Hot off their sold-out success at Joe's Pub in New York City, the Cockettes Nouveau are back in San Francisco for three nights at Oasis SF with their new musical revue DIRT! SEX! PASSION! on Wednesday, May 29, Thursday, May 30, and Friday, May 31 at 7pm. Doors open at 6pm. 21+ with photo ID.
Join original Cockette Scrumbly Koldewyn and the new generation of Cockettes Nouveau including Noah Haydon, Birdie Bob Watt, Bonni Suval, Carl Linkhart, Ellie Stokes, Matt Bratko, Steven Satyricon, and Yaadi Erica Richardson celebrating the music created by Scrumbly, Link Martin, Martin Worman, Peter Mintun and others.
“Expect a glamorous spin around the world with the Cockettes Nouveau,” said producer Dan Karkoska. “We kept many audience favorites and added a lot of new numbers that have not been staged in awhile. We are very excited!”
Come see what Jed Ryan from Lavender After Dark, NYC called “Delectably decadent,” “Groundbreaking,” “A night filled with one priceless vignette after another.” “The Cockettes…shocked and delighted the audience…from the opening number right on through to its devilishly funny finale.”
A Brief Cockettes History
In 1969, The Cockettes debuted at the Palace Theater in San Francisco with their midnight sensation the Nocturnal Dream Show starring a genderbending, 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 Cockette’s sprawling, kaleidoscopic pantheon of colorful personalities included icons including Hibiscus and Sylvester and was often augmented by special guests, most notably drag superstars Divine & Mink Stole. The Cockettes were ahead of their time, especially in the acceptance of gender fluidity and glitter beards. 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 rave reviews and a long 22 month run. Playing on the interest already garnered by David Weissman & Bill Weber’s The Cockettes documentary released in 2002, interest in this troupe was reawakened and entertained an entirely new and appreciative audience. Over the next decade, The Thrillpeddlers continued recreating Cockette shows under the watchful eye of the original songwriter and Cockette Scrumbly Koldewyn.
Fifty years later in 2020, they celebrated their Golden 50th 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. Additional shows were booked to continue the celebration, but COVID changed those plans.
After Covid, the Cockettes were back with a new generation of performers, some Thrillpeddler veterans and Koldewyn. They sold out multiple shows at Oasis in San Francisco and PianoFight in Oakland. Now rebranded as Cockettes Nouveau, the troupe sold out Joe’s Pub last year in New York City with plans to return this October.
Producer Dan Karkoska, Assistant Director Birdie Bob Watt, and Scrumbly Koldewyn want to continue to spread the word about the Cockettes in San Francisco, New York City, and beyond.
