COCKETTES: THE SECOND CUMMING to Play Joe's Pub in September

COCKETTES: THE SECOND CUMMING, a musical revue celebrating the music of original Cockette, Scrumbly Koldewyn, will play Joe's Pub (425 Lafayette St, New York City) at The Public Theater Saturday, Sept 9 @ 9:30pm.

San Francisco's legendary, gender-bending theatrical troupe, The Cockettes, are bringing their bawdy, colorful, cabaret show to Joe's Pub celebrating the music of original Cockette Scrumbly Koldewyn.

A current sensation in San Francisco and Oakland, they now journey to the East Coast and will be opening at Joe's Pub. The company includes Matt Bratko, Noah Haydon, Kitten on the Keys, Steven Satyricon, Ellie Stokes, Bonni Suval, Birdie Bob Watt and Scrumbly Koldewyn himself. The event is produced by Dan Karkoska. 

The Cockettes were an avant garde psychedelic hippie theater group founded by Hibiscus (George Edgerly Harris III) in 1969. Their brand of theater was influenced by The Living Theater, John Vaccaro's PlayHouse of the Ridiculous, the films of Jack Smith and the LSD ethos of Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters. The troupe performed all original material, staging musicals with original songs inspired by classic Hollywood movie musicals. They gained an underground cult following that led to mainstream exposure with John Waters and DIVINE that continues today.

The Cockettes were the subject of a 2002 documentary film directed by David Weissman and Bill Weber.

Cockette History

In 1969, The Cockettes debuted at the Palace Theater in San Francisco with their midnight sensation, the Nocturnal Dream Show starring a gender-bending, glitter-encrusted, drug-induced theater troupe who took drag and old Hollywood musicals and turned them inside out and upside down, attracting the attention of the American underground culture.

The Cockettes' sprawling, kaleidoscopic pantheon of colorful personalities included icons including Hibiscus and Sylvester and was often augmented by special guests, most notably drag superstars Divine and Mink Stole. The Cockettes were ahead of their time, especially in accepting gender fluidity and glittered beards, and they changed the face of drag forever.

Although the Cockettes disbanded in 1972, its many members kept the group's spirit alive; in 2009, a theater troupe called the Thrillpeddlers helmed by Russell Blackwood revived a legendary Cockettes show called Pearls Over Shanghai to much acclaim and a long 22-month run.

Over the next decade, The Thrillpeddlers continued recreating Cockette shows under the watchful eye of the original songwriter and Cockette Scrumbly Koldewyn.

In 2020, they celebrated their golden anniversary with an epic, sold-out event featuring many of their classic numbers and a special appearance by cult film icon John Waters at the Victoria Theatre in San Francisco.

Producer Dan Karkoska, Assistant Director Birdie Bob Watt, and Scrumbly Koldewyn continue to spread the word about the Cockettes and are excited to return to New York City.

Photo credit: PhotosbyGooch.com