KXLL

Under a purple ethereal light, a figure cloaked in black sheer fabric floats across stage and slinks around a folding chair.

Personifying the angel of death, Moscato Extatique begins peeling away layers of clothing, blurring the lines of gender expression.

It’s part of Mod Carousel’s newest show, Gilded, which is making its world premiere in Juneau, Alaska.

Gilded begins at 7 p.m. Friday, July 14, and at 7 and 10 p.m. Saturday, July 15, at the Rockwell Ballroom.

But this isn’t your grandmother’s cabaret. This is boylesque, where men perform sultry roles in a genre pioneered by women and inspired by burlesque.

One of founding members of the troupe Mod Carousel is from Alaska’s capital city, and has made a point to bring his art back to his home city.

For eight years, The Luminous Pariah has brought boylesque back to his hometown of Juneau.

Growing up in Southeast was both interesting and wonderful, he said, but he felt like culture was missing.

“I knew existed somewhere but didn’t know where it was, and felt like I need to leave Juneau to be part of that.”

He was introduced to boylesque in Seattle, where he found his conspirators and future husband.

“Coming back, I feel like I went out in the world, discovered a little gem, and then I’m kind of bringing it home and saying, ‘Here, look at this, look at this for a little while,’ and people seem to really enjoy that.”

The group travels with more than 300 pounds of luggage, costumes and props.

Most are custom sewn by The Luminous Pariah’s husband, Paris Original.

Since forming their collective in 2010, they’ve held residencies in London and Australia, garnered 5 million YouTube hits and performed in more than 50 countries.

The Luminous Pariah alone has headlined burlesque festivals in more than 18 countries.

Burlesque has a long history as a medium for political satire, parody and social commentary. Inspired by Lydia Thompson and the British Blondes, who first brought Victorian burlesque to America in the 1860s.

In their newest show Gilded, the group explores themes of gender expression, race and ethnicity, all in the classic burlesque format.

A performer enters the stage, establishes a story line and character through dance and physical movement. Eventually shedding layers of clothing to reveal a moral of the story that’s almost always comedic.

Even though the guys are taking their clothes off, they distinguish their work from strippers like Chippendales and “Magic Mike.”

Trojan Original said their audiences are diverse.

“I think a healthy amount of our audience thinks it’s going to be a strip show and is pleasantly surprised and then the other half thinks it’s definitely not going to be a strip show and they’re also pleasantly surprised. At the end of the day everyone’s pleasantly surprised.

The Luminous Pariah said the difference between burlesque and stripping is the intent and artistry behind these routines.

Stripping seeks to arouse the audience and is mostly about what the performer looks like underneath their clothes.

In burlesque, there are no limitations on body type. Performers serve to engage audience psychologically through humor, costumes, and clever reveals.

For members of Mod Carousel who grew up in the ballet tradition, burlesque offers an alternative to the rigid gender roles assigned to males.

“Men have a specific role in dance, especially in the classical world where you’re presenting the woman and being the strong masculine prince,” Moscato Extatique said. “Paris and I are not that man in burlesque, and burlesque is that place for us to be as effeminate or as masculine as we want.

The Luminous Pariah said he’s always felt somewhere in-between gender-wise, and as his persona he gets to present that onstage.

“When it comes down to it at the end of the road, do I have to be a lumberjack or do I have to be a princess?” he said.

With boylesque, he can be both at the same time and that’s both liberating and gratifying.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story referred to performer The Luminous Pariah’s legal name. They have since asked to only be referred to by their stage name and we have honored that request and removed the legal name.

Story night at the Douglas Public Library played out like any other monthly family night: free food, some crafts, and a very special guest reading books. More than 100 adults, teenagers and children attended Juneau’s first Drag Queen Story Hour hosted by Gigi Monroe of Juneau. 

She introduces herself to the kids, and explains, “I’m a drag queen, and if you’ve never met a drag queen, this is what we look like. We like to play dress up and make people happy.”

The buxom Gigi Monroe is the creation of James Hoagland, a professional wig designer and producer of Juneau Pride’s sold out drag revue, Glitz. Covered in ruffles, rhinestones and glitter, some of the kids listening from the floor thought the drag queen reading childhood classics might have been royalty.

She’s known for her bedazzled costumes, lively impersonations of Dolly Parton and Liza Minelli among others, and even pyrotechnics.

But at the library, “It’s definitely more G-rated than what I usually do at a show,” Hoagland said.

He said the experience provides youth with a real life example of self-expression, so they may feel freer to express themselves.

The idea to bring drag queens to Juneau’s youth came from the Brooklyn Public Library whose Drag Queen Story Hour “captures the imagination and play of the gender fluidity in childhood and gives kids glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models.” 

Heather Paige Burke saw a video from Brooklyn and asked her friend at the Juneau Public Library if it could happen here. Burke, who brought her husband and 2-year-old son, said Juneau celebrates many cultures, but others are lacking in visibility.

“So it’s great to have literally all colors of the rainbows. And as much as we can expose our children to that, the better,” Burke said. “Like, then you can see, anyone can be anything their heart tells them they should be and who they truly are.”

Amelia Jenkins, who works in youth services for the library, said there were a few raised eyebrows when they announced the event.

“We just let them know that the library is for everybody and families can decide for themselves whether this was right for them,” she said. “And they took that pretty well.” 

So far, there have been no formal complaints.

It took Hoagland about an hour-and-a-half to get ready for Drag Story Hour, about the same amount of time he spends preparing for the stage. He said drag, like other performance arts, is just trying to connect with people. In this case, very young people, and letting them know whoever they are is OK. No matter the audience, Hoagland’s goal is for them to let go and just have fun.

Family Night is funded through The Friends of the Juneau Public Libraries who pay for all programming expenses.

Remember those Red Carpet Concert videos from folk fest we’ve been releasing over the last couple weeks? Well, it turns out there was one more video. After a cancellation, the production team had an extra slot to fill and our very own Annie Bartholomew happened to have her guitar with her. Here’s a bonus from the session, Annie Bartholomew with her song “Mister Thomas.”

Watch this and other Red Carpet Concerts with The Murphy Beds, Goldwing and more here at KTOO.org.

For this Red Carpet concert, we present Irish-folk duo and 2017 Alaska Folk Festival guest artist the Murphy Beds of Brooklyn.

Guitarist Jefferson Hamer and bouzouki player Eamon O’Leary perform Hamer’s song “Ragged World.” It’s the latest video from our eight-part Red Carpet Concert series filmed at the Alaskan Hotel during this year’s folk festival.

This video was made in collaboration between with Justin Smith of Rusty Recordings in Gustavus. Watch other Red Carpet Concerts with The Hannah Yoter Band of Anchorage, The Quaintrelles and Goldwing.

This spring, longtime friends and musicians Tania Lewis and Christopher Behnke released their first album “Live at the Outpost.” During the Alaska Folk Fest, the banjo-guitar duo recorded a Red Carpet Concert at the Alaskan Hotel. Here’s their performance of Lewis’s song “The Swell.”

This video was made in collaboration between with Justin Smith of Rusty Recordings in Gustavus. Watch other Red Carpet Concerts with The Hannah Yoter Band of Anchorage, The Quaintrelles and Goldwing.

Rusty Recordings producer Justin Smith discussed the album with the artists. Lewis and Behnke worked as researchers together for six years aboard a boat that Smith captained in Glacier Bay. Here are some highlights from the conversation:

• Tania Lewis says a lot of the songs were inspired by Glacier Bay, Icy Strait and other parts of the region. She says the ocean’s waves scare her, but that she tries to embrace them.
• Christopher Behnke says the recording was one of the first songs he’d played with Lewis after returning to Gustavus from Fairbanks, and that to him, the record is representative of the community.
• Justin Smith says one inspiration for the record was a photo he saw of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings looking at each other across a little table with “beautiful vintage microphones.”

Hear a mix of the interview here:

To celebrate KXLL’s Summer Membership Drive, Bridge From Nowhere podcast hosts Andy Kline and Jamie Karnik are taking over KXLL to announce and respond to your message, missed connection or love question.

Tune in at 4:00 p.m. Friday, June 9th to hear your message read aloud.

*Missed Connect may be edited or omitted due to time constraints and language

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