Honey West to Star in PINK GIN FOR THE BLUES Film by Madrid St Angelo
Andrew Pappas joins the cast as the film heads toward principal photography in Chicago this fall.
Chicago actress, cabaret legend, and Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame inductee Honey West will star in PINK GIN FOR THE BLUES, a new film adaptation of internationally acclaimed playwright Edward Crosby Wells' acclaimed one-act play, directed and adapted for the screen by Madrid St Angelo.
Chicago independent film PINK GIN FOR THE BLUES has been awarded a 2026 Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) Individual Artists Program (IAP) Grant, further supporting the production as it moves toward principal photography this fall.
The film marks the first screen adaptation of Wells' work and the second creative collaboration between Wells and St Angelo, following St Angelo's acclaimed Chicago premiere production of Flowers Out of Season. In the years before his passing, Wells entrusted the play to St Angelo, encouraging him to bring the work to the screen while preserving its emotional honesty and theatrical intimacy.
St Angelo, a stage, film, and television actor, playwright, director, and HIV/AIDS advocate, adapted the screenplay with a focus on revealing the humanity behind the mask of drag while expanding the play's exploration of memory, identity, and self-acceptance through a cinematic lens.
West, an LGBTQ+, HIV/AIDS, and transgender rights advocate and two-time Chicago After Dark Award winner for Outstanding Cabaret Performer, most recently appeared in Stephen Sondheim's Follies alongside Anthony Rapp.
Joining West is Chicago stage and screen actor Andrew Pappas, who portrays The Bartender—a quiet yet pivotal figure whose encounters with the film's central character become increasingly intertwined with memory, longing, and emotional revelation.
PINK GIN FOR THE BLUES follows an aging drag queen who walks into a bar and, over glasses of PINK GIN, reflects on her life as a cabaret performer and the man she loved in her youth. As the evening unfolds, memories of love and loss surface, revealing a life shaped by longing, regret, and the enduring search for dignity, love, and self-acceptance.
From the Stonewall Riots to the front lines of the AIDS epidemic, drag performers have long stood at the forefront of LGBTQ+ visibility and civil rights. At a time when drag artists and transgender communities continue to face renewed political and cultural scrutiny, PINK GIN FOR THE BLUES offers a timely, intimate portrait of identity, resilience, and the universal desire to be seen and loved.
'At its heart, PINK GIN FOR THE BLUES is a story about memory—how it can comfort us, haunt us, and ultimately shape who we become,' said St Angelo. 'While the film is rooted in the history of LGBTQ+ culture, its emotional journey belongs to anyone who has loved deeply, experienced loss, or searched for acceptance.'
Principal photography is scheduled to begin in September 2026 in Chicago, with additional photography planned for November 2026. The film is expected to be completed by December 2026, with festival submissions beginning in early 2027.
