BeatRoute Magazine - BC print e-edition – [March 2017]

QUEER
ELBOW ROOM CAFÉ:
THE MUSICAL
celebrating community and sass through song and dance
DAVID CUTTING
Elbow Room Café on Davie Street
is a Vancouver legend. Known for
its sassy service and delicious food,
the restaurant holds fond memories
for so many. In the past couple
years, Dave Deveau and Anton Lipovetsky
have ventured to create
an even richer legacy for the community
staple — a show called
Elbow Room Café: The Musical, a
delightful romp through the rich
history of the couple who have
owned and operated the establishment
for decades. BeatRoute
caught up with Deveau to learn
more.
BR: What is Elbow Room Café:
The Musical about?
DD: Elbow Room Café: The Musical
celebrates Vancouver’s iconic
Elbow Room Café (nowadays located
at 560 Davie Street, though
originally down on Jervis) — a little
hole-in-the-wall with great food
and a side of verbal
abuse. The cafe is owned and operated
by real-life partners in life
and crime Patrice Savoie and Bryan
Searle, who after over 40 years
together know how to put on a
good show of yelling and screaming
at each other, all with a subtext
of love. The musical looks at how
we age together in a Technicolor
world and tackles notions about
legacy, about what we want to
leave the world after we go.
BR: Where did the idea come
from?
DD: Zee Zee’s managing artistic director
(and my husband/partner in
crime) Cameron Mackenzie came
up with the idea in 2013 when we
were sitting in the Elbow Room
with our friend and collaborator
Anton Lipovetsky. We had just
opened our critically acclaimed
play My Funny Valentine the night
before (written by me, directed
by Cameron, starring Anton), and
were musing about what a big
photo by Emily Cooper
The sass you’ve come to love with your eggs now comes to the stage
Vancouver musical might look
like — where would it be based?
Would it be recognizable? As we
looked around the room and saw
these endless walls of headshots,
larger-than-life colours, and a raucous
environment, Cameron said,
“What about Elbow Room: The
Musical?”
BR: What should people know
when going to see it?
DD: The show really resonates
whether you know the Elbow
Room or not because there’s
something deeply human about
the characters’ journeys, but you’ll
certainly get an added level of satisfaction
and belly laughs if you’ve
ever been to the Elbow Room
during its busy weekend brunches
to see Patrice and Bryan in action
— it’s an experience any Vancouverite
or tourist should experience
at least once.
BR: What makes it special?
DD: It’s a big, gay musical celebrating
Vancouver, celebrating our
queer community, and the songs
are unbelievable. I dare you not
to bust a gut laughing and shed at
least three tears. There are some
songs that actually render cast
members inconsolable — thankfully
we have a good rehearsal
process for them to be able to get
over it!
BR: What is your favourite part?
DD: I’m still amazed that Bryan
and Patrice gave me full access to
their lives and archives and let me
write their past and their future
onstage. There’s something amazingly
delicate, intricate, and profound
about being given that rare
gift. Watching them watch their
lives being performed onstage
during our 2015 workshop production
was astounding enough,
and I can’t wait to see how they
react to this far more developed
version.
Elbow Room Café: The Musical
runs March 1–12 at The
York Theatre
FROM THE DESK OF
CARLOTTA GURL
CARLOTTA GURL
Welcome back, my spring-kissed blossoms. This
is your time of renewal and resurgence. I’m just
now waking up from my post-wintery hibernation
and that crazy shit I drank to get me over
the seasonal blues is wearing off. Let’s hope
we’re all feeling as excited as I am about the upcoming
Spring Equinox. This is one of my favourite
times of the year. Aside from the occasional
hay fever, clogged sinuses, and reddened itchy
eyes, it really is a wonderful season to feel alive
and really any good allergy pill (and tequila) will
kick those pesky ailments to the curb. It is also
around this time I find myself being very thankful
for all the good things that have happened
in my life.
Indeed, my biggest accomplishment and greatest
joy would have to be the success of my
weekly show, Absolutely Dragulous, which just
celebrated its six-year anniversary. I’ve learned
so much about myself creatively as a performer
and MC from this particular show. I’ve also had
the great pleasure of working alongside and
learning a lot from some of the greatest drag
performers in this city over the last 20 years,
such as Willie Taylor, Justine Tyme, and Diana
Rose, to name a few. To say I’ve lived most of my
life on stage would even be an understatement.
On a personal note, this show has been my salvation
in more ways than I can express and has
led to many opportunities. I’ve also made some
great friends and got the chance to work with
some very creative and innovative designers,
hairstylists, and DJs. When producing a weekly
show with so many different elements it really
does take a village. I’m so incredibly thankful
to the exceptional staff and management at
the Junction for allowing me to do this. And
of course, this show wouldn’t be happening if
it weren’t for the fans that keep coming every
week. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
As an artist and performer I’m always looking
for ways to outdo myself and be the best that I
can be, and Absolutely Dragulous has given me
the vehicle to do just that. Until next month,
you beautiful people, be kind, be loving, and
most importantly, be fashionable. Love you all.
DAVID CUTTING
Standing on stage above the Cobalt crowd,
Ponyboy smiles down. Serving leather-daddy
realness, this drag performer effortlessly
whips the crowd into a frenzy; bending
norms while creating community is all
in a night’s work for this gender-tripping
sweetheart.
“My name was given to me by my drag
dad Sammy Samosa (formerly Sammy Tomato),”
says Ponyboy. “It’s inspired by The
Outsiders. I have always had a thing for the
pretty-boy protagonist type, outwardly a
bit badass but inwardly just a hopeless lover.
Holden Caulfield was my second choice,
but I couldn’t find a good pun that wasn’t
gross.”
Ponyboy is one of the founding members
of Man Up, a monthly drag show at
the Cobalt that runs the last Friday of the
month. The show came to be because of a
need for drag kings to have a stage. Now it
is home to a widely diverse family of drag
performers. “I’m inspired by the amazing
influx of young artistic motivated queer
people who want to get on stage and show
their ideas of what drag and gender performance
is. Vancouver drag has its own
unique flavour,” says Ponyboy.
Man Up also inspired a show, charmingly
and aptly called Man Up Amateur Hour,
where new drag performers can come
and try their hand at performing. It’s an
amazing first start because it provides the
performer with much the same experience
QUEERVIEW Mirror
knocking some sense in
DAYNE TANK
I'm a very emotional person. Something as little as
a friend not saying hi at the club can set me off into
a spiral of questions. Because of this, a lot of people
get confused when I talk so openly, casually, even
joking about being assaulted and hit in the back
of the head with a collapsible baton by a stranger.
There's two reasons why I joke about this: one, I
just really love seeing shocked and uncomfortable
reactions on people's faces, and two, I'm somewhat
thankful for the experience as whole.
While by no means am I thankful for the physical
pain and how emotionally distraught I was for
months afterwards, before the assault I was completely
disconnected from my local LGBTQ community.
I was obsessed with traditional masculinity,
and finding those traits in a boyfriend, I dressed colorful
but kept to my assigned gender's clothing and
turned my nose down at drag and its art in general.
After the assault, along with the obvious depression
that followed, I felt some of my friend's and classmate's
reactions as less than understanding.
I was about to begin my last semester of college
at Langara when this assault happened, and after
having a private meeting with the head of the faculty
to discuss what had happened, her reply was
KING OF THE MONTH
PONYBOY EAST VAN GENDER TRIPPER
as the main production. Ponyboy fosters
these welcoming spaces because they
know the importance and need for queer
entertainment in this world. “I’ve been
very fortunate to be supported for as long
as I have in the community. At this point
I really want to share the experience I’ve
gained with those who want to learn more
or try something new, be that performing,
hosting, or organizing. The community has
taught me so much; I just want to support
folks the way I’ve been supported,” shares
Ponyboy.
Drag in and of itself is a form of rebellion.
Its origins are that of a social device
that could change the world through politically
charged performances, safe spaces,
and relevant social commentary. “When
Man Up started I was a literal baby and
a brand-new queer. It took me a while to
begin to understand, for example, how
misogyny and racism can show up in drag
performances and queer spaces. My mentors
had planted these seeds early on, but I
only began to recognize this starting maybe
four years ago, through many conversations
and feedback from people in the
community. And of course, it’s an ongoing
process of learning and adapting to an ever-growing
community in a really troubling
world.”
You can catch Ponyboy the last Friday of
every month at the Cobalt for Man Up
"Well please make sure you do not miss any classes."
This came two months after when I was excused
from all classes and assignments for two weeks
when I had Mono. That meeting, among others experiences,
helped me change for the better.
Inside the coming months, I started to understand
exclusion and the lack of understanding that
I was guilty of as well as marginalized pain. I slowly
embraced queer culture and history and started
to delve into drag and it's pop-culture-resurgence,
and I acknowledged needs and parts of myself I had
completely denied beforehand. So from my heart,
which feels a whole lot bigger after this, thank you
Mr. drunk guy with a baton. And fuck you as well.
Talking about traumatic experiences as a way to cope can be highly beneficial towards recovery.
photo by Chase Hansen
24 queer
March 2017
March 2017 queer
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