Taylor Mac and Matt Ray’s: Bark of Millions in Concert

Bark of Millions is a reverse conversion therapy session. What that means is it seeks to make you more queer than when you entered. If you’re already queer, congratulations. We hope you will become queerer. If, against all-natural law, you’re a zero on the Kinsey scale (meaning the straightest human that ever existed), we still hope we may crack a little wobble into you.

“Convert, convert”, the lesbian marchers at the LGBT rally once shouted. I used to laugh, thinking they weren’t serious, simply giving a middle finger to homophobic stereotypes about evil queers corrupting housewives and the barely legal. Now I see, it wasn’t only resistance, it wasn’t only humorous, it was liberation. It’s a liberation to love, to explore and to wonder with others and their bodies. It’s also survival. The more queers there are, the safer we are.

So, we hope to make you queer. For your liberation, for ours, and so we may all, not only survive, but thrive. Besides, it’s fun. Especially as our reverse conversion therapy session is in song. One after another after another. Songs inspired by different queers from world history. Songs that remind us that we’ve always been here and that queerness is the root of the natural world (and the spiritual one if you’re prone to separate them).

If you doubt that, consider there was a time when authorities taught that the world was flat. A straight horizontal line, which one could fall from. It turns out, they were wrong. Might you be too? Might you, like the earth, also be round? Or, at the very least, a little bent.

– Taylor Mac

Taylor Mac and I share a goal as artists to make work that builds community over a long arc. We continuously reach towards this goal by fostering and nurturing long-term relationships with artistic collaborators, musicians, singers, actors, creatives, and audiences. My dream is that as you witness our family on stage, you feel yourselves leaning in towards us and joining our world of beauty, hope, remembrance, sharing, darkness, light, and action. As we sing out our history, it is not just a calling back but an urging forward, together.

– Matt Ray

To the ancient Egyptians, creation is a process of unfurling with the undivided. The first god, Atum (also the first genderqueer) created themself by uttering their name in an infinite expanse of darkness and directionless water called Nun. Atum (also called Temu, Tem, Ra, depending on the point in their rebirthing process) then turned into a Bennu bird and, similar to a phoenix, would  burst into flames, then be reborn each day. In this action the earth was created as a reflection of the heavens. At some point the eye of Atum separated and wandered off on its own and in a struggle to return it, it cried tears, which created humans. Years later, in Atum's senility, humans plotted against their creator, which separated the heavens from earth and sent Atum into the heavens, leaving humans below (presumably no longer a reflection). This separation creates the Bark of Millions. It is sometimes depicted as a boat version of the sun (representing Atum) and sometimes depicted as a vessel Atum captains, while pulling the sun behind it. Because Atum is no longer with us, they must bring the sun to us. Day after day, year after year, this bark sails around the heavens bringing light to the earth. Each evening, Atum on their Bark (or as the bark) does battle against the serpent Apep (the aspect of chaos), who tries to bring darkness to the planet. Each morning, Atum is victorious and is able to bring themself back to us (the millions in the Bark of Millions refers to the years of battles and victories).

The Bark of Millions book will be published by Black Dog & Leventhal in Autumn 2026 and is available for preorder wherever you purchase books.

Taylor Mac is a MacArthur fellow, a Pulitzer Prize Finalist, a Tony nominee for Best Play, and the recipient of the International Ibsen Award.  Selected works include:  Joy and Pandemic (a realism play about an abstract art school); The Hang (a Passion Play/jazz opera about the final hours of Socrates, with lyrics by Mac and music by Matt Ray); The Fre (a queer children’s play set in a ball pit); Gary:  A Sequel to Titus Andronicus (a tragedy determined to become a comedy); A 24-Decade History of Popular Music (a 24-hour performance art concert about community);  Hir (an absurd realism play about changing America); The Walk Across America for Mother Earth (an anarchist adaptation of Three Sisters about activism, with music by Ellen Maddow); The Lily’s Revenge (a Noh inspired flowergory manifold about a flower who wants to be the center of the story, with music by Rachel Garniez); The Young Ladies Of (a paternal mystery); The Be(A)st of Taylor Mac (a ukulele confessional about the war on terror); Red Tide Blooming (a freak-show musical about gentrification); The Last Two People on Earth (a two-man cabaret for seagulls about the joy of singing, created with Mandy Patinkin, Susan Stroman, and Paul Ford).  Films include Whitman in the Woods (directed by Noah Greenberg, streaming on All Arts) and Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music (a concert doc directed by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, streaming on Max).

Matt Ray is an Obie Award-winning theater-maker, composer, pianist, singer, songwriter, arranger, and music director. His arrangements have been called “wizardly” (Time Out NY) and “ingenious” (NY Times), and his piano playing referred to as “classic, well-oiled swing” (NY Times) and “to cry for” (Ebony). For his work on Taylor Mac’s show A 24-Decade History of Popular Music he and Mac shared the 2017 Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired By American History. He and Mac’s jazz-based theater piece The Hang opened to rave reviews in January of 2022 and won Matt a 2023 Obie Award for Music Direction and Composition. The show also received four Drama Desk and two Drama League nominations including a Drama Desk nomination for Matt Ray for Best Music. His show Matt Ray Plays Hoagy Carmichael featuring Kat Edmonson premiered at Lincoln Center’s American Songbook series in 2018. He has performed worldwide, including as a US Department of State Jazz Ambassador.

Since 1998, Pomegranate Arts has worked in close collaboration with a small group of contemporary artists and arts institutions to bring bold and ambitious artistic ideas to fruition. Creative and executive producers Linda Brumbach and Alisa E. Regas, along with their committed team at Pomegranate Arts, have produced the Olivier Award-winning revival of Einstein on the Beach; Taylor Mac’s  epic A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, Holiday Sauce, and now – their third collaboration together, along with composer Matt Ray – a rock opera meditation on queerness called Bark of Millions; Available Light by John Adams, Lucinda Childs and Frank Gehry; Robin Frohardt’s The Plastic Bag Store; Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch’s Shockheaded Peter; and the Drama Desk Award-winning production of Charlie Victor Romeo. In recent years, Pomegranate has expanded into non-performative mediums, including the  feature documentary film Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music (HBO Original Doc), the film short Taylor Mac’s Whitman in the Woods. (ALL ARTS), and museum installations for Machine Dazzle. Pomegranate Arts is proud to support North American touring for Batsheva Dance Company and Sankai Juku.

Chris Giarmo is an artist based in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was recently seen performing in David Byrne's American Utopia on a world tour (2018), Broadway (2019-2022), and in the filmed version directed by Spike Lee. He's worked with artists including Annie-B Parson/Big Dance Theater, Tina Satter/Half Straddle, Sibyl Kempson/7 Daughters of Eve Theater & Performance Co, Taylor Mac, Jackie Sibblies Drury, Faye Driscoll, and Jess Barbagallo as a performer, composer and/or sound designer. He is the creator of anti-consumerist drag queen/beauty guru Kimberly Clark on YouTube, and is currently developing a concert version of the debut album from his queer electro-pop solo music project Boys Don't Fight.

Bassist and multi-instrumentalist Gary Wang has been playing professionally in New York City for over 25 years, performing, touring and recording with a diverse array of artists including Anat Fort, Taylor Mac, Ben Monder, Ed Cherry, Peter Bernstein, Michael Leonhart, Madeleine Peyroux, and T.S. Monk, Matt Ray and Dana Lyn among many others. He has also subbed regularly on the Tony award winning Broadway musical Hadestown.

Gary’s side solo project Shapes On Parade has released two albums on Bandcamp. He also is a member of the San Francisco-based band The Invisible Cities, and has also contributed production and overdubbing work to projects by Michael Leonhart, Sam Sadigursky, Goh Nakamura and choreographer Kakuti Lin with the Full Circle Dance Company.

Jack Fuller is an artist born and raised in Harlem NYC's Sugar Hill. They studied at Harlem School of the Arts and LaGuardia High School as a vocalist, instrumentalist, actor, arranger, and songwriter. As a queer child in Harlem, adversity was no stranger. Always misunderstood, always different, they reach for communication through their work—to understand their art is to understand them. The two spirited/two headed creative force has two albums out, the latest of which is "The Build". They look forward to releasing their current work "The Treatment" in 2025.

Jules Skloot is a dancer, choreographer, and teacher working and living in Cummington, MA, and New York, NY. Jules has been a collaborator and performer in Jennifer Miller's Circus Amok, and in the work of Tatyana Tenenbaum, devynn emory/beastproductions, and Hadar Ahuvia.  Jules was a founding collaborator and choreographer of The Ballez. Jules’ own performance works are research into projection and queer embodiment, and have been presented in NY at Dixon Place, BAX, the University Settlement, BkSD, AUNTS, and in MA at the School for Contemporary Dance and Thought (SDCT). Jules teaches dance classes and workshops to people of all ages, health classes to kids, and is committed to increasing joy and collective liberation in all these endeavors.

Beloved downtown bon vivant and all-around creative provocateur Machine Dazzle has been dazzling stages via costumes, sets, and performance since his arrival in New York in 1994. He designs intricate, unconventional wearable art pieces and bespoke installations. As a stage designer, Machine has collaborated with Julie Atlas Muz, Big Art Group, Mx. Justin Vivian Bond, Taylor Mac, Basil Twist, Godfrey Reggio, Jennifer Miller, The Dazzle Dancers, Big Art Group, Mike Albo, Stanley Love, Soomi Kim, Pig Iron Theatre Company, Opera Philadelphia, the Bearded Ladies Cabaret, the Curran Theatre, and Spiegelworld; and has created bespoke looks for fashion icons including designer Diane von Furstenberg and model Cara Delevingne for the 2019 Metropolitan Museum of Art Gala. Recent collaborations include Bassline Fabulous with the Catalyst Quartet (Metropolitan Museum of Art); Treasure, a rock-and-roll cabaret of original songs + accompanying fashion show; and the historic premiere of the never-before-seen Rameau comedic opéra-ballet, Io (Opera Lafayette). Dazzle was a co-recipient the 2017 Bessie Award for Outstanding Visual Design, the winner of a 2017 Henry Hewes Design Award, and a 2022 United States Artists Fellow. He delivered a TED Talk at TED Vancouver in 2023. Machine Dazzle has had solo exhibitions at NYC’s Museum of Arts and Design (Queer Maximalism x Machine Dazzle) and Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre (Machine Dazzle: Art And Intention).

Mama Alto is a jazz singer, cabaret artiste & gender transcendent diva. She is a transgender & queer person of colour, living with disability, who works with the radical potential of storytelling, strength in softness and power in vulnerability. Her solo performances are critically acclaimed & programmed at venues & festivals including Melbourne Recital Centre (VIC), Adelaide Cabaret Festival (SA), Festival of Voices (TAS) & more. She has collaborated with legendary figures including Finucane & Smith, Declan Greene, Brook Andrew, and Taylor Mac, and she is the co-creator of highly acclaimed variety cabaret “Gender Euphoria,” Australia’s largest ever entirely trans & gender diverse main stage production. Additionally, she has worked as a writer, playwright, diversity & inclusion specialist, and advocate, and received multiple arts and community awards including from the Australia Council, Creative Victoria and more.

Shirazette Tinnin is a 2022 Latin Grammy Nominee for Andean-Funk’s “The Sacred Leaf”, 18th St. Make Jazz Fellow, Fulbright Scholar, author, health coach, music director, drummer, composer, and bandleader. She is a full-time Associate Professor of Percussion at Berklee College of Music. Tinnin is the American Drummer for Dee Dee Bridgewater and freelances with other artists including Deborah Cox, Lea Delaria (OITNB), Endea Owens, Yuri Juárez’s Afro-Peruano, Afrikkanitha, Alan Harris, Alicia Olatuja, Nicole Mitchell, Taylor Mac, Tia Fuller, Mimi Jones, Orange Coffee, Alicia Keys, and Black Girls Rock. She leads her own projects – “Shirazette & Sonic WallPaper Band” and “Moods of Her”. Tinnin was music coordinator for Zawolé Zollar’s Urban Bush Women (2017 – 2023), musical director for Alan Harris’s “Cross That River”, and curator of “Jazz Women'' at Little Island (2021). With a background in drum set, marching, classical, and world percussion, Tinnin’s primary instrument is drum set. She serves on the advisory board of her alma mater Appalachian State University and earned a master’s in music from Northern Illinois University in Jazz Pedagogy under saxophonist Ron Carter. Tinnin released her third album “The Cards That Life Can Deal” in 2021 and has new music – feat. Christian McBride – coming soon.

With an electrifying blend of grit and sensuality, singer, songwriter, and performer Steffanie Christi’an commands the stage. Distinguished by seamless versatility and an eclectic stable of influences, from Sam Cooke to Kurt Cobain, Steffanie’s high-energy performances leave audiences feeling flushed and fed. She has performed and collaborated with a variety of artists including MacArthur award winner Taylor Mac, hip-hop legend Talib Kweli, actor and producer Idris Elba, released four independent EP’s, and has traveled the world rocking stages from Detroit to Croatia. She released her highly anticipated first full-length album “It’s Complicated” March 2019 to rave reviews. In addition to her solo career, Steffanie is the vocalist for the iconic house/techno group Inner City. Their latest album was released in July 2020 on Armada Records. She recently joined forces with poet jessica Care moore to create a fiery new music project that blends rock & roll with poetry under the moniker We Are Scorpio, which will be released late 2023.

Stephen Quinn (all pronouns) is a theatre and performance maker, based between Dublin, Ireland, and New York City. His work encompasses a kaleidoscope of music theatre; drag; burlesque, physical theatre, and alternative cabaret. Recent credits include "Crying At The Orgy" (HOT! Festival at Dixon Place, 2023); "Shame // Less" (Galway Film Fleadh, 2022; GAZE International LGBTQ+ Film Festival 2021); Anu Productions "Faultline" (Dublin Theatre Festival/Gate Theatre, 2019); "OVERFIRED" (winner of the Outburst Queer Fringe Award at Dublin Fringe, 2018), Taylor Mac's "A 24 Decade History of Popular Music: The First Act" (London International Festival of Theatre 2018, Barbican Theatre) and Zoe Ni Riordan’s "Recovery" at Project Arts Centre, Dublin (2016/17; winner of the Romilly Masters Performance Award from the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris, 2017). Stephen is also the co-creative director/host of the celebrated, Dublin-based queer performance event SPICEBAG, where he performs as his alter ego: Stefan Fae.

Viva DeConcini plays guitar like a flaming sword, screaming train, ringing bell and a scratching chicken, she sings like if Freddy Mercury had been a woman, and she writes songs eclectically. Viva has played all over the world, from holes in the wall to the Monterey Jazz Fest. She has written and produced 4 full length rock albums, 4 original music videos, a 10-episode podcast and a poetry video for the Guggenheim's Works and Process. She musically directed works at the Guggenheim Theater and The WP. Her work has charted on CMJ, been featured in No Depression Magazine and she is one of the few females to be profiled in Guitar Player Magazine. She is currently working on an original web series queer feminist spaghetti western operetta with sock puppets. “Crushable” – Art Forum, “Virtuosic guitar shredding” – The New York Times, “A beautiful voice” – KUNM.

Wesley Olivier graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in May of 2018 with a Bachelor of Arts in Music, Theatre, and Film. An experimental musical theatre composer and drag performer, Wes gives shows in their gender non-conforming alien clown drag persona Klondyke in Brooklyn. They are currently re-working their first musical, Elsewhere, after the success of their second musical, Scarecrow, which was put up in 2023 at Ars Nova. Their art in all facets is created with the intention of furthering black trans liberation, the acknowledgment of our queer and trans ancestors that were erased or rewritten by white supremacy, and the freedom to have joy. Previous credits include Bark of Millions by Taylor Mac and Matt Ray at the Sydney Opera House (Oct 2023); Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil workshop by Taylor Mac and Jason Robert Brown (May 2023); Scarecrow by Klondyke at Ars Nova (Jan 2023); Takes the Cake Drag King and Thing Competition winner by The Cakeboys at 3DB (Sept 2021).

Brendan Aanes is a Brooklyn-based sound designer and composer whose work includes design for plays, musicals, and interactive installations, scores for theater and dance, live foley, and design for concert performances. Recent credits include Fire in Dreamland at The Public Theater, Balls with One Year Lease (Drama Desk nomination), {my lingerie play} at Rattlestick, Cowboy Bob at Ars Nova, The Unfortunates, John, The Hard Problem and Chester Bailey at American Conservatory Theater, Curious Incident Of The Dog in the Night-Time at Kansas City Rep, The Glass Menagerie and Othello at California Shakespeare Theater, and The Music Man at Sharon Playhouse. Brendan received his MFA in music from Mills College.

Linda Brumbach is an independent creative producer based in New York City working across mediums of performance, installation, and film. She founded her company Pomegranate Arts in 1998. She was a producer at International Production Associates from 1987 – 1998 for Philip Glass and the Philip Glass Ensemble, Twyla Tharp, Spalding Gray, Diamanda Galás, Eric Bogosian, Elizabeth Streb, Karen Finley, The Improbable Theatre, Richard Foreman, Roger Guinevere Smith, Meryl Tankard, Lisa Kron, and the Serious Fun! Festival at Lincoln Center.  Linda is an executive producer of the HBO Documentary film Taylor Mac’s A 24-Decade History of Popular Music and the ALL ARTS film short Whitman in the Woods. She conceived and co-authored her first publication, a special box set edition of the Philip Glass Piano Etudes. (Artisan)in November 2023.  Linda has served many organizations in our field including Celebrate Brooklyn, the Urban Bush Woman’s choreographic initiative producing program, Creative Capital, the Creative and Independent Producer Alliance (CIPA), The Association of Performing Arts Professionals and the International Society for Performing Arts. In 2016, she received the Patrick Hayes Award for longstanding achievement in the performing arts.

Alisa joined Pomegranate Arts as a principal immediately upon its formation in 1998. Previously, Alisa worked with Philip Glass, Spalding Gray, Improbable, Twyla Tharp, Meryl Tankard, Sankai Juku, Richard Foreman, Robert Wilson, Elizabeth Streb, Lisa Kron, and Diamanda Galás during her time as a project manager at International Production Associates (IPA) from 1994-1998.  She is an Executive Producer on the HBO Documentary film Taylor Mac’s 24-Decade History of Popular Music and Producer of Taylor Mac’s short film Whitman in the Woods. She is a co-author of the special edition of Philip Glass Etudes: The Complete Folios 1-20 with Essays from Fellow Artists (Artisan) and editor of the accompanying book Studies in Time. Alisa began her career on the producing team of the International Theatre Festival of Chicago after graduating from Northwestern University with a BA in English Fiction Writing and a Certificate in the Integrated Arts. She has consulted for Creative Capital and Joe’s Pub’s Working Group and is on the board of the International Society for the Performing Arts and serves as an advisor to the Creative and Independent Producer Alliance.

Jeremy Lydic has long made a point of blurring the lines between craft and design, performance, and production, and having worked in all, has developed a keen sense of how to support them all. Recent credits as Production Manager/Technical Director at Pomegranate Arts include Taylor Mac’s Bark of Millions, A 24-Decade History of Popular Music (NY and international tour), and Holiday Sauce (also Co-Set Designer), the world tour of Lucinda Childs’ Available Light, and the final production of Robert Wilson and Philip Glass' Einstein on the Beach in South Korea. Outside PM credits include projects produced by The Park Avenue Armory, The Shed, and BAM. With Lydic! Design And Production, Lydic made selected props and effects for the Broadway productions of Frozen, Cats, Something Rotten, Fish in the Dark, Gigi, The Last Ship, Book of Mormon, and scores of others. Lydic directed the 2020 virtual production of Taylor Mac’s Holiday Sauce: Pandemic!. Future endeavors include reigniting his side-career as a vocalist and broadening his sculpture practice.

Rachel Katwan is an arts administrator living in Brooklyn, New York. She currently serves as the General Manager for Pomegranate Arts, a Creative Producer dedicated to the realization of international performing arts projects. Since 2016, Katwan has served on Pomegranate’s core producing team for large scale works by artists including Philip Glass, Lucinda Childs, Taylor Mac, Robin Frohardt, Bassem Youssef and for North American multi-city tours of the Batsheva Dance Company and Japan’s Sankai Juku. In 2023, on behalf of Pomegranate she served as the lead festival producer for the Onassis Foundation’s Archive of Desire: A Festival Inspired by the Poet C. P. Cavafy curated by composer Paola Prestini. She previously served in various roles at the Brooklyn Academy of Music from 2004-2016 and was a key member on the internal producing team for some of the Academy’s most ambitious programming initiatives including the city-wide Muslim Voices: Art & Ideas (2009), The Bridge Project international tours (2009-12), multi-venue Si Cuba Festival (2011), three seasons of RadioLoveFest (2014-16), and the beloved annual DanceAfrica program.

Flo completed a Master’s in philosophy at Lille 3 University (France) and a second Master’s in art administration & projects management at the Sorbonne University before working with Olivier Dubois Company and later as a Projects Producer at Ballet du Nord – National Choreographic Centre of Roubaix. Flo worked as an arts administrator for Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity and as an admissions manager at The Place, London Contemporary Dance School. With Sadler’s Wells, Flo produced and toured high-profile productions in over twenty countries, collaborating with world-renowned artists William Forsythe, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Pina Bausch Foundation, Sting, and others. In June 2023, Flo relocated to NYC. He continues to work with Sadler’s Wells, and began new collaborations with Pomegranate Arts and Roderick George. On the side, Flo nurtures projects with the Ballroom community and joined the House of Marc Jacobs in 2020. Since May 2020, Flo has been on the board of Raze Collective, a charity dedicated to nurturing & developing innovative queer performance in the UK.

Max Helburn is a Brooklyn, NY-based audio engineer, theatrical problem-solver, and creative. He is the Assistant Audio Supervisor at the Park Avenue Armory, and is the front-of-house mixing engineer for the Celebrate Brooklyn festival in Brooklyn's Prospect Park. He has had the pleasure of working with theatrical sound designers Jonathan Deans, Nevin Steinberg, and Mikaal Sulaiman, and has amplified performances by Bono & The Edge, Tom Waits, Jon Batiste, and Marcia Griffiths, among others. Recent theatrical credits include Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding (St. Ann's Warehouse), Michael R. Jackson's White Girl in Danger (2nd Stage), Andy Blankenbuehler's Only Gold (MCC Theater), and William Kentridge's The Head and the Load (Park Avenue Armory).

Member of NYC Wardrobe Local 764, Kathe works on Broadway as a Star Dresser. She worked with over 45 Elphabas in the musical Wicked, Bruce Springsteen, Daniel Radcliffe, Gabriel Byrne, and Liam Neeson. Head Elf for Costume Designer Machine Dazzle, she supervised his design for award-winning off B’way jazz opera The Hang with Taylor Mac. Other crafting for Machine includes the Museum of Arts & Design, MET Museum, Metropolitan Opera for the Pride Parade, Joe’s Pub, and Walking with Amal. In addition to her Artisan bags, she designed a summer sport coats line sourced at Materials for the Arts in NYC. Kathe is grateful to Pomegranate Arts and the entire company of this extraordinary production of Bark of Millions. QLH…called the world.

Le Gateau Chocolat’s work spans drag, cabaret, opera, musical theatre, children’s theatre, and live art. His previous works include Le Gateau Chocolat (2011), I Chocolat (2012), In Drag (2013 Royal Festival Hall commission) and BLACK (2014 Homotopia commission), which toured with music ensemble Psappha in 2017. His children’s show Duckie was included in the Guardian’s ‘6 of the Best Shows for Children’ of the 2018 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. His production ICONS toured to Sydney Festival, Wales Millennium Centre, Soho Theatre, and Underbelly Southbank, and was presented with accompaniment from the Little Coco Orchestra (an ensemble formed entirely of women of colour). THEATRE: Rufus Norris’s Threepenny Opera (National Theatre); Feste in Emma Rice’s Twelfth Night at The Globe (2017); The Gate Theatre and ENO’s Effigies of Wickedness (2018); Daddy Brubeck, Sweet Charity (Donmar Warehouse, 2019); Taylor Mac’s A 24-Decade History of Popular Music: The First Act (London’s Barbican Theatre, 2019); featured cast member of cabaret and circus La Clique and La Soiree. OPERA: with Julian Phillips (Varjak Paw, Royal Opera House & tour); Jocelyn Pook (‘Anxiety Fanfare’, Wigmore Hall & tour); Orlando Gough (Imago, Glyndebourne); Porgy & Bess, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. He appeared in Wagner’s Tannhauser, at the Bayreuth Festival in 2019, attracting global headlines for the reaction to his participation as a black drag artist.

International singer, songwriter, recording artist, and SAG/AFTRA member Thornetta Davis was the winner of the 2023 Blues Foundation Blues Music Award for “Best Soul/Blues Artist – Female” and the Detroit Blues Society’s “Living Lifetime Achievement Award”. She was awarded a star on the Canada South Blues Museum “Walk of Fame”. In 2015, Thornetta was crowned “Detroit’s Queen of the Blues!” in a ceremony by the Detroit Blues Society featuring proclamations from the City of Detroit, County of Wayne, and the State of Michigan. Her labor of love CD entitled Honest Woman was nominated by the Blues Foundation for two 2017 Blues Music Awards – Best Song (“I gotta sang the blues”) and Emerging Artist CD. Thornetta has won over 30 Detroit Music Awards, including eight in 2017 (including Outstanding Record Producer, Outstanding Blues Recording, Outstanding Blues Vocalist, and Outstanding Live Performance). The winner of the 2017 Blues Blast Magazine Music Awards for “Best Soul/Blues Album” and Big City Rhythm & Blues Magazine’s “Coolest Blues Song”, Thornetta has garnered international attention by winning the prestigious French 2018 La Academie du Jazz Award for Best Blues Album.