Quiet Conversations The Upstairs Lounge Arson Attack
My name is Arthur Severio, and welcome to Quiet Conversations: The Upstairs Lounge Fire.
I left home with a suitcase filled with dreams, a pack of brand-new Fruit of the Loom underwear, two pairs of 501s, and some shirts that weren’t exactly made for a fat kid like me. My mama had stuffed a twenty-dollar bill in my pocket just in case I wanted a snack and a Diet Coke from the vending machine for my ride into the Crescent City.
My brother met me at the downtown Greyhound bus terminal to take a United Cab back to his French Quarter apartment. It was 1983, and I was only 17. I was so happy because I had finally reached the place that I had dreamed about to get me through those endless days of doing little more than surviving. Soon I met Marcy Marcelle who was scheduled to perform that night at the Upstairs Lounge.
In these Quiet Conversations, I talk to people whose lives were touched either in their personal experience or using their artistic talents to describe that night.
Quiet Conversations The Upstairs Lounge Arson Attack
Kalantan, Lenny and Marcy Marcell
In this episode, we hear from someone who grew up in a showbiz life around the exotic Kalantan. Kalantan, famous for her burlesques show danced on the world famous Borubon Street in the 1950’s. In a couple with a non gender identifying lesbian named Lenny, she travelled all of the nightclub circuit.
In the second half we meet my friend Marcy. who was the inspiration for this podcast. Born in the 50’s Marcy grew up in a town called Chalmette and came out in the French Quarter. The story has began.
Historian Frank Perez explains the mission of the LGBT+ Archives of Louisiana and a welcome to Quiet Conversations.
with Rio Riggen
