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
The Art that the Upstairs Lounge Fire has inspired
Amy Daley Williams, along with Frank Perez, Katheleen Conlon and the LGBT plus Archives produces the 50the anniversary of the fire.
Kathleen Conlon, organizes multi eventsongtime admirer of the New Orleans LGBT plus community brings a creatvie panel together to share their stories for the fiftieth anniversary of the fire.
Max Vernon writes a musical and brings the story around the world.
Monica Ordonez inspires her dance troupe to experience the art that has been made around the Upstairs arson and inspires her troupe.
Hunter Burke's reading of his screenplay with his main character Regina in the audience.
Historian Frank Perez explains the mission of the LGBT+ Archives of Louisiana and a welcome to Quiet Conversations.
with Rio Riggen
