Photo Flash: Circle Theatre Presents Chicago Premiere THE VIEW UPSTAIRS

THE VIEW UPSTAIRS, a musical by Max Vernon, whose musical KPOP won Best Musical honors in off-Broadway's Lortel Awards and was also nominated for seven Drama Desk awards, is inspired by real life events of the 1973 arson attack at the UpStairs Lounge, a vibrant gay bar in New Orleans. Now accepted as a targeted anti-gay attack, the arson resulted in the deaths of 32 people and was, until the 2016 Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooting, the deadliest assault on a gay club in U.S. history. The show is inspired by and pays tributes to many of the patrons that frequented the venue.

In THE VIEW UPSTAIRS, which opened off-Broadway in February 2017, Wes, a young fashion designer from 2017, buys an abandoned building in the French Quarter of New Orleans and finds himself transported to the UpStairs Lounge in 1973. As this forgotten community comes to life, Wes embarks on an exhilarating journey of self-exploration that spans two generations of queer history. THE VIEW UPSTAIRS asks what has been gained and lost in the fight for equality, and how the past can help guide all of us through an uncertain future.

All photos by Cody Jolly Photography