Cockettes at IMDb
• The website for the definitive documentary about the troupe with a history brief