Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival

tuesday april 30 7:00 pm - $30/$20
centerpiece
The Cockettes

Tuesday April 30 7:00 PM
Directed by Bill Weber & David Weissman
United States
EAST COAST PREMIERE
Colony Theatre

The legendary drag-musical theater phenomenon, The Cockettes, were born in a bubble of time that is long gone: the rarified air of the free-love, acid-dropping, gender-bending hippie capital that was San Francisco in the late 1960s. This exuberant, funny and wonderfully made film captures The Cockettes - a ragtag band of anarchic performers who were gay and straight, men and women - and their moment in history, with all the joy and pathos they truly merit.

Midway through the Festival we showcase one of this season's special films, followed by one of the week's best parties. Let us "drag" you out for a night fit for a bunch of queens.

7:00 PM Screening at the Colony Theatre

9:30 PM Centerpiece Reception at the elegant Delano Hotel, 1685 Collins Avenue on Miami Beach. Join us and other special guests for a wonderful evening with fabulous drag queen entertainment provided by JoJo Infinity (as Devine), Latrice Royale and T.P.Lordes. Enjoy hors d'oeuvres, as well as drinks courtesy of Southern Wine and Spirits, with a special bar provided by Absolut. Hosted by Honorary Board members Pat Ward & Michael Toomey.

This was drag as spectacle, drag as politics, drag as ecstatic out-of-body experience. The Cockettes spawned and showcased a whole range of talent that went on to make their mark in the cultural consciousness of America after the group was long gone. Sylvester, the openly gay chart-topping disco diva, first came to the fore when he joined The Cockettes. Divine, the already cult-famous 300-pound movie star, would come to San Francisco to sign on for stints headlining their song and dance extravaganzas. Oh, and what giddy extravaganzas they were! There was a Madame Butterfly spoof performed in fake Cantonese, with costumes stolen from the Peking Opera. There was Journey to the Center of Uranus with Divine in the part of a giant anal crab. And perhaps most infamously was their gig in front of the camera in the underground short, Tricia's Wedding, with Sylvester in a wig as Coretta Scott King singing for the White House nuptials.

When The Cockettes started getting serious - using a script and getting paid - their messianic hunk of a leader, who called himself Hibiscus, yearned for a return to their free-wheeling, low-rent roots. The Cockettes ricochets between fantastic footage of the performances themselves and surviving (now middle-aged) former members recounting their divas-in-the-making legends. Other witnesses to history, such as film director John Waters and Andy Warhol's drag "super star" Holly Woodlawn, give The Cockettes' story their own unique spin. Eventually of course, The Cockettes fragmented and the sixties came to a close, but in this celebratory, visually rich, extraordinarily crafted film, their utopian spirit lives on. A 2002 Sundance Film Festival selection.

Directors Bill Weber & David Weissman will attend the screening and discuss their film with the audience.

$30 Ticket includes film screening and Centerpiece party at the Delano Hotel.

$20 Film screening only

Return to top

Copyright © 2001-2005 by Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (the"Festival"). All rights reserved.
Any reproduction of the images, designs or other works embodied herein without the permission of the Festival
is expressly prohibited and the Festival shall have no responsibility or liability of any kind or nature for any unauthorized use.

Please report any problems with this site to the Webmaven
Site design and maintenance - Lucille Design