The Cockettes were an avant garde psychedelic hippie theater group founded by Hibiscus (George Edgerly Harris III)[1] in the fall of 1969. The troupe was formed out of a group of hippie artists, men and women, who were living in Kaliflower, one of the many communes in Haight-Ashbury, a neighborhood of San Francisco, California. Hibiscus came to live with them because of their preference for dressing outrageously and proposed the idea of putting their lifestyle on the stage. Later in the storefront at 992 Valencia Street, now Artists' Television Access.[2][3]
Their brand of theater was influenced by The Living Theater, John Vaccaro's Play House of the Ridiculous, the films of Jack Smith, and the LSD ethos of Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters. At first, they parodied American musicals, and sang show tunes, but moved to performing all original material, staging musicals, and musical comedies. They gained an underground cult following that led to mainstream exposure.
In early 1971 a few members of the original group broke away from the Cockettes and formed their own theatre group, the Angels of Light. Noh Mercy (formerly On The Rag) and Tuxedomoon formed from the Angels of Light.[2][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]
The Cockettes were the subject of an eponymous 2002 documentary film directed by David Weissman and Bill Weber.[14]
^"Sebastian's Nocturnal Dream Shows". Gale.
^ abRaskin, Jonah; Hansen, Jeanne. "Alternative Voices: 1980s Punk San Francisco". San Francisco Public Library. Retrieved March 17, 2021. Esmerelda: At a festival in S.F. I met the Angels of Light: genius hippie drag queens, pretty girls and babies all covered in glitter. I found my tribe and sang in their free shows. Angel Gregory went to London and discovered punk and brought it home to us in '77. Overnight we cut our hair and became punks. Angel Steven Brown started Tuxedomoon while me and drummer Tony Hotel launched our band On The Rag (Noh Mercy). The Mabuhay and Deaf Club were our stages. We lived in the old Cockettes storefront at 992 Valencia Street. No one worked. We just played.
^nohmercy. "Esmerelda & Tony Hotel 1978.on the street and at a party in our storefront at 992 Valencia St. in San Francisco (now ATA gallery)present are lots of punk celebs. See if you can find them!". Facebook. Archived from the original on January 5, 2022. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
^"Noh Mercy". In Depth Music. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
^DuShane, Tony (April 19, 2012). "Noh Mercy: punk duo finally celebrating 1st album". SFGATE. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
^"Noh Mercy: Show Preview". SF Weekly. April 18, 2012. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
^"Noh Mercy - s/t LP". Superior Viaduct. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
^"Keep On Rocking in the Queer World". The Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
^Kent, Lavender Grace. "Early Years". Honey Hive of Mendocino. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
^"Lavendergrace Luthientinuvi Kent, Born 03/18/1971". CaliforniaBirthIndex.org. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
^"Esmerelda Kent". IMDb.
^"the deaf club: an un-oral history" (PDF).
^Garchik, Leah (August 25, 2005). "Leah Garchik". SF Gate. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
^"Sebastian's Nocturnal Dream Shows". The Free Library.
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