March 11th - Out at the Rodeo, Alejo Vietti of the Alley, author Patricia Grayhall, and the Dianas

In this episode, Bryan Hlavinka interviews Eric Hulsey about OUT AT THE RODEO, which is happening on March 21st this year. Brett Cullum talks to Alejo Vietti, who costumed THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST, now running at the Alley through the 29th. Deborah Moncrief Bell talks to Patricia Grayhall about her latest thriller called FRAMED. Finally, Bryan Hlavinka sits down with the President of the Dianas, Tanner Williams, to discuss the 73rd annual Diana Awards held on March 21st. 

Links:  

OUT AT THE RODEO 

https://outrodeo.com/

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST

https://www.alleytheatre.org/plays/importance-of-being-earnest/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23624683368&gbraid=0AAAAADke6EhswshOkCVA1t5bvs7lkMFcS&gclid=CjwKCAiAtq_NBhA_EiwA78nNWNCs_iLARTba_Ohub6mmz_0l-Vzry2qQlMmhD13gmwczNMRDrvulNRoCoXQQAvD_BwE

Author - Patricia Grayhall 

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Patricia-Grayhall/author/B09QPLP8M3?ref=ap_rdr&shoppingPortalEnabled=true&ccs_id=640c2334-00ea-4ed1-a5fb-0af7e2ba6165

The Dianas 

https://thedianafoundation.gay/

Queer Voices airs in Houston Texas on 90.1FM KPFT and is heard as a podcast here.  Queer Voices hopes to entertain as well as illuminate LGBTQ issues in Houston and beyond.  Check out our socials at:

https://www.facebook.com/QueerVoicesKPFT/ and
https://www.instagram.com/queervoices90.1kpft/

Transcript

Welcome & Segment Roadmap

Brett 0:02

You're listening to Queer Voices, a radio show on KPFT and a podcast. We've been around Houston for over five decades as the voice for the LGBTQIA plus community. I am Brett Cullum, and in this episode, we have interviews from Brian Lavinka with Eric Halsey with Out at the Rodeo. Then we have my talk with Alejo Vietti, who designed the costumes for the Allies production of The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. Deborah Moncriefell talks to author Patricia Greyhall about her latest book. And finally, Brian Flavinka has a discussion with Tanner Williams, who is the president of the Diana's Foundation. Queer Voices starts now.

SPEAKER_02 0:51

This is Brian Lovinka, and today I'm speaking with Eric Halsey from the Out at the Rodeo organization. Welcome to the show, Eric. Thank you for having me, Brian. What is Out at the Rodeo?

SPEAKER_04 1:03

Out at the Rodeo is an inclusive LGBT event held at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. It started 10 years ago with the dream of having more queer events throughout the year. And the rodeo being such a celebration of what it is to be a Houstonian, it felt like there needed to be something more inclusive for the queer community there. So what started as more of a let's just show up and have some visibility the day of has now turned into 10 years later an event in the wine garden inside of a um rented tent and complete with drag shows and with DJs and a celebration of what it is to be a queer Hustodian.

SPEAKER_02 1:46

And why is this important to have this event?

SPEAKER_04 1:49

Now more than anything, it's important to have that visibility space and safe spaces created in what we would expect to be more non-inclusive environments, pushing more of our visibility in front of people that are not necessarily expecting to see us there. We have so many events that are more for us, but they're created by us and really only attended by us. This event makes it different because we're putting queer people at the front inside of a predominantly straight environment. And so it raises, you know, a lot of conversation about these are the queer people that help put on the rodeo. These are the people that um are committeemen that make it possible for us to even have everything going on every year. These are the people on the wine events, on the steering committee, on the ticket sales. You know, we're we're a part of every inch of the rodeo. And this is a celebration that puts it right in the front and makes it important for people to recognize that we do exist and that we just we deserve to be celebrated for it.

SPEAKER_02 2:50

Have you faced any backlash or any pushback from the community or from the Houston overall community?

Visibility, Reception, And Growth

SPEAKER_04 2:55

No. We, I think there was always this thought that there would be some pushback. You know, this is you know, our fifth time putting on out at the rodeo this year. And even last year, in the political climate that we're in, we just thought there would be more pushback and we were mentally prepared that we might have to experience some kind of conflict at some point. And the entire experience went off smooth. We had drag queens there for the very first time last year, and that was well received by attendees. We even had the president of the rodeo come out and express gratitude that we've created this kind of space within the rodeo from the very top of the rodeo to attendees. It was very well received, and we didn't really receive any backlash at all.

SPEAKER_02 3:40

So, how many people attend this event usually?

SPEAKER_04 3:42

Yeah, so last year, looking at numbers, they were uh around sixteen hundred people. We could we guesstimated it could have been more, but as far as our tracking ability, it was around sixteen hundred plus um people that attended our tent, meaning that they came in, saw, or communicated with our sponsors, or they took one of our bandanas or one of our commemorative pins. So that's how we track our guests. Well, more than that actually came over and supported by either dancing, engaging with drag queens, or being just around our tent throughout the entire day.

SPEAKER_02 4:12

What do people that volunteer, what can they expect or people that attend?

SPEAKER_04 4:17

People who attend can expect being able to get their festival grounds ticket, which allows them access to anywhere within the rodeo grounds. They would make their way over to the champion wine garden, and then on the left side upon entering the garden, there is a tent called the Blue Bonnet Tent at the top of the hill. Upon walking up, you'll already see rainbow colors on the outside of the tent to indicate which ones ours. And all throughout the entire area around, the picnic tables, um, standing around, you'll just see queer people all kind of congregate on the outside of the tent. Um, and then upon going inside the tent, you'll hear our DJs playing, or see drag queens interacting with people. We have um photo opportunities with photographers and biographers running around, making sure we're capturing all the event. Uh, we have sponsors that like to show up and support um either giving away goods or sunglasses or fans throughout the event as well. We also have our media partner, OutSmart magazine, that will be there distributing the latest issue. So throughout the entire five hours of the event, um, there's always something to either socialize or dance on the dance floor.

SPEAKER_02 5:25

So, what are some of the lessons that you've learned in putting on this event?

Inside The Event: What To Expect

SPEAKER_04 5:29

I think what I took from it was that I was doing this because I said there needs to be more queer events um and that it I just assumed that it was going to be one more queer event to the calendar and it meant something to me, but I didn't expect it to have so much more meaning for the people that attended. What I found was that there are so many people within the rodeo um that helped put it on that came to me and personally thanked me the very first event that they for years have felt that they were not recognized or that they did not have a space, even though their family for generations has maybe been working the rodeo. And they finally felt like they had something to celebrate. And we have two committee members that have come from generations of uh families that have put on the rodeo, and now they wanted to be a part of out of the rodeo's committee to help put it on because they understood why it was important to them for being queer and and and a space to grow. That was like one of my biggest shocks was how many people put on the rodeo that are queer and that love making sure that they uh that kind of space exists.

SPEAKER_02 6:31

It seems like it's a safe space for everyone. Well, absolutely. Um, do you do things throughout the year or is it just this one time of the year?

SPEAKER_04 6:37

Uh so we have several events that lead up to our main event. We always try to make sure we have one event at Pearl that we call our pink pony pearl. But we had that event a couple weeks ago complete with the Drag Queen, a Drag King show showdown, which was heated rivalry themed, and we had a great attendance, and it was it was such a fun night at Pearl. Out at the rodeo itself is free to attend. A lot of what helps keep this going is our sponsorships and our fundraising dollars that we make throughout the events that lead up to the rodeo. After our March 25th, 21st event out at the rodeo in the wine garden, we then have one more event in summer that we called Wild On Wet. That happens at the Montrose Country Club, and we haven't announced the date for that just yet, but last year it was huge attendance. It's a big pool party that we make a country disco-esque type theme that it helps close out our what we call our rodeo season, which is really from the fall of the previous year all the way to the summer of the year that that rodeo is. So, besides you, who else is involved with Out at the Rodeo? So I have Anthony Farrell, who's the vice president of Out at the Rodeo, Ashley Creeth, who is on our committee, and then I've also got Jackie Creeth, her wife, on the committee. We've also got Christian Miranda and Easton Santos, Michael Grant, and Stephen Moningham.

SPEAKER_02 7:58

That's a pretty good list. Yeah. So what is the vision for Out at the Rodeo? What do you see the future for that becoming?

Lessons, Safe Spaces, And Year-Round Events

SPEAKER_04 8:05

What Out at the Rodeo is right now is forcing that inclusion in the rodeo and making sure that we have a space that's carved out without anybody defining what that space is, making sure that we can have a drag show that pushes the comfort of attendees, but it's a celebration of queerness, and that's what we want to exist with the current drag rulings and everything going on. Having a drag show there, if it was maybe the rodeo putting it on, they might shy away from it. And so we have full control over our event, just being this outside organization that's a paying customer for the private space that affords a lot of freedom of how we want to celebrate. What we ultimately would want to see is um you know, the need for us to do this from an outside and in the future maybe do this more from the inside of the rodeo. A lot of committee members that are part of the rodeo have asked for years for there to be an LGBT committee within the rodeo that is able to make their voices heard from a queer perspective with the rodeo. That all comes down to well, committees cost money and until you have buying power and until you have better people behind it, these committees can't be formed. But we're not asking for it. That's the better part about out of the rodeo is that from an outside, we can just do it without actually asking permission. Applying this kind of pressure, building these events that are slowly becoming bigger and bigger every year will slowly allow for these committees to maybe get formed because it'll show that we do have buying power. We do have spending power, and we do have people behind um the queer voices that are part of the rodeo.

SPEAKER_02 9:47

I like how you segued our radio program into that. Queer voices. It's important.

SPEAKER_04 9:54

It's very important.

SPEAKER_02 9:55

I'm assuming that you need uh volunteers. Do you have a need for volunteers?

SPEAKER_04 9:59

Yes. Uh we currently have a volunteer post on our uh socials that anyone can go to. We're always looking for a list. The day of the event, we definitely have volunteers that are helping out through the entire day that we call our ranch hands. They help us either hand out swag, work with our drag queens to make sure that they have all their needs done, greet guests, um, talk with people, carry signage around to direct traffic. There's definitely a need for volunteers outside of just our committee members. Jackly Cree, who is our volunteer coordinator, is always happy to take on new people.

SPEAKER_02 10:32

Very good. Now, what are those socials so we can get those out there?

SPEAKER_04 10:36

Yeah. Uh our socials are on Instagram. We have OutRodeo is our handle, and then on Facebook, Out at the Rodeo, you can find our page on Facebook.

SPEAKER_02 10:46

And the day is March 21st, is that right?

SPEAKER_04 10:50

Yes, March 21st from 5 to 10 30 at night.

SPEAKER_02 10:53

If you're joining us, we've been speaking with Eric Hulsey from Out at the Rodeo for this year's rodeo event, March 21st. Check him out on the socials.

SPEAKER_04 11:01

Thank you, Eric. Thank you, Brian. You have a good one. Thank you.

Brett 11:14

Hi there. This is Brett Cullum and the Alley Theater. Their next production, The Importance of Being Earnest, is actually up and running, and it's going to be going through March 29th. It is directed by the Alley's artistic director, Rob Melrose, and he has brought in a special guest artist for this one to do costumes, Alejo Vietti. He is based out of New York City, originally from Argentina. This man has some serious credits under his belt. We're talking Titanic, Smash, Holiday Inn, Beautiful, the Carol King musical, just to name a few. Thank you, Alejo, for taking some time to talk with me. I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_06 11:48

Thank you, Brad, very much.

Brett 11:50

I'm very happy to be here. I have always been one of those horrible actors who use clothes to influence my performance. They are such a big thing for me. Like it really determines a lot. So when you approach something like the importance of being earnest, turn of the century, Victorian comedy by Oscar Wilde, how do you approach design clothes for this?

Strategy, Committees, And Buying Power

SPEAKER_06 12:09

That's a good question. Well, I think we'd all started having a meeting with Rob and Michael Locker, who's the director of uh design here, the Alien set designer for the show. And one thing that Rob said early on is he didn't want to have a pastel kind of like cake frosting show. He wanted something with much more vibrant colors, a bit more punchy and a bit more somehow different palette that we used to. So that was really good for me because that opened up many more possibilities. So I wanted to research, and the show is when you come see it, Brad, is what I call period-ish. It's anchored in the silhouette of the 1900s, but it definitely has a flavor of like that that goes from Alexander McQueen to John Galliano in the 90s to the paintings of Baldini and Sargent. It's it's all over the place, and with all those elements, we created a word that I think is very cohesive for the show.

Brett 13:06

You've already like touched on some of my fashion icons, so I'm like really excited. But do you approach comedy as differently than you do dramas in terms of a design? Do you find yourself working in a different sense of how things move or how you're gonna use things?

SPEAKER_06 13:20

Most definitely, most definitely. In this case, uh the hat is so important, and definitely it's is the hats that I designed that I would not have designed for if we were doing, you know, a doll's house or like something or the seagull or something that it's much more dramatic. But yeah, the the I love to design for comedy, so it was kind of a great opportunity because this is glamorous comedy. These are people who do nothing for a living, they're just rich and frivolous and following the rules of etiquette and breaking the rules of etiquette. So that was so much fun to do, you know, like to have this high glamour uh rich and title, kind of very sassy people on stage. It was really, really fun. Yeah, well, this was a farce.

Brett 14:03

Actually, Susan Sontag references it in her essay. It uses it to define camp. So there is a very camp, not quite a serious element, maybe. Like they're they're serious people, obviously. They they are leaning into their glamour, but it could go big, I guess is my point.

SPEAKER_06 14:20

Oh, totally. And these are bigger is better. Oh, yeah, bigger is better. And you will see, I mean, bigger is better in this case, especially with like Lady Braggnell when she makes her entrances, you know, the hats are crazy over the top. And those are like one is based on a Galliano collection from the mid-night's, and the other it's on the McQueen hat. I just will tell you that it has big, big, like chartreuse feather wings on it. So you can take it from them. So it's very exaggerated and it's campy. But at the same time, these people like I think this they're like self-deprecating, don't take themselves that seriously, and they break their own rules all the time. So it was really, really fun to and the the actors are fabulous in the show, so it was really fun to collaborate with them.

Brett 15:03

I always think it's interesting to see how people end up at the alley. How did you end up with this gig at the alley?

Volunteers And Key Details

SPEAKER_06 15:08

Oh my gosh, I think this is my 30th show at the alley. How many? 30. Wow. Yeah, it's a place I love. I love Houston, I love coming to the alley. I mean, I've been able to do so many different things, you know, from like Sear Under the Berger Act to The Seagull to, you know, a lot of Teresa Rebecca plays, etc. The first time actually I did a show here was a transfer from Hartford Stage, and it was a production of That Date, Teresa Rebecca play with Annalie Jeffries. And then after that, I designed the production of a Christmas Carol that was, I think it lasted like 15 years or so. So I think the first time I was came here was 21 years ago or so.

Brett 15:49

Yeah. That's amazing. What is it, what the kind of resources are you given when you come to the alley?

SPEAKER_06 15:53

That's a good question. It depends on the project. It depends on project, and also depends how it when it falls into the season, you know. I mean, if it falls in a moment that the shop is really busy with other things before and after. So every project changes, you know. This show is costume heavy, but it's not because it's very, very detailed. But there it's not like there's like a million costumes, you know, there's only you know seven actors. But we made some stuff here in Houston, we made some stuff in New York, we made some stuff in Washington, DC, we made like the hats were made with a great millionaire in New York City as well. So it was kind of like outsourced all over the map. Even Connecticut and Massachusetts, there was a tailor there as well. You have to do these. The more you do this, you accumulate you know a lot of resources. I even put things from my own stock. I had this beautiful, beautiful beaded piece with these like dangling balls with macrome on top, silk that I had in my stock for a long time. It was like maybe 80 years old or something like that. And I ended up bringing it and we put it on the stomacher, the front panel for Cecily's dress, and it's too effective.

Brett 16:59

That's amazing. Well, I wanted to ask you, when did you first start designing costumes? I mean, what made you say, I want to design clothes for the stage?

Designing Earnest: Bold Period-ISH Choices

SPEAKER_06 17:06

That is a very deep question. I will make it very short for you. I grew up I'm from Argentina, I grew up there, you know, Catholic school, all male students, you know, sons of doctors became doctors, sons of lawyers became lawyers. I went to law school, and after four years, my father asked me if I was happy. I told him no. He asked me what he wants to do, and I say design. So he said, just quit right now, just enroll in design school and do what you want. And that's what I did. I was very, very, very lucky that her parents had encouraged me. And then after I graduated, maybe a year later, we were coming to New York with my parents, my sister, my brother-in-law to spend the holidays. And they and I told them like a month or two after, like, I think I'm gonna just stay. So I stayed in New York with no papers, you know, I would have been taken away by ice if it was today, need no contacts, but I had a really, really strong passion. So I opened the phone book. There was no internet at the time, giving away my age. I found all the designers that I admire for so many years, and I called them up and I asked for an interview. And Aunt Roth, who just had won her Academy Award for the her costumes in the movie The English Patient, gave me my first job for two weeks. And then she recommended me to someone else, and then I was bouncing from recommendation to recommendation, and you know, that's kind of like the way I made it.

Brett 18:29

So if you were gonna give somebody advice, like somebody that is coming up and they want to become a costume designer, what did you wish that you knew before you got into this?

SPEAKER_06 18:38

You know, one thing that is important, even when I teach class, I tell students, I kind of give them like three things that I think they're kind of you're gonna apply them to anyway in any anyone in the in the arts. No path in this in this career is the same. It's it's really incredible, but no path is the same. So I tell them like pick your battles and make them as few as possible. Feel like another big advice is like try to learn how to listen and don't be confrontational because that creates invisible walls. And the last one I think is the most important, polish your social skills. In what we do, we have to deal with so many personalities. We have to do with people with stress, anxiety, insecurity, etc. You call it. So you really need to know how to read the room and navigate all these personalities and keep an even keel and make sure that everybody feels that what you're doing responsibly and you are taking, you know, the ship to a good port.

Brett 19:38

Do you ever have actors say, Oh no, I'm not wearing that?

Comedy, Camp, And Over-The-Top Hats

SPEAKER_06 19:40

They just like to go, no. I don't know if that that dranctic, but I do like to collaborate with actors. So, you know what I mean? Part of what we do, you know, you have to think like as costume designers, we get them kind of like basically naked in front of a mirror, you know what I mean, and we play dress up on them. So you have to bring them to the process. You cannot ignore them. They're the one wearing on stage. So you you cannot be kind of like a used car salesman. You have to somehow adapt your vision and your design to the to the actor that is wearing it. Otherwise, it won't work. You know, what you're doing is a very important element of the design. So when you see someone on stage before they speak, before they move, before they do anything, you already as an audience have a lot of information about that character just because the way they look and what they're wearing and how they're wearing it. So to answer your question, yes, maybe not that aggressive, like you say, I'm not wearing that. But what is so interesting is, and I was telling somebody yesterday, like if we do, let's say that, Brad, I'm dressing you and you hate purple. If I'm doing a contemporary show with you and I try to put purple in you, there's no way it will work. But if I'm doing a period show, I will be able to put purple in you because you can detach yourself, the modern self, and what you see in the mirror every day, and put yourself in this different era. So it's to to back again to answer your question, it's much harder to do a contemporary show than a period one.

Brett 21:08

I would think it would be the opposite, because I always feel like in the period shows, you know, the women a lot of times have to stuff all their hair up into the hats and suddenly they look a little bit more bald, and you know, some people are real vain about that.

SPEAKER_06 21:18

Could be, but you always kind of like sift the period through a modern eye. So you adapted, I mean, to to everything. Well, modern clothes, everybody wears modern clothes, everybody's a judge.

Brett 21:28

Yeah. Well, we definitely know the context that we can say for current-day stuff.

SPEAKER_06 21:33

But in the case of Ernest, it was super fun because it was like putting them not only in period clothes, but outrageous period clothes. So they had a great time, you know, it's playing dress up in a very saturated way. And probably this will be completely bleep. But uh, what I was going for, you know, for these characters is for them to look like very cunky on stage.

Brett 21:51

Yes, of course. They have to be. It's the importance of being earnest by Oscar Wilde. That is their whole reason to be there. Okay, so this show runs through March. 29th. How long are you in Houston for? Do you stay through the run of the show or do you just kind of say hold on and out of here?

SPEAKER_06 22:06

No, unfortunately, I have to leave on Sunday morning because in the week from Sunday, I will be in tech for Titanic on Broadway.

Brett 22:15

So yes, Titanic, which is so funny because Ty Blue, who created Titanic, was from Houston and used to perform here. Yeah, he was a big singer and an actor here. And he is from Houston. He still is from Houston, but he loves Houston very much. Yeah, no, and I I just am so thrilled that that Ty is kind of experiencing this just out of left field kind of a thing. Because he I think he did Titanic originally in like a restaurant somewhere in LA. And it's just become this bigger and bigger and bigger. And bigger and bigger, an interesting. Yeah. So I cannot wait to see what you do with it. Now you're actually doing the Broadway production, so you are stepping in, even though some people have designed it before, but you're gonna read it.

SPEAKER_06 22:55

No, I I I was there since the basement in New York City. Oh yeah. Oh, well, see, I didn't know this. I was there since the inceptions, yeah. Oh wow. Not in LA, not a lay because it was done without cautions. It was just done in a in a in a bar or something like that. But the first production that was in New York City, yeah, I was there from the beginning.

Brett 23:13

So what's it like when you're working on a show and it keeps leveling up? Do you just kind of go crazy with the design and make it a little bit more? Or is there a is there an aesthetic for Titanic that you're keeping or?

SPEAKER_06 23:24

Actually, yes. You know, it's because I kind of like when I when we did it, you know, it we created something that worked for the show. You know, the show has a quality of like kind of like put together, you know, like rubbing two pennies, you know, and as somebody described it uh during the meet and greet, you know, it should look like uh drunk drag when you know made it. But um we definitely, you know, crank it for Broadway. So there's a bit more I mean, definitely it's more legit. There's more quality to the craftsmanship of the making of the clothes. There's some new designs and some new surprises. It's it's a it's a good one.

Brett 23:58

Well, that's great. Well, so you're going from Houston to Thai in Titanic. So that's all Houston.

The Alley Relationship And Craft Resources

SPEAKER_06 24:04

Yeah, it's a love Houston. I love Houston doing, you know, Ernest was like a a dream of mine and doing it in in the way that we did it. It's so much fun. It's so wonderfully acted and designed and directed, and everybody, you know, the were at the top of their game. And and I think the Houston audiences will really, really enjoyed it.

Brett 24:22

Well, one of the things that I love about the alley is that I feel like they pay attention to design. There are some theaters that really kind of like design kind of takes a back seat, if you will, but these this team really looks at it from top to bottom. Sound, lights, sets, costumes, and it is some of the best design in Houston. And I'm excited to see your work on earnest because gosh, what a great chance to really let loose and say, hey, there's a big, big production for you. So congratulations on that. And just because we're on Queer Voices, I wanted to ask you, Alejo, how do you identify?

SPEAKER_06 25:00

I identify as a gay man. I'm married. I've been married to my husband for close to five years, but we've been together for 24.

Brett 25:08

24.

SPEAKER_06 25:09

How did you guys meet? We met at a bar, at a bar on the upper west side in New York, doesn't exist anymore. Called the Works, which was kind of a neighborhood bar. It was just across the street from the Museum of Natural History. We met there. I was working on a show on the park in Central Park. And and and it was a very, very, very tough week, and it was Sunday night, and I needed to, and I was living in a few blocks down on 72nd, and I needed to have a drink, vodka tonic, to be specific before going to bed. So I just went there, sat on the bar, say I'm gonna have a vodka tonic, go home. Dee was sitting next to me, and we chatted and we hit it off and we exchanged our business cards. This was a long time ago, right?

Brett 25:56

Wow. And you guys have been together. Do you travel a lot? How does he handle that?

SPEAKER_06 26:00

Well, he he travels a lot as well. I travel a lot. He like sometimes he comes visit me. You know, if I'm doing a show abroad, he will always come. I've been very lucky that I had the chance to work like in Germany and in Paris and in London, etc. So he always comes to visit, so it's always fun. So we always try to piggyback like a vacation with that. So when we were doing Titanic in Paris, we then took a week off and we went somewhere else. So when I was doing a show in Germany, we also did the same. So it's always fun.

Brett 26:29

But what does Andy do?

SPEAKER_06 26:30

He uh lives in the real world, as I said. No, he he has a content marketing agency, so it has nothing to do with theater, but he loves theater and he supports my my work and my crazy schedule. You know, I think that probably the hardest part for him is to, you know, as a freelance designer, you don't have, you know, like a nine to five work. And other times that you're doing five shows at a time, like right now, and there's times that you have a month and a half off. It's you know, he has to go with the flow, you know, like whatever, you know, it's going on and at that time with my schedule. I would assume, but by now he's used to, you know, after 24 years.

Brett 27:07

It happens after 24, I'm sure. Well, congratulations again on the importance of being earnest. Running at the Alley Theater through March 29th, directed by the Alley's Artistic director, Rob Melrose, and of course, your Leo Vietti, the costumer for it. So thank you. Thank you so much. I'm so excited to talk all things earnest and Titanic. Bonus conversation.

SPEAKER_06 27:26

Thank you so much, but it was lovely chatting chatting with you. And yes, come to see Ernest is really, really wonderful production. You won't regret it, and you have a wonderful time, and the Allie's like the best place to be.

From Law To Design: Career Pivot

Deborah 27:53

We met Patricia a few years ago after her publication of her autobiographical book, Making the Rounds, her experience as a young woman coming of age, a lesbian, and in the medical field, as well as just the times that we were then. After that first book, Patricia took off and has written several books. Her latest brain, a thriller, is actually set in Houston. So, Patricia, welcome back to Queer Voices. Thank you. It's good to be with you, Deborah. Uh, one of the first questions I had for you was, hey, Patricia, when were you in Houston? And you said that you've driven through Houston. So tell me a little bit about how you were able to set this book in a city that you didn't intimately know.

SPEAKER_00 28:48

Sure. So what I do intimately know is the literature about um increased cancer rates near um petrochemical companies that are concentrated. There's something called Cancer Alley in Louisiana along the Mississippi, and also there's uh increased cancer rates along the Houston Channel. So that I was familiar with. Now, when it came to the actual describing Houston, I had to ask questions of AI, like, you know, what does Houston Height Heights look like and what is the uh MDN Anderson complex like? And I did have one of my exes was from Houston, so I actually did have someone to consult a little bit about Houston.

Deborah 29:32

Yeah, you mentioned in the book a a uh country western bar, and it's described as being in downtown Houston. Now, mind you, this book is set in the 1980s, although some of it is eeriely close to home to these times. Um and I'm sure there are countless people who would read this book and say, well, she's talking about the BRB.

SPEAKER_00 29:58

That bar is totally fictional. It's actually modeled after a bar that um I used to go to in Seattle. It was actually this wonderful place, and uh it was high ceilings, wooden floors, two bars, um, and it was a queer dance place, um, focused on a lot of country western um music, two steps.

Deborah 30:27

It's very much like the BRB, which was most would consider it a gay men's bar, but uh uh it was mixed and there was certainly a lot of country and western dancing going on there.

SPEAKER_00 30:40

I'm glad that it actually resonated with an actual place.

Advice To Designers And Collaboration With Actors

Deborah 30:43

Yeah, and and certainly the heights, I mean the the Victorian style houses and all of that. It's like yeah, yeah, that's the heights. So also you have this fictional place called Boylton, which is a little close to the name of a city near Houston that would be within the framework of the petrochemical industry. And there's a company that's mentioned that's a little close to the name of an actual company, but none of these, you're not actually citing those real life companies. You're just saying, in general, there have been these things that have happened. And right off the bat, the book grabbed me because it certainly starts off with the bang with someone being arrested for uh a bank robbery on what seems to be the flimliest of uh evidence. And then it just like and then all of a sudden there's you know this thing going on and that thing going on. I'm like, this is how am I gonna keep up with this?

SPEAKER_00 31:49

I do want to reiterate that the town is fictional, the companies are fictional, even if I mean what is true, and I put that in the author's note at the end, is that the areas surrounding the petrochemical complexes do have higher cancer rates than the nation in general and also Texas in general. So you know, it is that part is true, but with regard to any specific company or any bad behavior, you know, of any specific company, it's you know, it's there as a fiction to serve the story.

Deborah 32:24

But you did have uh a real life story that influenced some of what you you wrote, uh, that that line of someone being accused of uh bank robbery when they were in the midst of doing some work. It does hit us close to home here in Houston because one, so many of us have depended on that industry to I mean it is what has built Houston. And then and and many of people that we know and love work within the industry, and then also because some of us have friends who actually have been impacted by being part of these cancer clusters.

SPEAKER_00 33:08

Yeah, yeah. I know, and I do acknowledge that in the book, you know, in in terms of the uh ambivalence of people who depend on these companies for their livelihood and acknowledge that the growth of Houston has been in large part fueled by the petrochemical industry there, although now there's a lot more tech and stuff. There's a love-hate relationship, right? Exactly.

Deborah 33:32

The central characters in your novel are lesbians. One of them has been acknowledging her identity for some time, and the other one, uh, and these are two women who have known each other since college. The other one apparently kind of heads and then is has just recently started getting back in touch with that identity. So I'm about halfway through the book, and I and so you know, I'm waiting for that. There's there's been gestures, there's been hints, there's been look glances, you know, fingertips touching. So I'll I'll look forward to to that aspect. But it's also the dynamic of how these two women navigate in the world because one is an attorney, her expertise is an environmental law, and the other one is a physician such as yourself who who um is actually doing research on what might be uh happening, uh, what chemicals are present and and why people are getting so sick. Is it because of this or it's because of that? Because when you have something you're saying, people are getting cancer because of X, then you have to rule out anything else that might be the cause of the cancer. I mean, life causes cancer, right?

Titanic’s Aesthetic And Broadway Scale

SPEAKER_00 34:55

Yeah, absolutely. There's many, you know, cancer is multifactorial. It's not just one thing, it's usually a combination of things over time. Anybody doing research in the area, which I d have done myself, has to consider these other factors. Writing Tori, the physician, was pretty easy for me because in fact her practice is very much like mine. Early in my career, I did epidemiologic studies like she's doing, but I also saw patients exposed to toxic substances for much of my career. But I want to go back to your earlier question about it being based on a real life experience because I didn't quite answer that. And uh it's true that the story was inspired by a colleague of mine who was arrested for bank robbery. He was a staunch advocate for worker health and safety, you know, a very outspoken critic of the oil and chemical companies in his area wasn't in Texas. Um and those of us who had worked with him for a few years and knew him to be a man of high integrity wondered how this could happen. Uh, you know, a physician who was well regarded, Harvard-educated, brilliant guy working and and presumably making good money, how he could find himself as a bank robber robbing a bank for$2,000. It didn't make any sense to us. And so we speculated that could he have been set up. Now we never knew. We never knew, and and all the facts are just what's in the public record. And his story is certainly not mine to tell, but it did inspire my imagination to make one up, which is framed this fictional story.

Deborah 36:40

Yeah, because the characters, um, you think how much more can go wrong for her? You're only halfway through. So a lot more now. One of the things is that she has been treated for mental illness, which is depression and anxiety. I was like, I'm gonna need to take one of her anxiety pills.

SPEAKER_00 37:00

She has a lot going on. She's in the midst of a separation and divorce, and she's sink patients. She's doing this epidemiologic study on her own without much support. And she's setting up a toxicology lab to test her patients' body fluids for toxic substances. It's an over, you know, overwhelming life that she's leading.

Deborah 37:22

She has this association with her friend from college who's an attorney, working somewhat on a case together, uh, being that the physician is um uh going to be an expert witness for the law firm that Joe uh is part of. Um, but this whole process of what happens with this accusation of bank robbery, in the meantime, Tori has been having a relationship with someone who actually works within the industry, and they've kind of been in cahoots. Sometimes you have to wonder about legally and morally.

SPEAKER_00 38:01

Oh yeah, so don't give too much away.

Identity, Partnership, And Life On The Road

Deborah 38:03

No, no. Thrown into the mix of the relationship between Tori and Joe, then you have the other people in their lives. So it's like all these factors in place that it unfolds. I want to know how they take on big oil and and and when and just how this gets resolved. So I'm going to enjoy that romance part of it as well.

SPEAKER_00 38:32

Yeah. I mean, it is a thriller, not a romance, but I felt like it needed to have some romantic tension in it as well. Um, let me just speak a little bit about writing my first thriller because I had to learn new things. Writing a thriller is like creating a game for the reader because you don't reveal everything because otherwise there'd be no curiosity and no tension. What the reader knows and what the characters know may differ at any given time. I had to also ratchet up the tensions so that the two main characters are put in difficult situations where they have to make ethical and moral choices with consequences. Thriller readers are smart. I had to go back several times and just think, am I giving too much away here? Should I, you know, put more curiosity seeds here and there? It's very different than writing a memoir because you have two, I have two different points of view. So I can play with what one character knows that the other doesn't, and you know, what the reader knows that the characters don't know. It was fun to write.

Deborah 39:38

Yeah. Well, I'm a big murder mystery fan. A lot of times I can figure out stuff, but when when I don't know where it's going, it's like that is a good read.

SPEAKER_00 39:50

So um it's a game, right?

Deborah 39:52

Yeah, yeah, it is. You can take the same game, but it's how it's presented that matters. And you certainly I have seen your growth as a writer, and I'm a voracious reader. So when I enjoy a book, it means it's a a darn good book. So I'll look forward to more from you. Do you have anything in the works?

SPEAKER_00 40:13

Well, you know, I published two books in the span of six and a half months, so I'm a little tired right now, but I do have an idea for a sequel to this that actually just came to me this past weekend. I took a thriller writing course. I'm always taking courses in writing craft, and so an idea came to me that will probably an eco-thriller. A little variation on the theme of environmental justice, but this will be an animal rights kind of thing.

Deborah 40:43

I know that in in this book, uh, Tori does not love Houston.

SPEAKER_00 40:48

So so we don't know if this other book would be set in Houston, but or even if I'm not thinking of Tory being a character at this point, I may just continue to have Joe be a character. I am very curious to know after you finished the book what you thought of the ending.

Framed: Setting A Thriller In Houston

Deborah 41:06

Let's touch on this a little bit. This is set in the mid-80s, and so the president was Reagan, not who we have now. But some of the themes are very much along the lines, and it really made me think, remember when we thought Reagan was so bad?

SPEAKER_00 41:23

Well, it is interesting that the arrest of my friend occurred in the mid-80s, and we worked together for a government agency. It was Reagan's goal to shut it down when he was elected. The first thing he did is put his guy, you know, in charge and cut off all the scientists. And so we were young and idealistic, and we weren't gonna stand for that. So we all resigned and they ended up with no doctors. So it was almost felt like what happened at the CDC and what's happening in in, you know, the EPA and OSHA. It's just um it it's a little bit of deja vu, only far, far worse now. All of my books have a historical context. And I try to raise issues that are still relevant today, whether it be authenticity and belonging um or environmental justice.

Deborah 42:18

And the the cancer clusters still are happening, so even though that was in the 80s, all these years later, it's still something that is of a concern. Well, Patricia Greyhall, thank you again for being with us on Queer Voices. Her new book, which is set in Houston, is called Frained, a Thriller. And it is, I guarantee you. Thanks for listening to Queer Voices.

SPEAKER_02 42:52

This is Brian Lavinka, and I have the honor of interviewing Tanner Williams, the president of the Diana Foundation today on Queer Voices. Welcome to the show, Tanner.

SPEAKER_05 43:01

Thanks, Brian. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_02 43:03

So what is the Diana Foundation?

SPEAKER_05 43:05

The Diana Foundation is an amazing founded in Houston, gets to call the Diana Foundation home.

SPEAKER_02 43:11

That's amazing. What an honor.

SPEAKER_05 43:13

This uh all came from uh research uh from a book published by uh Brandon Wolfe, who also writes for OutSmart magazine. We published our 65-year history uh just a few years ago. We're we're celebrating our 73rd anniversary.

SPEAKER_02 43:29

73 years, wow. So do you have any original members still left or are they all gone?

SPEAKER_05 43:34

Uh we each year we do celebrate our milestone anniversaries. These are members celebrating five eight five, ten, fifteen, twenty years. And our oldest living member is celebrating her 40th year as a member of the organization.

SPEAKER_02 43:49

Who is that? That is Miss Sharon Lord. She's kind of famous. She is indeed. So tell me the history of the Diana Foundation.

Fiction, Cancer Clusters, And Real-World Parallels

SPEAKER_05 43:57

So actually, this is uh uh we parody The actually or parallel with the history of the Academy Awards. It was in 1953 when the first Academy Awards was televised. So a group of individuals got together to host an Academy Awards watch party. And they went out and bought a brand new TV. Unfortunately, during the broadcast, the bunny ears lost reception. So the friends decided to make up some of their own funny awards. And the group got back together in 1954. Uh and uh to kick off the uh the evening, they gave their own roast award, the Diana Award, uh to one of their guests uh for some uh um fun and unique behavior. And that's where the Diana Awards had its start in terms of its Rose uh comedic uh parody of the Academy Awards. Yeah, there was no real sense of like unity in the gay community in the early 1950s uh through just this one house party that was the incubator for uh groups of individuals to begin to get together year over year. And since 1954, year over year, we began hosting the Diana Awards, which allowed us to build a foundation and build community. Within that history, we've been able to become an official C3. Over our history, we've raised over$2.1 million for local charities. It was actually the Diana Foundation that hosted the first AIDS walk in the city of Houston and helped provide the seed money to AIDS Foundation Houston, which is now Allies and Hope. A lot of rich history in the the group of not just having fun but doing a lot of incredible fundraising and uh you know allowing our community to thrive.

SPEAKER_02 45:44

So, what was the day life like back in the fifties? I mean, what was the importance of this group?

SPEAKER_05 45:49

In the fifties, being out and proud was not uh uh a thing to be. During this time, more people were in the closet or men associated with a a female partner as well, because if too many men were in one house, you know, neighbors could call the police, etc. And of course we know even before Stonewall in New York, you know, there were times where in in some bars here in in our city, cops or folks would write down license plate numbers of individuals and publish them in the newspaper if their vehicle was parked near a bar known to be gay friendly. At some times there would be police raids on bars. I've heard stories of where there'd be a red light that would flash. So men and women would then exchange partners. Women couldn't have uh, you know, a a zipper on their jeans, etc. So there was there was a lot going on in terms of where you couldn't be out and proud. One thing is though the Diana's did provide a safe space for people to come together through house parties, etc., and through the award show that was being hosted uh in private homes at that time where you had the the window designer at the Sakowitz department store, the florists, the caterers, finding a place to be and hang out.

SPEAKER_02 47:07

So the gays were there and they just had to get together.

SPEAKER_05 47:10

Exactly. You're exactly right.

SPEAKER_02 47:11

So how did you get involved with the Diana Foundation?

SPEAKER_05 47:14

Well, I've been a member since 2012. I was uh friends with uh several of uh of Diana's, but what really struck my attention, I was out one evening uh at uh uh Tony's corner pocket of all places, and it was late in the evening, and all of a sudden the door burst open, and all these fabulous people came through dressed in tuxedos. Even the bar's uh owner, Tony Vicero, he he came in and he was holding this trophy, and it was a uh Diana award. And I went home the next day and I went on the internet and I was like, what is this Diana Foundation? I was able to read just a tiny bit. Our website is much better now, but I started talking to some of my friends and they they invited me to a Diana party, and ever since then I've really enjoyed the people that are part of the organization and its rich history.

Characters, Ethics, And Research Tension

SPEAKER_02 48:03

So you're the president. How have you grown the organization? I know that it's grown over your tenure.

SPEAKER_05 48:08

Well, this is actually my second time of coming back as president of the organization. I first served uh uh a few years back in 2013 to 2017, and then I came back last year as president. So this is my second year or second term or tenure. But our organization is to grab I'm I'm really proud of uh the group. I mean, the diet is have always been rich with you know you know, with people with you know great talents and ideas and great personalities. But we've we've expanded. I we've got a a lot of new members who have come in the organization. And if anyone who's listening, I definitely encourage anyone. Our door is always open for folks who want to come over, hang out, you know, get to know us or venture in to become a member of the organization. And if if folks visit our website, bediana foundation.gay, our membership tab provides a lot of information about how to join or how to get involved.

SPEAKER_02 49:02

So you have an award ceremony. Tell me about that. What's what's involved with that?

SPEAKER_05 49:06

All right, so we do have, continue with tradition, Brian, we have our 73rd Diana Awards. And this is gonna be on Saturday, March the 21st at the Motor Club. This is a warehouse that's over near Highland Village. But if you go inside, it's this fabulous venue where they've got a lot of restored old cars and things on display. It's it's very, very unique venue. But our Diana Awards of Keeping Our Tradition, we'll have our four funny roast awards, uh, you know, honoring the the ability to look at ourselves and laugh at ourselves. But this year we're also including four new community awards. This has been an internal conversation within the Dianas about how do we connect more with our community. Normally, we we've had a Diana Award for Community Achievement. This is like a lifetime achievement award. And but we don't grant this award every year. But we're wanting to actually create more of a regular annual awards that do recognize a lot of folks in our community, and especially now in this season, I think lifting up a lot of the great the individuals and organizations and businesses that are still ensuring that we have that a thriving gay community in the city of Houston. This is that time to make sure that we're shining a light on the individuals and organizations that are doing a lot of the hard work. And that's what we're gonna do at the Diana Awards. We're gonna shine a light on all the great work that's going on in our city. We're gonna have a few laughs and we're gonna raise some money for two beneficiaries, which are Out for Education and Tony's place.

SPEAKER_02 50:41

Those are great organizations. I always like the the venues that the Diana Foundation picks. You always come up with great venues.

Crafting Suspense And Reader Mind Games

SPEAKER_05 50:48

Yeah, yeah. I'm I'm excited about this venue. Again, our theme is shifting to fabulous. I mean, we're talking about how the through the Diana's history, we've been an engine to help uh get things started here in our great city, and that there's a lot of energy to continue to keep us propelling forward. On a funny side, I mean, uh there is uh we talk about we're the oldest organization, gay organization in the United States, you know. Well, there's some classic cars can be tuned up as well. And like any volunteer organization, we can be tuned up and greased up and still keep hitting the road. We've still got a lot of miles left in us.

SPEAKER_02 51:25

Exactly. Plus, you're getting younger and younger members.

SPEAKER_05 51:28

We we're very fortunate that we host a a monthly happy hour the first Wednesday of every month, uh, where we welcome the general public to come out and and get to know us, and we have featured organizations that we also try to spotlight their word. Uh and there's some of the our other engagement and and other stuff. I mean, folks are uh uh interested in coming over. Our second year, this is our second year in a row now of uh being voted best philanthropic organization by OutSmart magazine readers uh for the gayest and greatest awards. We've got a lot of momentum. Uh, we're an exciting group. And again, I encourage folks that are listening. If you're looking for uh an organization where you get to meet a lot of great people, have a lot of social time. If you're into doing some fundraising, we've got that thing, we've got that going on too. We're really here not just to, you know, pay tribute to our history, but to ensure that, you know, there there is an organization or there are resources in our community for the future. I hope folks look back one day and they're like, well, I mean, the 100th anniversary of the Diana is like, oh hey, well, someone had to help get it there, right? So this is why bring your time, talent, treasure, come over, we'll have a great time, but we'll make sure that there's a feature for folks too.

SPEAKER_02 52:48

So how many members are in the organization?

SPEAKER_05 52:50

Our current membership, but we're at 85 members. I know in past conversations, you know, even you and I have talked about that. We do have a uh a bylaw cap of about uh 100 in terms of our full members. However, we have created a new associate membership as well that allows people to have low-dues introduction into the organization. So we're not refining ourselves that we have to have uh you know a maximum or cap. But we're open for folks to come in. We celebrated 13 new members who joined us uh um over last year. And actually after at our award show, we're gonna be announcing that again, because our membership year runs from July 1 to June 30. So at our award show af on March the 21st, uh anyone uh attending the award show and they're interested in joining, you know, it the rest of the membership year is free. So uh so folks can have a few uh complimentary months to get in there and enjoy some of our socials as we wind down the 73rd year and get ready to kick off year 74.

SPEAKER_02 53:58

So for people that haven't attended the Diano Awards before, what can they expect?

Politics, Agencies, And Echoes Of The 1980s

SPEAKER_05 54:02

Well, it is uh the attire is Hollywood chic, and it is a parody of the Academy Awards. So interpret that as going back and looking at all those exciting red carpet looks. But it is a night of fun, it's a night of comedy. We have some amazing entertainment coming out. We've got Tony and the Kiki as our featured musical guests. They are these glam rock queens from Queens, New York. Uh, they just actually picked up uh new management and they've been on tour through a lot of popular cities on the West Coast. So one thing that is unique about the Diana Awards is that we have been able to bring in a lot of unique talent before people really hit it big. For example, back at our 64th Diana Awards, you know, we had Alex Newell, who just came off the series Glee, but before he won his first Tony. So that was really exciting. So Tony and the Kiki, I think people will really, really they're gonna wow on stage. And of course, we also have voted this year for the gayest and greatest. We're best comedian. We have Janin, uh local comedian who has a lot of fantastic wit. Uh, so we'll have a feature comedy. And of course, the the the show is gonna be hosted by Sister Helen Holy. She's uh um hilarious. She's hilarious, Jim out of Dallas, Texas. But she's coming, she's hosted the show before. She's coming back down to share some of her southern uh wit. You can dress up, uh enjoy a three-course meal, open bar, and some fabulous entertainment. It'll be a great night.

SPEAKER_02 55:38

We won't hold it against her that she's from Dallas.

SPEAKER_05 55:41

No, we won't, but we're we are trying to we are uh trying to you know bring in some you know uh some outside perspective once in a while to shake up the room.

SPEAKER_02 55:51

There you go. Tanner, is there anything that I didn't ask you that you need our listeners to know about?

SPEAKER_05 55:56

I just uh uh want to uh invite folks to check out our website, thediana foundation.gay. And again, our 65-year history book. If you want to take a look back at some of the it's a built as a coffee table book, and it has a lot of wonderful photos of the Dianas through the first 65 years, and you can see a lot of the incredible photos from a lot of the past award shows, especially all the great creativity and talent that went into putting on those productions. And if you want more information about this uh 73rd Diana Awards on March to 21st, there's information there as well, including our events calendar if you want to see some of our other upcoming activities. Um I our door is always open. We want to partner with local organizations, but also welcome people to come in and not just be a part of history, but to help make history with us.

SPEAKER_02 56:46

Tanner, keep up the good work you're doing in the community and keeping the diners relevant and part of a vital part of our community.

SPEAKER_05 56:53

Well, thank you, Brian, and you keep up the good work too. You you you always do such an amazing work, and I'm always uh I'm very proud to call you a friend and and uh supporter here in the community.

Enter The Diana Foundation: History And Purpose

SPEAKER_02 57:04

Thank you, sir. This is Queer Voices.

SPEAKER_08 57:16

This has been Queer Voices, heard on APFT Houston and as a podcast available from several podcasting sources. Check our webpage queervoices.org for more information.