Justin Vivian Bond and JW Anderson want you to do Christmas right

The legendary performer and label have teamed up for a festive video series to help you live your best Christmas life.

For years, Justin Vivian Bond has been one of the world’s most singular performers. An artistic chameleon, nothing is out of their grasp. Whether it’s their role as one half of iconic drag cabaret group Kiki and Herb, appearing in films such as John Cameron Mitchell’s sexually fluid and totally liberated Shortbus, or starring in the recently opened groundbreaking operatic adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s Orlando in Vienna, Justin Vivian Bond’s talents are limitless.

Naturally, when Jonathan Anderson, an old friend of Justin Vivian Bond’s, got in touch about working together on something for his fashion label JW Anderson, it was a creative match made in heaven. Together, over drinks in San Francisco, they cooked up the idea of doing a set of videos inspired by the Home Shopping Network. And thus celebrity spokesperson Sandie Stone was born.

Their first series of videos was for JW Anderson’s SS19 bag collection. Along with her co-host Joyce Nawmen (played by Jill Pangallo), Sandie Stone (embodied by Justin Vivian Bond, obvs) pushed those purses like her life depended on it, blending the luxury and quality of JW Anderson’s accessories with the high camp of television shopping networks.

Vienna State Opera

Olga Neuwirth’s new operatic version of Virginia Woolf’s novel, which time-travels through music of every style, made history in more ways than one

Once a punk, always a punk. This is the Austrian composer Olga Neuwirth’s description of herself, growing up “in a charming but xenophobic region near the Slovenian border”. An angry teenager, she rebelled, finding inspiration and solace in Patti Smith, Siouxsie Sioux, John Waters’s movie Hairspray and Spitting Image. Soon, too, her talent as a composer was recognised by Pierre Boulez, one of the most important musical brains of the late 20th century.

All these preoccupations, and an encyclopaedic array of others, from the atom bomb to flower power, the women’s movement, sexual abuse and climate change, burst to expansive, sprawling life in Neuwirth’s Orlando – the first full-length, main-stage work by a woman in the Vienna State Opera’s 150-year history – which had its world premiere last weekend.

The capacity audience engaged attentively – as far as anyone can judge – with few walkouts and a solid 10 minutes of cheering at the end, especially for Kate Lindsey, the UK-based American mezzo-soprano who sang, outstandingly, the marathon of a title role. A predictable handful of booers waited until Neuwirth herself took a bow to voice their discontent.

Vienna opera house stages first opera by woman

For the first time in its 150-year history, the Vienna State Opera is staging an opera by a woman.

Austrian composer Olga Neuwirth has written a new opera based on Virginia Woolf's 1928 novel Orlando which deals with themes of gender fluidity and duality.

The title role is played by the singer Kate Lindsey.

Orlando lives for centuries, beginning as a man in Elizabethan England and then changing into a woman.

Olga Neuwirth says androgyny and the rejection of gender stereotypes have inspired her ever since she first read Woolf's novel as a teenager.

"Not only is it a journey through centuries, but it is a journey of constant questioning of imposed norms by society, and society is made by man," she told the BBC.

A Female Composer Makes History With ‘Orlando’ in Vienna

Olga Neuwirth’s new adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s gender-crossing novel is the first work by a woman at the Vienna State Opera.

VIENNA — The prompter’s box at the foot of the stage of the Vienna State Opera houses the person to whom divas can turn at forgetful moments for a snippet of text to get back on track.

But it was put to a different use — and by a different kind of diva — during a rehearsal here last month, when the cabaret singer Justin Vivian Bond, wearing a gauzy black Comme des Garçons gown, strode onto the box, raised a glass, and screamed an expletive directed at “the patriarchy.” The chorus, as indicated in the script, erupted in an ovation.

It was a moment that summed up the barriers being broken by the work being rehearsed: Olga Neuwirth’s new opera, “Orlando,” based on the gender-crossing fictional biography by Virginia Woolf, is the first piece the Vienna State Opera has ever performed by a female composer. With a libretto by Ms. Neuwirth and Catherine Filloux, and costumes by Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons, it premieres on Sunday, and will be available to stream for three days, starting on Dec. 18, at staatsoperlive.com.

Judy Collins Has a Time Machine

At 80, and with a voice that still resonates, the singer-songwriter is enjoying fancy wigs, Persian cats and performing 120 shows a year.

At a certain age, or so we have come to believe, a singer loses her voice. Her vocal cords stiffen and slow. Her high notes dry up. But that is not what has happened to Judy Collins.

At 80, Collins sounds as clear as a spring wending through a field of wildflowers. The ethereal soprano that guided listeners through the 1960s — the “gentle voice amid the strife,” as Life magazine proclaimed on a May 1969 cover — still resonates in 2019. This has earned Collins an almost supernatural perspective. When audiences come to see her perform, which she does about one out of every three nights, they are transported. “They’re thinking about their youth,” Collins told me. “They’re thinking about their hopefulness. They’re thinking about their dreams, when they hear me.”

RECIPIENTS OF 2019 BESSIE AWARDS ANNOUNCED

The recipients of the thirty-fifth annual Bessie Awards, which recognize outstanding creative work in dance and performance, were announced at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts at New York University on Monday, October 14. Hosted by performance artist Justin Vivian Bond, the awards ceremony honored Nick Cave’s production of The Let Go at the Park Avenue Armory; performers Gabrielle Hamilton and Shamar Watt; the visual design team of Oba Qween Baba King Baba by Ni’Ja Whitson, which was co-commissioned by Danspace Project and Abrons Arts Center; and choreographer Daina Ashbee, among others.

‘Disasterama!’ chronicles SF’s wild, lost queer underground

Alvin Orloff's new memoir documents crazy nights, retro-camp glamor, and punk sensibility in the face of the AIDS crisis.

A certain queer generation has come of memoir age—which is a bit bracing (read: terrifying) for those of us who survived the ’80s and ’90s, and still consider ourselves in the prime of some type of youth. Earlier this year saw the release of Marc Huestis’ gossip-dripping Impresario of Castro Street as well as photographer Melissa Hawkins’ blockbuster “SoMa Nights” show at the GLBT History Museum, which captured SF’s queer nightlife during the height of the AIDS epidemic here.

There’s more: On Thu/17, SFMOMA hosts a celebration for the launch of Justin Vivian Bond and Nayland Blake’s book remembering seminal artist Jerome Caja. And just hotly arrived through my mailslot today is Mad Dogs and Queer Tattoos: Tattooing the San Francisco Queer Revolution by Robert E. Roberts, detailing designs of resistance from the 1970s-1990s.

BWW Review: JUSTIN VIVIAN BOND: UNDER THE INFLUENCE at Joe's Pub

Judy Collins couldn't be here tonight. And Justin Vivian Bond would like to apologize.

Not for Collins' absence (she wasn't feeling great and had an early morning flight) but for the vase of flowers Collins sent, that after a zealous performance of the murder ballad,"Pretty Polly" (which Collins recorded to acclaim in 1969) now lies in shards on the floor of the Joe's Pub stage.

Go ahead and send in the clowns, it will all be alright. The shattered vase was an omen of things to come. And no apology will be necessary, for as filtered through the fractured mind of the unstoppable Justin Vivian Bond, Under the Influence, Bond's new tribute to the beloved singer proves a smashing (and unexpected) tribute from one (very different) artist to another.

77 Pop and Jazz Albums, Shows and Festivals Coming This Fall

JUSTIN VIVIAN BOND AT JOE’S PUB Through a career spanning theater, film, cabaret and visual art, Justin Vivian Bond has continually defied gender and genre boundaries. With “Under the Influence,” Bond returns to Joe’s Pub (Sept. 27-Oct. 2) as part of Judy Collins’s Vanguard Residency. Bond pays homage to Collins by tracing her diverse vocal terrain and covering songs by giants, including Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell, as well as Duke Ellington, Jacques Brel and Stephen Sondheim. Collins herself will appear (Nov. 18-27) with the Norwegian singer-songwriter Jonas Fjeld and the bluegrass group Chatham County Line, her collaborators on the upcoming folk album “Winter Stories.” Blending pop hits, Spanish boleros and original compositions, Migguel Anggelo eyes cultural stereotypes though an L.G.B.T.Q. lens in “LatinXoxo” (Oct. 15, Nov. 6-7). Also scheduled: Salty Brine (Sept. 18-19) with his latest “Living Record Collection” mash-up, in which Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” meets the Smiths’ “The Queen Is Dead.”

Tony Nominee Justin Vivian Bond to Host 2019 Bessie Awards

The ceremony will feature performances by Tony Award-nominated Once On This Island and Choir Boy choreographer Camille A. Brown & Dancers.

Justin Vivian Bond, the Bessie Award-winning multidisciplinary artist and Tony-nominated co-creator of Kiki and Herb, has been announced to host the 2019 Bessie Awards, which will be presented October 14 at 7:30 PM at the Skirball Center for the Performing Arts.

The evening will also feature performances by Tony Award-nominated Once On This Island and Choir Boy choreographer Camille A. Brown & Dancers, as well as 2019 Outstanding Breakout Choreographer Award recipient Daina Ashbee, and a tribute to Lifetime Achievement in Dance honoree Joan Myers Brown, performed by Hope Boykin.

Guests Take In the Golden Hour at Loewe's Sunset Party

On Saturday, July 13, 2019, fashion folk took in the rays at Loewe's Sunset Party in Ibiza, Spain. The Spanish brand's creative director, Jonathan Anderson, played host to coterie that included Derek Blasberg, Tsubasa, Stephane Bak, Inma Cuesta, Justin Vivian Bond, and more. All were there to celebrate Loewe's partnership with the city's bohemian boutique Paula's, imbuing the relaxed, yet elegant vibe of the collection.

Alternative March returns Pride to its roots

It’s said that those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it — but the Reclaim Pride Coalition, organizers of the Queer Liberation March, planned to do exactly that.

Fed up with what they call the corporate takeover of the Heritage of Pride March (the big one), they put together an alternative.

“It’s a march, not a parade,” explained photographer Dustin Pittman, who attended the first New York City gay-rights march in 1970. “This brings it back to its roots.”

With no floats or corporate sponsorship, Sunday’s alternative march took the same route as the first, from Sheridan Square to Central Park. Enthusiasm and handmade signs were the hallmark of pretty much every group involved, from the artists with the Howl! Happening gallery to the Revolting Lesbians.

Stonewall exhibit showcases flashpoint in LGBTQ community

It was 50 years ago this week that gay, lesbian, trans and other gender-nonconforming people rioted at a bar called the Stonewall Inn after a police raid. The New York Public Library has one of the largest collections of LGBTQ artifacts from that tumultuous period, which is now being displayed in a major exhibit, "Love & Resistance: Stonewall 50." NewsHour Weekend's Ivette Feliciano reports.

Alternative To NYC Pride Has Different Message: 'It's Not Over'

The Queer Liberation March aims to carry on the spirit of protest that some LGBTQ activists say the main NYC pride parade has lost.

The NEW YORK — The massive LGBT Pride March that will pass the Stonewall Inn on Sunday likely would not be possible without the riots that unfolded there 50 years ago this month. But another march slated to begin at the landmark Greenwich Village bar aims to carry on the protest spirit of the Stonewall uprising that some activists say the main parade has lost.

Tens of thousands of activists are expected to attend the Queer Liberation March, which will step off from the Sheridan Square area Sunday morning. The march and subsequent rally will overlap with the huge parade sponsored by Heritage of Pride, which will draw more than 100,000 marchers and millions of spectators.

Bakery creates bread and flour tributes to LGBTI icons for Pride Month

A gay-owned bakery is paying tribute to LGBTI icons for Pride Month. Bakers at MarieBette Café and Bakery, based in Charlottesville, VA, create flour-stencilled designs on bread to highlight some of the owners’ most inspiring queer icons and allies.

The first icon they selected was Ellen DeGeneres. Posting on Instagram last weekend, the bakery included a quote from DeGeneres herself alongside a photo of the loaf: ‘I stand for honesty, equality, kindness, compassion, treating people the way you want to be treated, and helping those in need. To me, those are traditional values.’

When Queer Nation 'Bashed Back' Against Homophobia with Street Patrols and Glitter

Editor's Note: This article is part of KQED Arts' story series Pride as Protest, which chronicles the past and present of LGBTQ+ activism in honor of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Learn more about the series here.

In the lingering darkness of the early morning, the queers climbed up a SoMA highway overpass, recently shut down due to structural concerns from the Loma Prieta earthquake. They were on a mission from Catherine Did It, a focus group affiliated with San Francisco's brand-new chapter of the ostentatious activist organization Queer Nation, which had an estimated 40 chapters around the country.

28 Self-Portraits Show the Beauty of Queer Creativity

At the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, as the rights and lives of LGBTQ+ people continue to be threatened worldwide, the visibility of queer folks — bodies, faces — has never been more critical. It’s with this notion that HERE, a New York organization dedicated to presenting cutting edge artworks in a variety of media, staged its Queer As I exhibition.

On view through June 30, Queer As I is comprised of 50 self-portraits by different artists both established, like photographers Catherine Opie and Jack Pierson, and emerging. From crystal-clear photography to abstracted compositions — the portraiture, an image for each year since the Stonewall Riots, reflects a gloriously diverse range of creativity. “We’re not going back in the closet,” says resident curator Dan Halm. “It was a real honor to get people like Catherine Opie and Justin Vivian Bond to commit to this show right off the bat. It’s a really nice statement when people who have had careers for a really long time are willing to do an exhibition with somebody who is just graduating from Columbia.”

JEREMY SCOTT, JOHN WATERS, AND AMANDA LEPORE SHARE THEIR OWN NOTES ON CAMP — OR, WHAT IT REALLY MEANS TO DO THE MOST

“The first thing I saw that was actually camp was when I was a little kid. We went to the nursing home to see all the old people in a production of Hello, Dolly! It was all these old people dressed up in feathers and plumery. Everyone was age-inappropriate and everything about it was so wrong, but so sparkly and wonderful. Camp puts a twist on reality to reflect back how absurd it is. The mainstream is always trying to appropriate camp aesthetics and be like, ‘Ha, ha, ha, yeah we’re in on the joke.’ But if camp is really doing its job, then they’re not in on the joke at all.”

What Is Butchcamp? An Explainer by Way of 10 Past Met Gala Looks

The women behind the Instagram project ButchCamp select some of the butchcampiest Met Gala looks.

Make no mistake, camp has always been a primarily homosexual schtick, yet gay men have been the gatekeepers of the camp canon for most of its history. ButchCamp is a project that deals with the dual functions of camp: camp as an aesthetic (things that can be described as camp) and camp as a sensibility (a camp way of looking at things). We added the word butch because it’s the campiest word in the lesbian lexicon. We seek out a sort of sapphic strand of camp and patiently await the return of its subversive potential. In anticipation of this year’s Met Gala theme, “Camp: Notes on Fashion,” we at ButchCamp went in search of anything in the Met Gala’s history that had that ineffable whiff of camp dykery, and then dug deeper still. Here is what we found:

Justin Vivian Bond Serves QVC Realness for JW Anderson

When I was a wee baby queerling, one of my favorite things to do with my grandmother was to watch the Home Shopping Network and QVC. I always dreamt of calling in and gabbing with one of the permanently '80s-glam infomercial hosts about how I simply couldn't find this exclusive set of cat-faced doilies or that floral-printed caftan anywhere in stores for a reasonable price! Here is where to find the deals.

Upholding the cheeky, kitschy legacy of those sorts of shows, typically marketed to bored housewives across America, is London luxury label JW Anderson. Today, they launched the first installment of a new social media campaign series called JWA-TV. The series will have three editions, featuring the brand's Keyts, Anchor Logo and Bike handbags, in that order.

Justin Vivian Bond Would Like to Sell You a Bag

A little charisma goes a long way, even in our two-dimensional Insta Age. Just ask Justin Vivian Bond, who has been offering up their own brand of campy drama since launching their career as a performer and artist in the ’80s. Bond, who got their start in San Francisco and now lives in New York state, has done it all, from installation art to watercolors to Broadway, earning a Tony nomination along the way. Now, they host semi-regular cabaret shows across the United States and Europe.

For those unlucky enough to live outside the radius of a major city, Bond has a new project with JW Anderson, advertising the label’s new Keyts bag. (The name is a play not only on the key lock mechanism but also the poet John Keats.) In a series of short films, they star as “Sandie Stone” alongside friend Jill Pangallo as “Joyce Nawman,” hawking designer Jonathan Anderson’s latest bag in a style familiar to anyone who has spent time watching any home shopping channel.

Bond channels Collins, and her songwriters

Cabaret — a form of entertainment that sometimes seems to be mired in the past — is alive, well and pointed straight into the future in the form of trans-genre entertainer Justin Vivian Bond.

The artist’s voice is a unique instrument of beauty and honesty that captivates from the opening notes, taking the audience on an emotional ride through moments of transcendent beauty and witty repartee.

In a night dedicated to Judy Collins — a great influence on Bond — tunes from folk singers Tom Paxton (“Leaving London”) and Richard Farina (“Reno, Nevada”) mixed with swinging surprises by Stephen Sondheim (“The Girls of Summer”) and Duke Ellington and Carl Sigman (“All Too Soon”). Randy Newman and Jacques Brel were also represented, among others.

Titled “Under The Influence,” the show is presented as part of the Joe’s Pub Vanguard Award & Residency, which goes this year to singer-songwriter Collins. Mx. Bond, a fan of Collins since they were young, has found a different way to pay tribute to the legendary entertainer. (Bond uses the gender-neutral title “Mx.” and self-defines as “they.”)

The ARTnews Accord: Justin Vivian Bond and Stuart Comer in Conversation

New York–based artist Justin Vivian Bond’s breakout came in San Francisco in the 1990s as part of Kiki & Herb, a dastardly and delightful duo that paired Herb (a sometimes-screaming pianist played by musician Kenny Mellman) with Kiki, a pill-popping, cocktail-swilling lounge singer that Bond embodied with élan. Many solo musical performances have followed, as have gallery shows at New York’s Participant Inc and a formidable presence for an installation, paintings, and performance work in the New Museum’s 2017 exhibition “Trigger: Gender as a Tool and a Weapon.” Bond has a live stage show at Joe’s Pub in New York opening March 5 and running various nights through March 17.

Stuart Comer has served as chief curator of media and performance art at the Museum of Modern Art in New York since 2013. Prior to that he worked as curator of film at London’s Tate Modern, where he also curated performance programs. He was a co-curator of the Whitney Museum of American Art’s 2014 Biennial, and his exhibition credits include shows devoted to Tania Bruguera, Charles Atlas, Alexandra Bachzetsis, Charlemagne Palestine, and Simone Forti.

Drag Queens Tackle Sexual Expression and Religion in Gospel of Eureka

The new documentary explores the town of Eureka Springs, Ark., that is home to a vibrant LGBTQ community and to evangelical Christians.

Narrated by multiple-genre artist Mx Justin Vivian Bond, Gospel of Eureka is a heartfelt, often humorous documentary set in Eureka Springs, Ark., which is home to both a vibrant LGBTQ and drag community and to devout evangelical Christian residents.

The sophomore feature from Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher (October Country), Gospel of Eureka explores how the denizens of Eureka negotiate differences around religious beliefs, gender expression, and sexual freedom through drag performance and political action.

The film is a necessary story for divisive times. Variety called it "a needed shot of all-American optimism ... Mosher and Palmieri prove a town doesn’t need to be perfectly aligned. It just needs to agree there’s a universal right to personal liberty."

An exclusive clip from the film below illustrates how the queer citizens of Eureka invoke humor to cope with religious prejudice that’s been used to otherize them. One drag queen, Ginger Styles, the reigning Miss Pop Up Camper, who hails from Daisy, Okla., performs a gleeful and pointed "You Can't Pray the Gay Away." Meanwhile, a couple of queens backstage perform a faux exorcism to cast out their inner queer.