New Orleans area athletes find a home in LGBTQ sports teams
Documentary aims to make drag queen and fashion designer Bubblez a household name
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Comedy is the best medicine
IN MOLIERE’S COMEDY “THE IMAGINARY INVALID,” Argan is a wealthy Parisian who’s very concerned about his health. He’s sitting on a decent fortune, but one he fears he’s flushing away on doctors’ almost daily attentions. But he’s not about to forego their care.
Argan’s days are split between ever more exotic medicinal concoctions and counting the bills for them. The stream of payments leaves him looking for a doctor for his daughter to marry, if only to remedy the strain on his wallet. Angelique, however, has her eyes on a young man who doesn’t offer such practical benefits.
Toinette, Argan’s maid, thinks he’s not sick at all, and does what she can to clean up the mess.
A translation of the French comedy by Tulane professor Ryder Thornton, complete with a singing chorus of doctors, opens the season of the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival at Tulane. “The Imaginary Invalid” runs June 6-22 at Lupin Theater.
Argan would spare nothing for his own health, and he doesn’t care what that would cost Angelique. She has her eyes set on Cleante but also feels obliged to do as her father commands. Argan’s brother Beralde tries to talk sense into him, but Argan is insistent that his own needs come first.
The doctors are a comical and industrious lot, with Dr. Diafoirus and Dr. Purgon making regular house calls.
Moliere loved to skewer hypocrisy. The drama “Tartuffe,” about a religious hypocrite, infuriated the church, and the clergy was prepared to deny the playwright last rites when he died. None other than King Louis XIV stepped in to see that Moliere was properly buried.
In his last play, “The Imaginary Invalid,” Moliere took on a sacred cow of his day: an obsession with health and what passed for medical treatments. Parisian society was taken with enemas. Apparently, some wealthy and royal members of society sometimes indulged in multiple daily enemas, convinced it would keep their health in top condition.
“When we were doing our research for our props, we were amazed at the portraits that were made during this time of proud men holding an enema syringe, or a clyster pump,” says director AnneLiese Juge Fox. “They were huge.”
In the comedy, Moliere is not too delicate about the treatments or Argan’s enthusiasm for them. The opening
chorus of doctors sing, “Doctors love patients who love to stay sick / Who lap our potions and Latin rhetoric / Who sign up for enemas unlimited / Doctors love imaginary invalids.”
Moliere was very skeptical of medicine in 17th century France. And the enema craze seems to validate his disbelief, while also driving this comedy. But trust in medicine is always an issue.
“Even though medical science has advanced a lot since then, I still think the play is relevant because of the health fad industry,” Fox says, “especially connected with beauty, youth and the things people will ingest or put on their bodies, and the money spent. 388 years later, it’s still very relevant.”
In “Imaginary Invalid,” the obsession with health, doctors and new treatments also is a sign of Argan’s self-absorption.
Moliere dispatches the sassy
Toinette to try to deal with Argan’s domineering ways.
“In Moliere, the servants are the ones that run the household,” Fox says. “It goes back to commedia dell’arte with
by Will Coviello |
the tricky servant or master servant characters.”
There’s a bit of silliness to many of the characters in “Imaginary Invalid.” Many of them try to pass themselves off as being more powerful, knowledgeable or talented than they are. And several disguise themselves to try to trick others.
Moliere was greatly influenced by Italian commedia dell’arte. He also helped pioneer a lavish form of comedy ballets. The shows sometimes had whole ballet dances with dozens of ballerinas, in seemingly unrelated stories, between the acts of plays. This production does not have all those extras, but in his new translation, Thornton included some musical scenes, and there’s some simple choreography. Local composer Brendan Connelly created music for guitar and percussion that will be performed by actors on stage. Argan is played by Doug Spearman, who’s appeared on local stages as Vanya in Crescent City Stage’s “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” and directed “Sweet Bird of Youth” for the Tennessee Williams Theatre Company of New Orleans. Toinette is played by Jessica Podewall, a veteran of local stages and the New Orleans Shakespeare Festival. Angelique is played by Alexandra Miles, who appeared in the festival’s recent production of “Romeo and Juliet.”
The New Orleans Shakespeare Festival season has “Imaginary Invalid” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” as its two main stage productions. Artistic Director Graham Burke will direct Shakespeare’s comedy on July 11-27. The season also includes two onenight events. The Fools Ensemble is an improv troupe that will create a Shakespeare-like play on the spot with suggestions from the audience. It’s June 25. The last show is “(un)prompted Shakespeare: King Lear,” in which the actors meet for one rehearsal on the morning of the production, and perform it with the dialogue projected for the audience to see. That show is June 28. For information, visit neworleansshakespeare.org. Tickets for “The Imaginary Invalid” are $25-$40.
Creole Tomato Festival
There are Creole tomatoes for sale, dishes with Creole tomatoes, spicy bloody marys from festival vendors and more at the annual free festival in the French Market. Performers on the festival’s two music stages include the Charmaine Neville Band, Captain Squeeze & the Zydeco Moshers, Bogue Chitto, 3rd Degree, Jenavieve & the Dreamboats, Fully Dressed Po’ Boys and more. The festival also has cooking demonstrations and zydeco dance lessons. At 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, June 7, and Sunday, June 8. Visit frenchmarket.org/creoletomatofest for details.
Purple Takeover
Melissa Weber, music historian and “queen of the rare groove,” aka DJ Soul Sister, each year celebrates Prince’s birthday on June 7 with a dance party at Tipitina’s, and in recent years, more events have popped up in the days surrounding the late music icon’s birthday. Soul Sister’s eighth annual Purple Takeover is at Tipitina’s at 10 p.m. Saturday, June 7, and also features the Lovesexy Dancers. There’s also a Prince burlesque tribute presented by Jeez Loueez at 9:30 p.m. Thursday, June 5, at Cafe Istanbul, and a pool party with DJ Vintage and hosted by Soul Sister at 1-5 p.m. Sunday, June 8, at Virgin Hotels New Orleans. For ticket information go to linktr.ee/djsoulsister.
Emily Catalano
With her signature slow, deadpan delivery, Emily Catalano never seems to lose the element of surprise when she springs a joke. In her 2024 comedy special, “Unspecial,” she talks about her growing up naive about dating and life as her evangelical parents only said she was going to hell, after she specifically asked for “no spoilers.” She’s in New Orleans for shows at 7 & 9 p.m. Friday, June 6, and Saturday, June 7, at Sports Drink. Tickets $32.36 at sportsdrink.org.
New Orleans Shakespeare Festival opens with Moliere’s ‘Imaginary Invalid’
PROVIDED PHOTO BY FRANK AYMAMI
Doug Spearman plays Argan in ‘The Imaginary Invalid.’
PROVIDED PHOTO BY CAT LANDRUM
Join thefun as Bingand the Belles reminisceabout his performances for American troops and theArmed ForcesRadio Service during World WarII andsinghis wartime hits
Scanthe QR CODE, visit STAGEDOORCANTEEN.ORG, or call 504-528-1943 to buy ticketsorget moreinformation!
THUMBS UP/ THUMBS DOWN
Jari Honora, a historian and genealogist at The Historic New Orleans Collection, in early May discovered Pope Leo XIV’s ancestral roots in the 7th Ward. The first Americanborn pope, Robert Francis Prevost is descended from Creole people of color, and his grandparents lived in New Orleans before moving to Chicago. Honora is a New Orleans native who became interested in genealogy at an early age and is dedicated to New Orleans history and family connections.
OPENING GAMBIT Happy Pride!
Louisiana is seeing most children from poor families start kindergarten without basic reading skills, according to a new study by Tulane University’s Early Childhood Policy Research Lab. The study found that 55% of children from economically disadvantaged homes score “well below” the benchmark for reading readiness, while another 19% scored “below” the benchmark. That disadvantage can last for years: Just 20% of students who were behind in kindergarten were able to catch up by third grade.
Bipartisan efort in Louisiana House committee kills anti-fuoride bill
THE LOUISIANA HOUSE HEALTH AND WELFARE COMMITTEE on May 28 rejected a bill that would have banned the addition of fluoride to public water systems.
Senate Bill 2, authored by Sen. Mike Fesi, a Houma Republican, passed the state Senate earlier this spring. It would have barred the Louisiana Department of Health, which oversees drinking water, from adding fluoride to public water systems.
consequences to our adults,” said Rep. Joseph Stagni, a Kenner Republican who slammed the bill. He warned that if it passed, it would be catastrophic for people who may simultaneously be losing their access to Medicaid under the Trump administration.
5
The Trump administration laid off the staff of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), an initiative helping low-income households pay energy bills and weatherize their homes. The layoffs will make it much harder if not impossible for poor Louisianans to prepare their homes for the summer heat and stick them with higher bills.
Many prominent Republicans have been pushing anti-fluoride conspiracy theories and propaganda in recent years as part of the party’s broader anti-science and medical research legislative and policy agenda.
The bill noted that parishes could opt to add fluoride to their water supply, but only if they go through a robust petition and special election process.
But after a heated committee meeting, the bill was rejected 10-5, with several Republicans joining Democrats in voting against it.
“(Fluoride) has served our children very well without negative
“It could cost as much as 18 million dollars to go ahead and start treating Medicaid-age children that are going to suffer tooth decay that right now they’re not suffering from,” Stagni said. “This could be a hellacious, cataclysmic problem in our state.”
Fesi, who has a background in oil and gas, falsely claimed that fluoride added to some of the state’s drinking water is causing brain damage among children, “calcifying” people’s pineal glands and causing mental health problems.
Throughout the meeting, he frequently referred to fluoride as a “drug” that people are being forced to consume against their will.
Fesi was backed by Louisiana Surgeon General Ralph Abraham, who said he supported removing fluoride and conducting further studies
and had passed
But it was ultimately killed by bipartisan efforts between House Democrats and Republicans, who voted against it 10-5 after several dentists and health care professionals reiterated that fluoride in low doses is beneficial in protecting against tooth decay.
THE NUMBER OF LOUISIANA HOUSE REPUBLICANS WHO VOTED AGAINST AN ANTI-FLUORIDE BILL DURING THE HEALTH & WELFARE COMMITTEE MEETING MAY 28. C’EST WHAT ?
Hurricane season starts June 1.
What often overlooked item is in your hurricane kit?
22.7%
The bill was authored by fellow Republican Sen. Mike Fesi
favorably in the Senate.
The Louisiana House Health & Welfare Committee voted to reject a bill that would remove fluoride from public drinking water FILE PHOTO BY BILL HUGHES / AP
on its impacts, before considering adding it back into water supplies. But Abraham also acknowledged that the state would likely struggle to come up with funding to do so.
Dentists and pediatricians, meanwhile, pointed out that fluoride is a naturally occurring mineral that is safe when consumed in small amounts, and has been repeatedly proven to strengthen tooth enamel and destroy certain bacteria that cause cavities.
They hailed it as one of the greatest modern advancements in public health, and also spoke about their concerns that removing fluoride would cause even greater health disparities among the state’s most vulnerable residents, including children.
Many families across the state can’t afford to go to the dentist or live in areas that are considered dental health care deserts.
Fluoride, they argued, is a way to help combat tooth decay without immediate professional intervention.
Dr. Kimberly Smith Bibbins, a dentist who spoke on behalf of the nonprofit community health center Southwest Louisiana Center for Health Services, spoke out against the bill and said Louisiana is already struggling to keep up with the demand for dental care.
“Water fluoridation is a safe, effective and equitable public health intervention,” she said, adding “many of the children I serve lack consistent access to health care, dental care, specifically making preventable measures like water fluoridation essential for protecting our oral health.”
In many parts of the country, naturally occurring levels of fluoride are high enough to make additions to public drinking water unnecessary.
But for 80 years, fluoride has been added to many American municipalities’ drinking water, in small amounts, to help prevent tooth decay. Roughly 30 percent of Louisianans get fluoride added to their drinking water.
Despite no evidence that adding small amounts of fluoride to water is harmful, conspiracy theories about it have persisted since fluoridation programs first started.
Fluoride conspiracies were even used in the 1964 film “Dr. Strangelove” as an example of the dangers unhinged conspiracy theories pose to society.
Over the last six years, anti-science theories have quickly gone from the fringes of society to the mainstream of the Republican Party and are being perpetuated by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
A 9-year-old boy from northern Louisiana, who lives in a parish with unfluoridated water, spoke out against the bill. He said he takes a daily fluoride supplement.
“We don’t really have to choose between being smart and having healthy teeth,” he said. “I think we can have both. Only high, unsafe amounts of fluoride can actually hurt us ... Dentists say fluoride is safe and good for our health, and I believe them.”
— Sarah Ravits
Plan to rein in Louisiana’s ethics watchdog advances in Legislature
A BILL THAT WOULD PUT NEW RESTRICTIONS ON THE BOARD THAT INVESTIGATES alleged ethics violations by Louisiana public officials is one step closer to becoming law after a Senate committee passed it unanimously with a few tweaks.
House Bill 674, sponsored by Rep. Beau Beaullieu, a New Iberia Republican, has faced little opposition from lawmakers of either party.
But the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, a nonpartisan government watchdog group, has criticized the legislation: Its president on Wednesday called elements of the bill “Kafkaesque.”
The plan would limit the investigatory powers of the Louisiana Board of Ethics, the panel that enforces state ethics laws.
In a brief interview May 28, Beaullieu said change is needed in light of complaints from public officials over the board’s “egregious” approach to investigations of minor allegations of ethical misconduct.
The idea, he said, is to set up “rules of engagement” for ethics board investigations and ensure that due process is afforded to officials who are the subject of ethics complaints.
House Bill 674 would implement more stringent protocols the board must follow in its investigations into alleged ethical misconduct.
Currently, the board undertakes an investigation when it needs to determine whether a violation of ethics laws likely occurred and whether formal charges for breaking the law should be brought against a public official. If the board finds evidence of a violation, it can file charges and initiate legal proceedings with a state administrative panel.
Under HB 674, before taking a vote to launch an investigation, the board would be required to consider several factors, including whether a violation had already been rectified,
the cost to undertake an investigation, and the likelihood of finding a violation of the law.
Steven Procopio, president of the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, on Wednesday said he was concerned about the criteria the board would need to meet before investigating any misconduct allegation — especially that “the board will more likely than not find a significant violation.”
“To me that is a clear indication that this is designed to make sure we don’t have ethics investigations,” he told lawmakers on the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee.
After weighing those factors, the board would only be able to proceed with an investigation if two-thirds of its members approve.
Once an investigation is launched, the board could only issue subpoenas with a “finding that the importance of the information sought outweighs the burden of producing the information.”
And the subject of the investigation would be empowered to ask a state district court to block or put limits on subpoenas issued by the board.
The board would also have to meet a set of new requirements before deciding to bring formal charges after an investigation is complete: create a report of the investigation, provide it to the subject, and allow the subject to respond to the report.
The legislation would also expand the distance state lawmakers could travel and have those costs paid for by someone else.
In cases of public speaking engagements, lawmakers could accept complimentary food, lodging and travel arrangements in any country in North America or any U.S. territory or state.
Lawmakers could have transportation costs picked up for events “for information purposes” anywhere in the U.S. and for events “for entertainment purposes” within 50 miles of their home district or the State Capitol. Rules about public disclosures of donated lodging or transportation would not change under the bill.
The legislation would also create detailed rules for how to disclose the value of private flights provided to lawmakers free of charge by someone else.
Gov. Jeff Landry is being investigated over his failure to disclose private air travel paid by a political donor. His lawyer helped author a bill that would limit the powers of the state’s Board of Ethics.
Stephen Gelé, an attorney who helped put together House Bill 674, is also representing Gov. Jeff Landry in a dispute with the Louisiana Board of Ethics over Landry’s alleged failure to disclose private air travel provided by a political donor when he was attorney general.
According to the charges, Landry received free round-trip air travel on a private plane for a meeting of the Attorney General Alliance held in Hawaii in June 2021, when he was attorney general. Greg Mosing, a political supporter, owns Stanton Aviation, the company that provided the flight.
Those charges are still pending before the Ethics Adjudicatory Board, and attorneys for the board and for Landry have said they expect to finalize a settlement next month.
The bill is one of a few pieces of legislation aiming to change laws that fall within the purview of ethics board.
House Bill 160 would limit when the ethics board can investigate potential violations of the code, a decision that is currently up to its discretion. The bill would also end the confidential nature of ethics complaints.
House Bill 693 is a sprawling revision of Louisiana campaign finance laws and disclosures, which are overseen and enforced by the Board of Ethics. — Alyse Pfeil / The Times-Picayune
l
PHOTO BY JAVIER GALLEGOS / THE TIMES- PICAYUNE
BLAKE PONTCHARTRAIN™
@GambitBlake | askblake@gambitweekly.com
Hey Blake,
There’s a historic marker for the Marsalis Mansion Motel on River Road near Pawlins and the River Road Veterinary Hospital. Because of the family’s history in music, I assume some musicians stayed there. Am I right?
Dear reader,
WHEN THE JEFFERSON PARISH HISTORICAL COMMISSION erected that historic marker on the former site of the Marsalis Mansion Motel in 2015, it cemented its place in local history. The motel near Shrewsbury and River roads welcomed many well-known visitors from 1944 to 1986, when legal segregation kept Black visitors from patronizing other hotels. According to the Louisiana Civil Rights Trail and The Times-Picayune, some of those guests included Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and music greats Ray Charles, Etta James, Dinah Washington and Nat King Cole.
Born in Summit, Mississippi, in 1908, Ellis Marsalis Sr. came to New Orleans in 1927. By 1936, he had become the first Black owner of an Esso filling station in Uptown New Orleans. In 1943, according to an oral history at Tulane University’s Amistad Research Center, Marsalis purchased a lot on River Road, which included a house and a barn.
Marsalis initially planned to raise chickens there but later converted a few rooms in his barn into what became the Marsalis Mansion Motel. He expanded it
BLAKE VIEW
to add more rooms (air-conditioned, a luxury for the time), a pool and restaurant called the River Room. By the 1960s, Marsalis was a well-respected business and civil rights leader. He formed the Boosters Club, canvassing Jefferson Parish to help Black residents register to vote. The club also helped raise money for Black students to attend college, including future New Orleans Mayor Ernest “Dutch” Morial. Marsalis’ son Ellis Jr. – father of six sons, including musicians Branford, Wynton, Delfeayo and Jason – worked at the motel when he wasn’t playing in jazz clubs or teaching music. His sister Yvette ran the motel for 30 years before it closed in 1986. The building was razed in 1993. The elder Marsalis died in 2004 at the family home on the property.
Bring your family and friends to celebrate our 25th Anniversary and experiencean unforgettable day at The National WWII Museum. Enjoyliveentertainment, interactive displays, and family-friendly activities.
THIS WEEK MARKS THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE OPENING OF THE NATIONAL WORLD WAR II MUSEUM, which opened its doors on June 6, 2000, as the D-Day Museum. Four days of opening events culminated on the 56th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy, France, on D-Day. That day saw a massive military parade and ceremonies attended by hundreds of World War II veterans, including eight Congressional Medal of Honor recipients, and “Saving Private Ryan” actor Tom Hanks and director Steven Spielberg. The ceremony was hosted by NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw, author of “The Greatest Generation.”
Also speaking were historians Stephen Ambrose and Gordon “Nick” Mueller, the University of New Orleans professors who led the effort to create the museum. They envisioned it as a way to document and preserve the stories of World War II veterans at a museum in New Orleans, the home of Higgins Industries, whose landing craft played a pivotal role in the success of the D-Day invasion. “It’s just wonderful to see the Baby Boomer generation and their children going up to the veterans and thanking them for what they did and to see the veterans discussing the war with them,” Ambrose said on opening day.
In 2004, Congress designated the museum America’s National World War II Museum. It has expanded into one of New Orleans’ most popular tourist attractions, with more than 780,000 visitors a year. This week, a series of special events commemorate the anniversary. For details, visit nationalww2museum.org.
Siblings Yvette Marsalis Washington and Ellis Marsalis Jr. stand before a historical marker commemorating their father, Ellis Marsalis Sr., and his hotel.
PHOTO BY ADRIANE QUINLAN / THE TIMES- PICAYUNE
MAKING A
Documentary aims to make New Orleans drag queen and fashion designer Bubblez a household name
BY KAYLEE POCHE
MANY OF US have a couple of talents or hobbies we tend to stick with, for the most part.
And then there’s Dwayne Dillon — drag performer, fashion designer, makeup artist, hair stylist, singer and instrumentalist — also known as Bubblez in drag and to those close to him.
The 43-year-old Marrero native is a multi-talented force of nature, involved in many vital aspects of New Orleans culture. From second lines and the city’s Black drag scene to recently creating a stunning ensemble for Tarriona “Tank” Ball of Tank and the Bangas to wear at Jazz Fest this year, Bubblez’s influence can be felt throughout the city.
Despite his influence, though, Bubblez isn’t quite the household name you’d think he’d be. But that could be ready to change.
“It’s like, ‘How could nobody know who Bubblez is in the full mainstream world in New Orleans when he’s so part of the culture?’ ” says Jacquelyn Shulman, who is producing and directing a documentary on Bubblez.
The documentary, “Bubblez,” is set to come out in 2026 via Daydream Pictures. And during Pride weekend this year, there will be a three-day event, dubbed Bubblez Fest, to promote the documentary and raise money to finish its production.
Bubblez Fest kicks off Friday, June 13, with a Sunset Pool Party at Railyard NOLA from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., where attendees will get a sneak peek at a scene from the documentary.
Then, on Saturday, June 14, there’s a drag show and live concert at Toulouse Theatre at 8 p.m. Dillon and his 23-year-old daughter Veyonce “Yonny” Davis will debut songs from the soundtrack backed by a seven-piece band, and they’ll film the event to include in the documentary.
The festivities end with a drag brunch featuring drag performers mentored by Bubblez at 1 p.m. Sunday, June 15, at Siberia.
FAMILY AFFAIR
SHULMAN STARTED FILMING the documentary following Dillon in 2021. Schulman and Dillon had met through a mutual friend, and Shulman watched as Dillon and his “drag children” got ready backstage before a drag show.
“It was so intimate to see this group of people that were cracking jokes, making fun of each other, but at the same time putting on makeup and doing each other’s hair,” she says. “It was so intimate and beautiful.”
PHOTO BY TIO’S PHOTOGRAPHY
In the midst of filming, Davis, then 19, moved in with Dillon as a way to reconnect with her father. The documentary also follows their journey, and she’s been a part of creating it as well.
She and Dillon are writing and singing the lyrics for the soundtrack. And Albert Allenback, producer and saxophonist of SaxKixAve and previously Tank and the Bangas, is composing and producing the music.
Dillon says he wanted to include reconnecting with his daughter in the film because it’s not uncommon for gay men to become distanced from their families after coming out, for a variety of reasons.
“I just wanted to be able to show that that can happen: You can still balance doing drag and having that whole life you created and enjoy yourself, but also still being a good parent, a good brother ora good son or a good uncle,”
Dillon says.
‘OPENED SO MANY DOORS’
DILLON BEGAN PERFORMING in drag in his mid-20s, and he says the artform has been “a lifesaver” for him over the years.
His drag persona is totally different from his offstage personality, Dillon says. In his everyday life, he’s more reserved, having taken on the role of the older, responsible figure his whole life.
“But drag brings out something to me that I never even knew was in there,” he says.
While Dillon typically doesn’t like to express his emotions publicly, drag gives him an outlet to do so, with the safety net of performing as a character.
“That’s my thing, I don’t like to be vulnerable in front of anybody, but if I get on stage and I’m doing an emotional song or something, I can let it out,” he says.
Drag also has helped Dillon make business connections as a fashion designer, makeup artist and hair stylist. And it’s given him the chance to travel, including getting paid to go to Hawaii to perform.
“Drag has just opened up so many doors,” he says.
MENTORING THE NEXT GENERATION
BUT OVER THE YEARS, Dillon, who is Black, has watched Black venues that host drag close across New Orleans. Places like Club 504, Club Fusions, Mama Rosa’s, Armstrong and The Gallery came and went.
“Now we have a new bar, Katey Red has Club Switch, and then we have the
Society Page,” Dillon says. “Those are the only two places that we really have to go.”
That’s why Dillon finds it so important to mentor young drag artists in the city, just as others mentored him. He’s part of the House of Alexander drag family, which got him into drag, and estimates he now has around 20 “drag children” or mentees.
“I remember with doing drag and even before I started to do drag, just being involved in the drag family and the things that I would learn to do, it kept me from hanging out in the streets and fighting and stuff like that,” he says.
First, Dillon focuses on helping them in their life outside of drag, advising them to finish school and strive in their careers, as well as to take care of their mental and physical health. Then he starts teaching them drag skills like how to pose and command a room.
“None of that is possible unless you have a life grounded first,” he says.
As drag has increased in mainstream popularity over time, there have also been waves of hateful backlash to it, including to drag story hours.
Shulman hopes the documentary will show people that drag actually can keep young people out of trouble and give them an outlet for navigating their emotions.
“The crazy thing is all of this talk about, ‘oh, corrupting kids and saving kids,’ and it’s like, this is saving lives.
This is putting youth on a great path,” she says. “It just totally shreds the narrative that drag is bad. It’s like the most pure expression from your heart.”
For more on the “Bubblez” documentary and Bubblez Fest, visit daydreampic.com/ bubblezdocumentary.
Dwayne “Bubblez” Dillon and his daughter Veyonce “Yonny” Davis share a hug in forthcoming documentary “Bubblez.”
PHOTO BY BRIGHTON LINGE / DAYDREAM PICTURES
PHOTO BY TIO’S PHOTOGRAPHY
A LEAGUE
OF THEIR
New Orleans area athletes find a home in LGBTQ sports teams and leagues
BY KAYLEE POCHE
PULL UP STONEWALL SPORTS’ INSTAGRAM PAGE, and you’ll find a video of people dancing while playing bocce ball, soundtracked to Charli xcx’s “Guess” — the version featuring Billie Eilish, of course. Or scroll through the Crescent City Rougaroux’s page to see rugby players doing practice exercises to an edit of Sabrina Carpenter’s “Juno.”
Meet the LGBTQ recreational sports teams and leagues of New Orleans. The kids who might not have had the best time in gym class are reclaiming sports as adults, and they’re having a blast doing so.
Some LGBTQ people avoid sports because they’ve had a bad experience with them at some point, whether on a sports team or in gym class, says Rougaroux President James Barrie. But that’s changing.
“By being intentionally all-inclusive but especially for the queer community, we’re giving a space for people to experiment with sports again that’s non-judgmental, nontoxic,” Barrie says.
The Rougaroux, part of the International Gay Rugby league, became New Orleans’ first gay and inclusive rugby team in 2017. They have a simple motto: “Play rugby. Be queer.”
The team has grown in numbers over the years, with up to 40 members attending any given practice. Those numbers matter: In rugby, there are 15 players from a team on the field at any given time, so having more players allows people to take breaks and to have substitutes if someone gets injured.
Anyone can join the Rougaroux, and the team is made up of everyone from people who have lots of experience playing rugby to people who are new to playing any kind of sport. People can play to compete in tournaments or just come to practices to learn a new sport.
“People who’ve never played a sport before are able to really explore what their bodies are able to do, get experience with tackling and just fitness routines in general, and it can grow into a sport that they really love,” Barrie says.
“But one of the beautiful things about rugby is that there’s such diversity of positions, and there really is something for every body and body shape and level of experience that it’s really beautiful to see people really fit into a role and to start to love it,” he adds.
The Rougaroux has a spring season from mid-January to May and a fall season from around late August to December. They practice once a week in City Park and typically have two games a month, one at home and one away.
In recent years, they’ve competed in the International Gay Rugby (IGR) tournament, which has brought them to Ottawa and Rome.
Though they are gender inclusive, the Rougaroux is mostly men — what they call a men’s plus team — while the New Orleans Halfmoons are a women’s plus team who recently joined IGR. The Halfmoons practice Tuesdays and Thursdays, also in City Park.
Rugby is such a contact sport that teammates have to have each other’s backs on the field, making for quick and strong bonds.
“You really trust people that you’re with, that they’re not going to let you get hurt and they’re going to help you really excel on the field,” Barrie says.
A DIFFERENT LEAGUE
STONEWALL SPORTS, a national LGBTQ recreational sports league, formed a New Orleans chapter in 2016. They started with kickball and are now up to around 10 different sports and activities, including dodgeball, bowling, volleyball, yoga and even trivia.
This summer they’re adding eSports to the roster, which will include playing first person shooter video games on teams.
Each sport has a director who handles logistics. Players can sign up with a full team, with a few friends who they want to be on a team with or as free agents.
New Orleans Commissioner Andres Gonzalez estimates they now have more than 1,500 players across the local league.
When Gonzalez first joined Stonewall, he had recently moved to New Orleans from Miami without know-
Stonewall Sports members hold up medals and a trophy.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY STONEWALL SPORTS
Jessie Alvarez (Kine Lee Killz) and Kirstie Flite (Rest N Peaces)
PHOTO BY SARAH PETERS (GOLDIE LOCKS)
ing anyone who lived here. Someone from work invited him to play on the league’s kickball team.
“It was a great experience to get to know so many people quickly moving into the city,” he says. “The city is already welcoming, but just having that other layer of it’s a queer space helps you find that home a lot quicker.”
For Gonzalez and his teammates, playing sports with Stonewall is a great way to release stress and “get away from the reality of our real life.”
Each year, Stonewall has a national tournament in one of the 28 cities where it has a chapter. This year, it’s in Columbus, Ohio, on July 17-21, and the league is hosting several fundraisers to help send athletes there, including a Pride Night at Dave and Buster’s and a scavenger hunt in the French Quarter.
ON A ROLL
THE BIG EASY ROLLER DERBY started as a women’s team in 2004, hopping onto the roller derby revival happening at the time, and opened up to all genders in 2018. The team is made up of women and LGBTQ members.
Big Easy is part of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association, which allows for everyone except cisgender men to compete. However, the team is open to everyone, and there are other ways cis men can participate.
Big Easy has been life-changing for many of its members, especially for Kirstie Flite, whose competitor name is Rest N Peaces, and Jessie Alvarez, aka Kine Lee Killz. The two met through the sport and got married last year.
Both had similar introductions to roller derby, though several states away. Alvarez was watching the 2006 reality TV show “Rollergirls” in South Florida. Meanwhile, Flite was working at a movie theater when the roller derby movie “Whip It” came out in 2009 and a Slidell team came to the theater. Both were attracted to the punk DIY aesthetic of the sport. Then there were practical considerations. Flite didn’t consider herself a “sports person” but already knew how to skate. Alvarez, on the other hand, says she couldn’t skate for the life of her at first but grew up playing soccer and was looking for a sport that was less impactful on her ankle joints as an adult.
“The fact that there was no running, it involved skates, it was hitting people — it just seemed like something different and fun,” Flite says.
The sport has changed quite a bit from when they first started, they say. At first it was more like wrestling, more “rumble tumble” and “rock ’em sock ’em,” when fights would break out. That was closer to the 1940s or ’50s era roller derby, which featured scripted fights and drew big crowds.
These days, it’s a serious competitive sport, more comparable to rugby, they say.
Both say roller derby has broadened their worlds by introducing them to all kinds of people, many who have become close friends over the years.
In fact, Alvarez says derby was the first time she met nonbinary and transgender people.
“The people that skate in derby are very strong-minded, opinionated people, but at the same time, like you’ll never find a more welcoming group of diverse people,” she says.
On the flip side, Alvarez says she’s also seen “quiet, demure, shy people” really gain a sense of confidence through the sport.
“They really become their persona on and off the track because that confidence sometimes will carry over into regular adult life,” she says.
Like in rugby, there is no one body type best suited for roller derby. Alvarez says that’s really taught her that strength can come in all shapes and sizes.
“You can have a skater who weighs 250 pounds be as much of a badass on the track as a muscled-up skater that
weighs 150 pounds, or on the other token, a tiny skater that weighs like 110 pounds has laid me out plenty of times,” she says. “There is no specific definition of strong in this sport because it just comes in so many different forms.”
The sport has also taught them to love their bodies.
“I’ve gotten so much more comfortable in my body just being around all these other strong people that are confident in their own bodies,” Alvarez says. “And it’s really just taught me to accept myself for my own strengths and also how to rely on others for theirs.”
Being a married couple playing derby together, they say it’s fun to share a hobby. However, because they’re both trainers, they often play against each other during practices, which can get competitive.
“That can get a little rough every now and then, like, ‘You don’t have to hit me that hard!’ but we’re always fine afterward,” Flite says.
“We leave it on the track,” Alvarez says. “But on the track, we definitely don’t take it easy on each other because we’re married.”
The Crescent City Rougaroux
PHOTO BY PATRICK BUTTON
The Crescent City Rougaroux play the Swamp Romp in March.
PHOTO BY PATRICK BUTTON
PRIDE
BY JOHN STANTON | GAMBIT
THERE’S LOADS OF PARTIES, BRUNCHES, SHOWS AND OTHER EVENTS HAPPENING across New Orleans throughout June to celebrate pride this year. Here’s a list of some of just some of the highlights, including the annual Pride Parade, movie screenings, pool parties and even some naked karaoke. Check calendar. gambitweekly.com for information on these and other events happening throughout the month.
JUNE 1, 15, 22 & 29
PRIDE FILM FESTIVAL
The festival screens films including “Cruising,” starring Al Pacino, “Bound,” the documentary “The Celluloid Closet” and “Querelle” at The Broad Theater. Presented by the Crescent City Leathermen and the Broad Theater. Screenings are at 3 p.m. Tickets $8-$12. Visit thebroadtheater.com for details.
JUNE 5 – 8
LOUISIANA QUEER ARTS
Presented by the LGBT+ Archive of Louisiana, Louisiana Queer Arts will host a variety of Pride programming, including its annual membership meeting and luncheon, a panel discussion on the life and work of artist John Burton Harter, a screening on June 6 of the documentary “George Dureau: New Orleans Artist,” an artists’ showcase and market on June 7 featuring work from queer Louisianans, a panel discussion on the “Historical Perspectives on Louisiana Queer Art,” and a special “sneak peak” clip show of three films currently being produced by queer filmmakers. For mor information, see the archive’s website lgbtarchiveslouisiana.org/ louisiana-queer-arts/.
JUNE
6 & 12
RESISTANCE, JOY & QUEER
CINEMA FOR PALESTINE
The Patois Collective presents two pride and Palestine related movie screening events. On June 6 the
collective will present “Resistance and Joy: Reclaiming Power,” a series of short documentary movies made by people “directly affected by the issues in their filmmaking and actively working to transform their/ our conditions.” On June 12, they will also present “Queer Cinema for Palestine,” which will feature work by “queer, Palestinian, and allied artists, across locales, in historic Palestine and the diaspora, identities, lengths, styles and genres ... to highlight art’s position in resistance and the struggle for liberation.” The events will be held at Cafe Istanbul between 6 and 8 p.m. on June 6 and June 12. Check Patois’ Instagram page @patoisfilmfest for more information.
JUNE 8
PRIDE TEA DANCE
Hosted at Vaughan’s Lounge in Bywater, the Pride Tea Dance is a call back to events in the 1940s and ’50s where gay and lesbian people were able to come together and party and dance openly. The Dance will feature DJ Siphne Aaye, food vendors, drink specials and more at Vaughan’s, 4-8 p.m.
JUNE 12 - 15
NEW ORLEANS BLACK PRIDE
New Orleans Black Pride presents parties and events including the Queer Legacy Summit, a festival in Louis Armstrong Park, a gospel drag brunch, mixers and more. Visit blackpridenola.com for a schedule and details.
JUNE 13 – 15
BUBBLEZ FEST
Bubblez Fest celebrates local drag queen and fashion designer Bubblez and is being put on by the producers of a new documentary on their life, work and influence on New Orleans culture. Events include a pool party at the Railyard on Poland Avenue on June 13, drag show and concert at Toulouse Theater June 14 and a House of Alexander brunch at Siberia June 15. For more information and tickets, check eventbrite.com.
JUNE 14
COMMUNITY FEST
New Orleans Black Pride presents the free, family-friendly festival in collaboration with New Orleans Pride. There’s live music and DJs, food vendors, bounce houses, cooling tents and more. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Louis Armstrong Park. Visit blackpridenola.com for details.
JUNE 14
NEW ORLEANS PRIDE PARADE
The Pride parade does a loop through the French Quarter starting at 5 p.m. Visit neworleanspride.org for details.
JUNE 14
PRIDEFEST BLOCK PARTY, NAKED KARAOKE AND COURTYARD PEEP SHOW
AllWays Lounge hosts this free post pride parade dance party, peep show and karaoke event. The fun kicks off at 6 p.m. and runs through 10 p.m. Check theallwayslounge.net for more information.
JUNE 14
PRIDEFEST
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” star and trans activist Kerri Colby headlines
Pridefest. The Phoenix Bar hosts the Pride festival with music, entertainment, food and drink vendors and more at Marigny and N. Rampart streets. The event moves from a daytime to evening festival this year, going from 5-10 p.m. Visit nolapridefest.com for details.
JUNE 14
GRRLSPOT
Grrlspot hosts its annual Pride party this year at Saddle Bar. This year will be Western themed, so Western wear is encouraged. The party will feature DJ Ksquared, Nicolita Capdevielle, Foxxy Lane Lefevre, Circus Faye, Duali Tease and Ronchanique Joseph, a mechanical bull, dancing and more. The part starts at 6 p.m., check eventbrite.com for more information.
JUNE 21
FUREVER PROUD PRIDE POOL PARTY
Hosted by the NOLA Furball Society, the clothing mandatory pool party at the Railyard on Poland Avenue will raise funds for the Trans Income Project. Tickets are $20 online, $25 at the door, and runs from 2 to 10 p.m. Check eventbrite.com for more tickets and more information.
New Orleans is filled with Pride events this month.
PHOTO BY SCOTT THRELKELD / THE TIMES- PICAYUNE
EAT + DRINK
Good neighbors
WHEN THE TEAM BEHIND THE NEW RESTAURANT EVVIVA IN THE MARIGNY chose that name, they made quite a statement. The word is an Italian exclamatory yelp of joy and delight. There is even a chunky exclamation point on the menu, connecting that joy to the outstanding flavors to be found in plates of littleneck clams bathed in white wine chili broth and charred carrots, yanked from the soil just a few days ago and served with mojo verde.
Opened quietly in March, Evviva is a joyous reunion of hospitality pros.
“When Patrick (Finney) approached us to take over The Franklin, we just looked at each other,” says Heather Lolley, who along with her partner Humberto Suazo run Galaxie tacos in Bywater, with Finney as a partner.
“We thought, was this something we could take on, or are we crazy?” Lolley says. “The only way we would consider it is if we started something new, not take over an existing restaurant,” adds Souza. “But really the only way we’d consider opening a second place is if Rebecca would agree to be the chef.”
That chef, Rebecca Wilcomb, agreed to come on board. Wilcomb, a James Beard Foundation award-winner formerly of Herbsaint and Gianna, left her role at the Link Restaurant Group in 2021 to start a family. She was just feeling ready to come back to the kitchen on her terms. Marcus Jacobs, who cooked with Wilcomb at Herbsaint before opening the now shuttered Marjie’s Grill and Seafood Sally’s, came on as chef de cuisine. But really, they are chefs sharing the kitchen.
“This business can really take everything from you if you let it,” Wilcomb says. “I want to spend time with my family and with our daughter. Here, the beauty is that we all work so well together. There’s an understanding. We work hard, but we understand the need for balance.”
Jacobs, whose partner Caitlin Carney runs their dock-to-plate Porgy’s Seafood Market in Mid-City,
Georgia, is grilled with spicy Calabrian chili butter and served with a cooling, crisp slaw.
FORK + CENTER
Surviving summer
SHOULD NEW ORLEANS RESTAURANTS
JUST CLOSE FOR THE SUMMER — not take a vacation for a week or two, but shutter for the season? It’s a question more have been forced to mull as summer has grown more onerous for restaurants.
For the Carrollton-area restaurant Boucherie, the answer this year is yes, at least partially. It will close for all of June and July, with plans to return in August. One important factor in the decision for chef Nathanial Zimet is that he can keep his staff working at his adjacent casual restaurant Bourrée, and on other projects he has in development.
The question of how local restaurants can manage summer arrives this time of year with urgency.
Memorial Day weekend ushers in the slow time in New Orleans. Many restaurants simply don’t see enough business in the summer to cover their costs, and lose money by staying open.
agrees that creating joy on the plate is easier when communication, both spoken and unsaid, is a given. “We understand what needs to be done and we trust each other to do it,” he says.
The concise menu is printed daily, which allows for tweaks with seasonal ingredients the chefs and Souza get from local farmers’ markets. Small plates might include a bowl of olives and orange segments peppered with sumac. Velma Gene’s anchovy bread, a riff on Jacobs’ grandmother’s recipe, is a menu staple, with good reason. Built on crisp focaccia from another Link Group associate, Maggie Scales at La Boulangerie, fat anchovy fillets, fresh mint, onion and crushed tomatoes bring a world of flavor in every bite. Another winning dish is a salad of radicchio and endive, two bitter greens meant to be together, in this case tossed with pickled peppers, thinly sliced country ham and creamy fresh mozzarella. Delicate quail, sourced from Plantation Quail out of
Lolley and Souza have welcomed neighborhood patrons of the space’s predecessor. They still offer a $7 martini made with well vodka or gin. There’s also a margarita as good as the house pour at Galaxie. There are snacks to be had too, including a recent steak tartare with fried capers and pork rillette with grilled focaccia and mustard.
The restaurant uses littleneck clams farm raised in Florida. Gulf shrimp are grilled and simply dressed with garlic, herbs and lemon. There is always a Gulf fish, recently a broiled skin-on triggerfish with green peppercorn butter.
The 60-seat restaurant is still an art-filled welcoming space anchored by a long, back-lit bar, but the layout is now one large room full of light. A communal table is new, and there’s a private nook for intimate dining.
The overall effect is charming and inviting, and it preserves the neighborhood feel.
“We are making the food we love for the neighborhood,” Wilcomb says.
Even at small restaurants, operators say losing $70,000 to $100,000 through the summer has become normal. Building up cash reserves to counter the loss has grown harder in the
face of rising costs industrywide and local issues, like the skyrocketing price of Louisiana’s insurance crisis.
Temporarily closing could shield them from punishing losses. But if seasonal restaurant closings become commonplace, it would make New Orleans less attractive for the visitors who do come in summer and more barren for the locals.
Some are testing other answers, combining hustle, collaboration and a different seasonal mindset.
Last year, chefs Amarys Herndon and Jordan Herndon considered a summer
Chefs Jordan Herndon and Amarys Herndon opened Palm & Pine.
PHOTO BY MAX BECHERER / THE TIMES- PICAYUNE
The Franklin is reborn as Italian spot Evviva by Beth D’Addono |
Chef Rebecca Wilcomb returns at a cozy Italian spot
Chef Rebecca Wilcomb (left), Humberto Suazo, Heather, Lolley and chef Marcus Jacobs at Evviva
PHOTO BY MADDIE SPINNER / GAMBIT
closing for Palm & Pine, the small, modern New Orleans restaurant they opened on the edge of the French Quarter in 2019. Ultimately they decided to push through again.
“Our priorities and vision for this restaurant are taking care of the people who work here, and there isn’t a way for us to do that being closed three or four months a year,” Amarys Herndon says.
“You really, really, really have to get active,” Lobo says. “When it’s busy, bask in it, but keep in mind in a few months you’re going to need every penny to turn the corner into summer.”
Instead, they’ve created a new seasonal business model, a summer trim to reduce costs until the upswing in the fall.
“Everything flips,” Jordan Herndon says. “There’s one model for how we’re profitable during the busy season and a new model for how we stay afloat in the summer, and it’s about how little money can we lose.”
He’s trying to get into more events, and he’s creating a special late-night service for summer around cocktails with a streamlined menu. He’s also drawing on experience from the pandemic, by working on summer collaborations with other brands and chefs.
“It’s hot, but there are still people here and we want to serve them,” Lobo says. “You have to foster community and give people great reasons to be in your establishment, more than just going out to spend money on dinner.”
Starting in June, Palm & Pine closes on Wednesdays and puts Saturday brunch on hiatus, and it closes an hour earlier on weekend nights. Staff is reduced at the bar and in the kitchen, where one of the co-owners often covers multiple stations normally handled by individual cooks.
Larger restaurants and hospitality groups generally have more resources to weather summer losses. But running parallel to the financial strain, there is a drain on the spirit for people in hospitality facing empty reservation books and sparse dining rooms, one that cuts across the city’s dining scene.
But it’s not all about cutting back. Palm & Pine now hosts a summer guest chef series to boost interest during the doldrums.
The chefs also created a campaign called Palm & Pine Essential Jams. Online, and on printed materials for the dining room, it lists other independent restaurants, bars, taprooms and popups that the chefs “can’t imagine New Orleans without,” encouraging their customers to support them too.
“You wonder if people still like you, you start changing things up, your team starts second guessing itself, it creates pressure, stress and doubt that you don’t need,” says Robért LeBlanc, founder of the hospitality group LeBlanc + Smith.
Since starting the campaign, though, one did close, MoPho, news that surprised many New Orleans dining enthusiasts this spring.
“What keeps people coming back to New Orleans is the food and the music,” Amarys Herndon says. “If all you have left are the big out-of-town companies and chains, what’s the point of coming to New Orleans?”
But he’s found ways to transform summer. He treats the slow months as something akin to preseason training camp for his company, which now has a diverse portfolio including Sylvain and Mahony’s Po-boys, the hotels The Chloe and The Celestine and the bars The Will & The Way, Barrel Proof and Anna’s. It’s a time to focus on processes and operations, training for staff and refining the guest experience, he says. There are town hall meetings for staff feedback and team-building events, often at other local venues, to spread more support.
New Orleans is now frequently touted in the travel media as a top destination, in particular for its food. But in the summer, all bets are off and the pressure on restaurants grows.
There are citywide restaurants promotions, including by Restaurant Week (June 16-22) and Coolinary (Aug. 1-31), and some summer events bring a burst of business.
But making it through the season is now a year-round effort, as restaurant operators try to build a bulwark of cash for the summer.
That’s the reason Prince Lobo, chef at his family’s Ethiopian restaurant Addis NOLA on Bayou Road, worked in overdrive during the spring at special events, including as a food vendor at French Quarter Festival.
The company now ends its financial year in summer, so that the next cycle can start with projects and initiatives that might otherwise get lost in the shuffle at busier times.
“Even though you’re not super busy, you still have productive work to do, you alleviate that pressure and you get better results,” LeBlanc says. Summer is long, but the upswing will come again in the fall, and restaurants need to be ready for the renewed opportunities.
“If you cut too much in labor and programming, you’re vulnerable when things get busy again, and that can happen quickly,” he says. “If you didn’t prepare or go dormant, you miss out on the uptick and you need that big October to make up for the losses.” — Ian McNulty / The Times-Picayune
B. Dylan Hollis
TikTok star, cookbook author
by Will Coviello
B. DYLAN HOLLIS LEFT HIS NATIVE BERMUDA TO STUDY JAZZ PIANO at the University of Wyoming. During the pandemic, he started baking odd recipes from a 1915 cookbook he had found. His baking videos on @bdylanhollis took off. His 2023 cookbook “Baking Yesteryear: The Best Recipes from the 1900s to the 1980s” was a best seller. He followed up with the recently released “Baking Across America: A Vintage Recipe Road Trip,” which includes a stop in New Orleans. He will talk about the new book and sign copies at 6 p.m. Friday, June 6, at the Academy of the Sacred Heart. Find information at gardendistrictbookshop.com.
How did you get into baking on social media?
B. DYLAN HOLLIS: I was not a baker. I didn’t know cooking. I could set fire to a pot of water.
It was all a product of the pandemic. In 2020, I downloaded TikTok and started looking for ideas. I had been uploading TikToks and short videos trying to find something that stuck. I had always collected old things, and in my collections, I had a cookbook from 1915. An old Five Roses flour cookbook, and it had a wild recipe for pork cake. It was a fruitcake with a pound of ground pork in it. I wanted to show people it was a legitimate recipe. That became my thing.
Folks sent books to my P.O. box. I was finding weirder recipes in there and I uploaded them. In the process, I learned how to bake.
Cooking on social media is all very pretty. It’s doing things in a trendy, modern way. I had to turn it into something that would interest people. I don’t think the people that watch me are home cooks. No one is going to criticize me for the way I cook a pork cake. I focused on what I call my three W’s: anything that makes living wild, whacky or wonderful. Showcasing the whacky things in these recipes and making jokes out of them. It’s more from the perspective of entertainment through bad ideas from back in the day.
At first, it was the oddities — you go for the shock factor. But then I came across a recipe for a gooey butter cake. The story of it was something that started out flawed. Someone mixed up their ratio of flour to butter and created a failure in St. Louis during the Great Depression.
But the legend goes that people actually liked it. The online response was different. It was more pride. People were talking about it like the dish was their hero. That’s what made me realize that the classics had a following, a different type of gravitas. That’s when I realized it wasn’t just the shock factor that draws people. It also was nostalgia.
What was your idea for “Baking Across America”?
H: When I would do these recipes that were popular somewhere, the response was so loud. So it was like, there have to be more gooey cakes. Every state surely has to have their own recipes.
We didn’t photograph in all 50 states. We shot for half. We spent a great deal of time researching and using library archives.
How we did “Baking Across America” is we all landed in a place. We’d go to a store to get ingredients and cook them in an Airbnb.
It was my first time in Savanah, Georgia. It’s another place that feels set in time. It feels like the old South. It was nice to visit Yellowstone National Park. We had to put food in bear-proof bags to do photo shoots there. I didn’t know quite how old Boston was. You’re standing on the same ground the British camped on. You’re experiencing history brick by brick. It’s cool when you go to the birthplace of some of these things. The Parker House Hotel invented the Boston cream pie. We
baked a Boston cream pie, and you’re standing in the place that invented it 100 years ago.
What interested you from New Orleans?
H: I was awestruck. It was my first time there. I had seen it through cookbooks.
One of my first cookbooks was the reason I chose New Orleans as a place to photograph. In 2022, a fan sent me a 1900, first edition “Picayune Creole Cookbook.”
Leather bound and falling to bits. But it is a tome. I needed to go there.
Landing in New Orleans, it doesn’t even feel like the United States. You’ve got the French Quarter and it looks like nothing else, it smells like nothing else. It’s a party. You go from street corner to street corner and there’s live music in all of these bars with their open windows. It’s completely different, and so is the food. Everyone thinks of bananas Foster. I am obsessed with Brennan’s. It’s got this 1950s kitsch with serving (the dessert) flambeed.
Pralines are crazy. I got a lot of flack. I recorded a video on pralines. It’s one of the hardest recipes to get right. They’re on every street corner. I tried all of them, from Sally’s to everything. For pralines, it’s an amalgamation. I tried all these recipes and distilled it down to one really good recipe.
We got yelled at taking pictures of them on the streetcar. You’ve got plenty of cookbooks shot perfectly in a studio. We shot the photo of pralines on Prytania.
I knew about calas from the “Picayune” book. They were already talking about it like it was a lost art. Through conversation, we were told we had to go see the calas expert. So we did. We went to Treme and met Mr. Brandon Pellerin there. He taught us all about it. I am humbled.
The story of what these are and who owns this is far beyond me. I was going to take it out of the book because it wasn’t my story to tell. It’s the history of emancipation through food. But I was convinced to keep it in to feature it and put it out there and keep the name going. It’s its own page and I direct people to Brandon.
WI NE OF THE WEEK
The original Pinot Grigio with its straw yellowcolor,clean intense aroma, and dry golden apple taste. It leads to afinish that is full of authentic, flavorful personality
PROVIDED PHOTO
SantaMargherita
Out to Eat is an index of Gambit contract advertisers. Unless noted, addresses are for New Orleans and all accept credit cards. Updates: Email willc@gambitweekly.com or call (504) 483-3106.
Angelo Brocato’s — 214 N. Carrollton Ave., (504) 486-1465; angelobrocatoicecream. com — This Mid-City sweet shop serves its own gelato in flavors like praline, salted caramel and tiramisu, as well as Italian ices in flavors like lemon, strawberry and mango. There also are cannolis, biscotti, fig cookies, tiramisu, macaroons and coffee drinks. No reservations. Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. $ Annunciation — 1016 Annunciation St., (504) 568-0245; annunciationrestaurant.com — Gulf Drum Yvonne is served with brown butter sauce with mushrooms and artichoke hearts. There also are oysters, seafood pasta dishes, steaks, lamb chops and more. Reservations recommended. Dinner Thu.-Mon. $$$
Bamboula’s — 514 Frenchmen St.; bamboulasmusic.com — The live music venue’s kitchen offers a menu of traditional and creative Creole dishes, such as Creole crawfish crepes with goat cheese and chardonnay sauce. Reservations accepted. Lunch, dinner and late-night daily. $$
The Blue Crab Restaurant and Oyster Bar — 118 Harbor View Court, Slidell, (985) 315-7001; 7900 Lakeshore Drive, (504) 284-2898; thebluecrabnola.com — Basin barbecue shrimp are served with rosemary garlic butter sauce over cheese grits with a cheese biscuit. The menu includes po-poys, fried seafood platters, raw and char-grilled oysters, boiled seafood in season, and more. Outdoor seating available. No reservations. Lakeview: Lunch and dinner Tue.-Sun. Slidell: Lunch Wed.-Fri., dinner Wed.-Sun., brunch Sat.-Sun. $$
Broussard’s — 819 Conti St., (504) 581-3866; broussards.com — The menu of contemporary Creole dishes includes bronzed redfish with jumbo lump crabmeat, lemon beurre blanc and vegetables. Brunch includes Benedicts, avocado toast, chicken and waffles, turtle soup and more. Reservations recommended. Outdoor seating available in the courtyard. Dinner Wed.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$$
Cafe Normandie — Higgins Hotel, 480 Andrew Higgins Blvd., (504) 528-1941; higginshotelnola.com/dining — The menu combines classic French dishes and Louisiana items like crab beignets with herb aioli. Sandwiches include po-boys, a muffuletta on flatbread and a burger. No reservations. Breakfast and lunch Mon.-Sat., dinner Fri.-Mon. $$
The Commissary — 634 Orange St., (504) 274-1850; thecommissarynola.com — Dickie Brennan’s Commissary supplies his other restaurant kitchens and also has a dine-in menu and prepared foods to go. A smoked turkey sandwich is served with bacon, tomato jam, herbed cream cheese, arugula and herb vinaigrette on honey oat bread. The menu includes dips, salads, sandwiches, boudin balls, fried oysters and more. No reservations. Outdoor seating available.
Lunch Tue.-Sat. $$
Curio — 301 Royal St., (504) 717-4198; curionola.com — The creative Creole menu includes blackened Gulf shrimp served with chicken and andouille jambalaya. There also are crab cakes, shrimp and grits, crawfish etouffee, po-boys and more. Outdoor seating available on balcony. Reservations accepted. Lunch and dinner daily. $$
$ — average dinner entrée under $10
$$ $11-$20
$$$ — $20-up
Dahla — 611 O’Keefe Ave., (504) 766-6602; dahlarestaurant.com — The menu includes popular Thai dishes like pad thai, drunken noodles, curries and fried rice. Crispy skinned duck basil is prepared with vegetables and Thai basil. Delivery available. Reservations accepted. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $$
Desire Oyster Bar — Royal Sonesta New Orleans, 300 Bourbon St., (504) 586-0300; sonesta.com/desireoysterbar — A menu full of Gulf seafood includes oysters served raw on the half-shell or char-broiled with with Parmesan, garlic and herbs. The menu also includes po-boys, po-boys, gumbo, blackened fish, fried seafood platters and more. Reservations recommended. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$
Dickie Brennan’s Bourbon House — 144 Bourbon St., (504) 522-0111; bourbonhouse.com — There’s a seafood raw bar with raw and char-broiled oysters, fish dip, crab fingers, shrimp and more. Redfish on the Half-shell is cooked skin-on and served with crab-boiled potatoes, frisee and lemon buerre blanc. The bar offers a wide selection of bourbon and whiskies. Reservations accepted. Lunch and dinner daily. $$$
Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse — 716 Iberville St., (504) 522-2467; dickiebrennanssteakhouse.com — The menu includes a variety of steaks, plus seared Gulf fish, lobster pasta, barbecue shrimp and more. A 6-ounce filet mignon is served with fried oysters, creamed spinach, potatoes and bearnaise. Reservations recommended. Dinner Mon.-Sat. $$$
El Pavo Real — 4401 S. Broad Ave., (504) 266-2022; elpavorealnola.com — The menu includes tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas, ceviche. tamales and more. Pescado Vera Cruz features sauteed Gulf fish topped with tomatoes, olives, onion and capers, served with rice and string beans. Outdoor seating available. No reservations. Lunch and early dinner Tue.-Sat. $$
Juan’s Flying Burrito — 515 Baronne St., (504) 529-5825; 2018 Magazine St., (504) 569-0000; 4724 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 486-9950; 8140 Oak St., (504) 897-4800; juansflyingburrito.com — The Flying Burrito includes steak, shrimp, chicken, cheddar jack cheese, black beans, rice, guacamole and salsa. The menu also includes tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas, fajitas, nachos, salads, rice and bean bowls with various toppings and more. Outdoor seating available. No reservations. Lunch and dinner Thu.-Tue. $$
Katie’s Restaurant — 3701 Iberville St., (504) 488-6582; katiesinmidcity.com — The Cajun Cuban with roasted pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard. The eclectic menu also includes char-grilled oysters, sandwiches, burgers, pizza, fried seafood platters, pasta, salads and more. Delivery available. Reservations accepted for large parties. Lunch and dinner daily. $$
Kilroy’s Bar — Higgins Hotel, 480 Andrew Higgins Blvd., (504) 528-1941; higginshotelnola.com/dining — The all-day bar menu includes sandwiches, soups, salads, flatbreads and a couple entrees. A muffuletta flatbread is topped with salami, mortadella,
capicola, mozzarella and olive salad. No reservations. Lunch Fri.-Mon., dinner daily. $$
Legacy Kitchen’s Craft Tavern — 700 Tchoupitoulas St., (504) 613-2350; legacykitchen.com — The menu includes oysters, flatbreads, burgers, sandwiches, salads and sharables plates like NOLA Tot Debris. A slow-cooked pulled pork barbecue sandwich is served with coleslaw on a brioche bun. Reservations accepted. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$
Legacy Kitchen Steak & Chop — 91 Westbank Expressway, Gretna, (504) 5132606; legacykitchen.com — The selection of steak and chops includes filet mignon, bone-in rib-eye, top sirloin and double pork chops. There also are burgers, salads, pasta, seafood entrees, char-broiled oysters and more. Reservations accepted. Outdoor seating available. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $$
Luzianne Cafe — 481 Girod St., (504) 2651972; luziannecafe.com — Boudin Benedict features two poached eggs over boudin and an English muffin, served with green tomato chow chow and hollandaise. No reservations. Delivery available. Breakfast and lunch Wed.-Sun. $$
Mikimoto — 3301 S. Carrollton Ave., (504) 488-1881; mikimotosushi.com — The South Carrollton roll includes tuna tataki, avocado and snow crab. The menu also has noodle dishes, teriyaki and more. Reservations accepted. Delivery available. Lunch Sun.Fri., dinner daily. $$
Mosca’s — 4137 Highway 90 West, Westwego, (504) 436-8950; moscasrestaurant.com — This family-style eatery serves Italian dishes and specialties including chicken a la grande, shrimp Mosca, baked oysters Mosca and chicken cacciatore. Reservations accepted. Dinner Wed.-Sat. Cash only. $$$
Mother’s Restaurant — 401 Poydras St., (504) 523-9656; mothersrestaurant.net — This counter-service spot serves po-boys dressed with sliced cabbage like the Famous Ferdi filled with ham, roast beef and debris. Creole favorites include jambalaya, crawfish etouffee, red beans and rice and more. Breakfast is available all day. Delivery available. No reservations. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$
Neyow’s Creole Cafe — 3332 Bienville St., (504) 827-5474; neyows.com — The menu includes red beans and rice with fried chicken or pork chops, as well as shrimp Creole, seafood platters, po-boys, chargrilled and raw oysters, salads and more. Side items include carrot souffle, mac and cheese, cornbread dressing, sweet potato tots and more. No reservations. Lunch daily, dinner Mon.-Sat., brunch Sun. $$
Nice Guys Bar & Grill — 7910 Earhart Blvd., (504) 302-2404; niceguysbarandgrillnola. com — Char-grilled oysters are topped with cheese and garlic butter, and other options include oysters Rockefeller and loaded oysters. The creative menu also includes seafood bread, a Cajun-lobster potato, wings, quesadillas, burgers, salads, sandwiches, seafood pasta, loaded fries and more. No reservations. Lunch daily, dinner Mon.-Sat. $$$ Orleans Grapevine Wine Bar & Bistro 720 Orleans Ave., (504) 523-1930; orleansgrapevine.com — The wine bar offers cheese boards and appetizers to nosh with wines. The menu includes Creole pasta with shrimp and andouille in tomato cream
sauce. Reservations accepted for large parties. Outdoor seating available. Dinner Thu.-Sun. $$
Palace Cafe — 605 Canal St., (504) 5231661; palacecafe.com — The contemporary Creole menu includes signature dishes like crabmeat cheesecake with mushrooms and Creole meuniere sauce. There also are steaks, pasta, a burger and Gulf seafood dishes. Outdoor seating available. Reservations recommended. Breakfast and lunch Wed.-Fri., dinner Wed.-Sun., brunch Sat.-Sun. $$$
Parish Grill — 4650 W. Esplanade Ave., Suite 100, Metairie, (504) 345-2878; parishgrill.com — The menu includes burgers, sandwiches, pizza and sauteed andouille with fig dip, blue cheese and toast points. Reservations accepted. Lunch and dinner Mon.-Sat. $$
Peacock Room — Kimpton Hotel Fontenot, 501 Tchoupitoulas St., (504) 324-3073; peacockroomnola.com — At brunch, braised short rib grillades are served over grits with mushrooms, a poached egg and shaved truffle. The dinner menu has oysters, salads, pasta, shrimp and grits, a burger, cheese plates and more. Reservations accepted. Dinner Wed.-Mon., brunch Sun. $$
Rosie’s on the Roof — Higgins Hotel, 480 Andrew Higgins Blvd., (504) 528-1941; higginshotelnola.com/dining — The rooftop bar has a menu of sandwiches, burgers and small plates. Crab beignets are made with Gulf crabmeat and mascarpone and served with herb aioli. No reservations. Dinner Mon.-Sat. $$
Tableau — 616 St. Peter St., (504) 9343463; tableaufrenchquarter.com — The menu features traditional and creative Creole dishes. Pasta bouillabaisse features squid ink mafaldine, littleneck clams, Gulf shrimp, squid, seafood broth, rouille and herbed breadcrumbs. Outdoor seating available on the balcony. Reservations recommended. Dinner Wed.-Sun., brunch Thu.-Sun. $$$
Tacklebox — 817 Common St., (504) 827-1651; legacykitchen.com — The menu includes raw and char-broiled oysters, seafood platters, po-boys, fried chicken, crab and corn bisque and more. Redfish St. Charles is served with garlic-herb butter, asparagus, mushrooms and crawfish cornbread. Reservations accepted. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$
Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza — 1212 S. Clearview Parkway, Elmwood, (504) 733-3803; 2125 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, (504) 510-4282; 4024 Canal St., (504) 302-1133; 4218 Magazine St., (504) 894-8554; 70488 Highway 21, Covington, (985) 234-9420; theospizza.com — A Marilynn Pota Supreme pie is topped with mozzarella, pepperoni, sausage, hamburger, mushrooms, bell peppers and onions. There also are salads, sandwiches, wings, breadsticks and more. Delivery available. Lunch and dinner daily. $
The Vintage — 3121 Magazine St., (504) 324-7144; thevintagenola.com — There’s a full coffee drinks menu and baked goods and beignets, as well as a full bar. The menu has flatbreads, cheese boards, small plates and a pressed veggie sandwich with avocado, onions, arugula, red pepper and pepper jack cheese. No reservations. Delivery and outdoor seating available. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $$
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
‘Ain’t Misbehavin’: The Fats Waller Musical Show’
The musical revue celebrates the music of swinging jazz pianist Fats Waller and music popular in New York nightclubs in the 1920s and ’30s. The show features the songs “Ain’t Misbahavin’,” “Honeysuckle Rose,” “I Can’t Give You Anything but Love, Baby,” “Jitterbug Waltz,” “Viper’s Drag” and more. At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 5, through Saturday, June 7, and 3 p.m. Sunday, June 8, and continuing June 12-22 at Le Petit Theatre. Tickets $27-$97 via lepetittheatre.com.
The Allstar Band
New Orleans group The Allstar Band also will celebrate Prince and his music with a tribute show at 5 p.m. Tuesday, June 3, from the balcony of the New Orleans Jazz Museum’s balcony. The concert is free to attend, and it will be live-streamed via facebook.com/ nolajazzmuseum.
Elliot From Earth
Many Friday and Saturday nights, Bywater music venue No Dice hosts free late-night dance parties with local DJs. Their next edition will feature Elliot from Earth starting around 11:30 p.m. Friday, June 6. Admission is free. Find more info on dice.fm.
The Body and Sunrot
As The Body, drummer Lee Buford and guitarist-vocalist Chip King are prolific boundary-pushers of experimental, heavy music. New Jersey-born sludge and doom band Sunrot is known for channeling societal anxieties into a cathartic, crushing sound. In the fall, the two bands released the split EP “Void” and are now on a short tour together. The Body and Sunrot play Gasa Gasa at 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 4, with Guts Club and laughingthrush. Tickets are $19.29 via gasagasanola.com.
Les Femmes Farouches
Musicians Michelle Racca-Landry, Natalie Naquin, Katy Murphy and Sophie Lee play Cajun and Creole music in their relatively new band Les Femme Farouches. The quartet plays a free show at 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 3, at d.b.a. as part of a series curated by Lee, who also co-owns d.b.a. and Three Muses. Find more info at dbaneworleans.com.
Orchestra Noir
Atlanta-based conductor and composer Jason Ikeem Rodgers founded Orchestra Noir in 2016 as a vehicle to
celebrate Black American musicians and perform everything from classical music to jazz, hip-hop and R&B. The group’s Y2K Meets ’90s tour re-interprets that decade’s hip-hop and R&B through an orchestral lens. Orchestra Noir performs at 8 p.m. Saturday, June 7, at Orpheum Theater. Available tickets start at $78.05 via orpheumnola.net.
War Bunnies
New Orleans alt-rock trio War Bunnies released their great EP, “What You Wanted,” around this time last year, and they’re gearing up to release a single called “Didn’t Do It to You.” War Bunnies plays with synth-pop band Drugstore Lipstick on Thursday, June 5, at the Rabbit Hole and will be shooting a music video for their new song. To be in the video, attendees should show up at 7 p.m., and the full concert starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $13.76 in advance via rabbitholenola.com and $15 at the door.
Cat Empire
Cat Empire is primarily a jazz-funk band out of Melbourne, Australia. In their 2023 song “Thunder Rumbles,” the lyrics name-drop Dr. John, gumbo and crawfish as the horn section blares New Orleans sounds. The band also delved into ska and reggae, and expanded with flamenco and tropical sounds on its most recent release, March’s “Bird in Paradise.” Opening for the band at Tipitina’s is guitarist Leon Toye’s Toyesauce, which will feature Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph, Brad Walker, Aurelian Barnes, Terrence Houston, Noah Young and Sam Kuslan. At 8 p.m. Thursday, June 5, at Tipitina’s. Tickets $45.71-$132.46 via tipitinas.com.
Good Enough for Good Times
Galactic’s Robert Mercurio and Jeff Raines lead this side project, which headlines a Free Fridays show at Tipitina’s. Also performing is Deltaphonic, which combines blues, funk, Southern rock and soul. At 9 p.m. Friday, June 6. There are no tickets, and admission is first come, first served. Visit tipitinas.com for information.
Thomas Helton
Houston jazz and avant-garde bassist and composer Thomas Helton performs with two lineups at a show organized by Scatterjazz. Aurora Nealand and Chris Alford join him for one set, and the other set features Mahmoud Chouki and David Buchbinder. At 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 3, at the Broadside. Tickets $16.93 via thebroadside.com.
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Friedtrout over broccoli cheddarrice with collardgreens
Boudinstuffeddouble cutporkchop with broccoli cheddarriceand creamy creole sauce
Shrimpcreole with friedcatfish
Seafoodstuffedjumbo Softshell crab with seafoodcreamand vegGIES
Boiled Crawfish Thursdays at 4PM!
Scan QR code to purchase tickets
Friday,June 6
7:30 p.m. –10:00 p.m. Orpheum Theater
Historian John Monsky joins The NationalWWII Museum, theLouisiana PhilharmonicOrchestra, andBroadway stars for this musicallydriven multimediaexperiencecapturingthe dramatic final monthsofWorld WarIIinEurope.
TheNational WWII MuseumPresents
Presentedby Priddy Family Foundation
WeekendBrunc hServedA ll Day hServedA Day
MUSIC
To learn more about adding your event to the music calendar, please email listingsedit@gambitweekly.com
MAHOGANY JAZZ BAND — Smoking Time Jazz Club, 2:30 pm; Big Joe Kennedy, 6 pm; Mahogany Hall Swingsters ft. Roderick Paulin, 8 pm
THE MAISON — Rob Snow, 3 pm; Jenavieve Cooke & The Winding Boys, 7 pm
MAPLE LEAF BAR Joe Krown Trio Plus 1 feat. Papa Mali, 9 pm
NO DICE — TROMAC + NOAH G + LVCD, 9 pm
ROYAL FRENCHMEN HOTEL — Chris Christy’s Quintet, 9 pm
SANTOS BAR Rainbow Party presents Purple Persuasion: Pride is a Riot! ft. The Sweetie Pies + More, 9 pm
TIPITINA’S — Fais Do-Do With Bruce Daigrepont Cajun Band, 5:15 pm
MUSIC
Joy in troubled times
by Jake Clapp
JESS JOY’S NEW ALBUM “WON’T BE KICKED OUT THE GARDEN” is about learning to live in a world of constant crises. The New Orleans musician and artist began working on what would become her third full-length album during the Covid pandemic, while she was living in Los Angeles, but was still working on it up until a few months ago.
Just those five years saw global lockdowns and health emergencies, political and economic instability, climate crisis and natural disasters and war in Ukraine. We’re able to instantly see the multiple crises happen through our phones, Joy says.
“I think the writing portion was a lot thinking about belonging and survival and where it’s safe … and feeling isolated and separate,” Joy says. And as the theatrical avant-garde pop album took shape, a character and a story arc emerged.
“I wanted to start with a character who is kind of a little bit awful — or just not OK,” Joy says. “But the arc of the story is they’re humbled and realizing the importance of interdependence and friendship and what love looks like in reality versus fantasy.”
“Won’t Be Kicked Out The Garden” was released on May 30, and Joy will perform the album at 6 p.m. Sunday, June 8, at Big Couch. She’ll be joined by drummer Greg Saunier of the experimental pop band Deerhoof, synth player and vocalist Laura Fisher, guitarist Ile Legendre, saxophonist Byron Asher and bassist Adam Keil. Unkel Kunkel will perform after.
Originally from Baton Rouge, Joy moved to the West Coast in 2014 with the psychedelic rock band Moon Honey. After Moon Honey came to an end, Joy began dipping into solo music, encouraged by Saunier, who had produced Moon Honey’s 2013 full-length album. Her first art-pop solo album, the elevated “Patreearchy,” followed in early 2021, and a second album, “Sourceheiress,” was released in 2023 and was accompanied by a visual album that screened at the Music Box Village.
While preparing for an eventual move to Berlin, Joy in late 2021 decided to first move to New Orleans to spend
time with family before crossing to Europe. But in the four years since, she’s become part of the music and arts communities. Joy also is a costumer and choreographer who specializes in mime, and she is part of Soapbox Choir.
When she was ready to record
“Won’t Be Kicked Out The Garden,” Joy and friends and collaborators Fisher and Alex Brownstein traveled to Saunier’s house in Tucson, Arizona, to spend a week recording. Along with those performers, the album features contributions by Asher, vocalist Sarah McTaggart, drummer Jermaine Butler (who performed with Joy in Moon Honey) and more.
A range of styles can be heard on “Won’t Be Kicked Out The Garden,” shifting and changing as the album plays out. There also are interesting samples, including a pump used to blow up an air mattress and a Casio keyboard running on dying batteries.
But central to the album is Joy’s dynamic voice, which soars and plummets, roars and whispers and takes hairpin turns. Influenced by her study of corporeal mime, Joy’s use of the voice itself helps tell the story and employs new tones to represent characters.
“There’s so much raw emotion in it,” Fisher says about Joy’s vocals. “There’s a harshness, but there’s a beauty. [There’s] anger and frustration with things in the world and things we experience. It’s so naturally fused with all the appreciation and the beauty and the wisdom.”
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Jess Joy, left, recently released ‘Won’t Be Kicked Out The Garden.’ PROVIDED PHOTO BY TOBI EFLER
D-Day remembered
by Will Coviello
THE LATE HISTORIAN STEPHEN AMBROSE WROTE BIOGRAPHIES of Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon, as well as many books about World War II. For histories of the war in Europe, Ambrose interviewed veterans about their experiences landing on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day and battles across the continent.
Finding a home for those soldiers’ oral histories was one of the reasons Ambrose wanted to build a D-Day museum in New Orleans. While talking over the idea with friend and fellow University of New Orleans historian Gordon “Nick” Mueller in 1989, they thought they might be able to find space on the lakefront campus and eventually build a building to house it. As they started working on the project, it just got bigger.
near UNO’s campus. Higgins contribution to the war effort was the connection to building a D-Day museum in New Orleans.
The D-Day Museum opened in the Warehouse District on June 6, 2000, the 56th anniversary of D-Day.
This week, what has become the National World War II Museum marks its 25th anniversary during its annual commemoration of the invasion of Normandy, a crucial turning point in the war. Of the 16.4 million Americans who served in uniform during the war, roughly 60,000 survive, and 20 will be honored at the Heroes’ Welcome at 8:50 a.m. Friday, June 6, at the museum’s Louisiana Memorial Pavilion. There are a host of special events on June 4-7 on the museum campus and at the Orpheum Theater.
Mueller’s account of the museum’s founding and development, “Preserving the Legacy: Creating the National WWII Museum,” was just released by LSU Press. In the book, he recounts having drinks with Ambrose in 1989 when he first pitched the idea of a museum. They came up with a wild-eyed estimate of needing to raise $4 million to open a small museum on campus.
The lakefront also had a historical significance for the proposed museum. When Ambrose interviewed Eisenhower, he credited New Orleanian Andrew Higgins with helping the U.S. win the war. The shipbuilder had designed the flat-bottomed landing craft used to land on beaches in Normandy and in the Pacific. The boats had been tested on Lake Pontchartrain,
Not long after the D-Day Museum opened, it took a giant leap forward, as Senator Ted Stevens urged Mueller and Ambrose to expand the museum to include the entire war effort from Europe to the South Pacific, Mueller writes.
The museum now occupies a seven-acre campus in the Warehouse District, including the original building at 945 Magazine St., plus new pavilions, the massive Bollinger Canopy of Peace, a hotel and more. It’s the result of a total of $420 million in raised funds. Growth is continuing with educational facilities along Magazine Street.
The museum has welcomed more than 10 million visitors, including 700,000 last year. The museum’s archives hold more than 13,000 videotaped oral histories from veterans. The museum holds more than 300,000 artifacts, many donated by veterans.
This week, there is a remembrance at Founders Plaza on Thursday, June 5, for the soldiers fallen at Normandy. There’s an H-Hour Remembrance at 6:30 a.m. on June 6 at Founders Plaza. A D-Day commemoration and 25th anniversary ceremony is at 11 a.m. Friday.
On Friday night, “The Eyes of the World: From D-Day to VE-Day” is a multimedia show recounting the final year of the war through archival photos and film with music by the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra at the Orpheum Theater.
There’s also a reception for Mueller and his book at 4:30 p.m. Thursday in the Louisiana Memorial Pavilion.
PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER / THE TIMES- PICAYUNE
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PREMIER CROSSWORD PUZZLE
IT ALL ADDS UP
By Frank A. Longo
1 Mon -- (French for “my dear”)
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Captain Marvel’s magic word 19 Person determining a chicken’s gender, e.g.
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CELEBRATING 25 YEAR SAT
THE NATIONAL WWII MUSEUM
Jo in us to commemorat eD -Da y, celebrate th e 25th annivers ary of the Mu seum 's gran d opening ,a nd lear na bout our future growth
PRESERVING THE LE GACY:C REATING THE NATIONAL WWII MU SEUM BY GORDON H. "NICK"M UELLE R BOOK LAUNCH AND RE CEPTION
DR .H AL BAUMG ARTEN D-DAY CO MMEMORATION & MU SEUM'S 25TH ANNIVER SA RY CELEBRATIO N
TH EN AT IONAL WWI IM US EUM PRESENTS THE EYES OF THE WO RLD: FR OM D- DAYT OV ED AY Presented byPriddy Family Foundation Friday JUNE 6 11:00 AM The National WWII Museum saturday JUNE 7
9:00 AM –5:00 PM The National WWIIMuseum
2 5TH ANNIVER SA RY FA MILYA ND MEMBER DAY Presented byTimber and Peggy Floyd
