Gay Gaze 'n Daze

  ~         
Beemer Memories      
World AIDS Days          

     
    

   

Books/magazines    
    
Drummer Magazine ~ 1978             
Tamotsu Yato ~ Young Samurai: Bodybuilders of Japan     
          
Film        
   
Death In Venice ~ 1971      
Midnight Cowboy ~ 1969          
Kiss of the Spider Woman ~ 1985      
       

Music

 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ~ 1893         

 Love and Carnations: recordings of drag artists of Barcelona ~ (1920s -1930s)  

Edith Piaf ~ Milord & the Paper Doll ~ 1959        

 José Sarria & The Black Cat Bar 1962           

 Zebedy Colt ~ Zebedy Sings for You ~ 1963    

 Stephin Merritt ~ 1965           

 The Man In the Moon is a Lady ~ 1966      

 Phyllis Diller ~ Born To Sing ~ 1968      

 Ramón Novarro ~ 1968       

 Harry Partch ~ 1974                     

The Skatt Brothers (Disco Daze) ~ 1979           

 DAF ~ Der Räuber Und Der Prinz ~ 1981       

 Jobriath ~ 1983     

 Klaus Nomi ~ 1983                 

 Philip Glass ~ Mishima ~ 1985       

 The Latin Rascals ~ 12" of Macho Mozart (Disco Daze 4) ~ 1986  

 Liberace ~ 1987       

 Divine ~ Walk Like a Man picture disc ~ 1988    

 Sir Michael Kemp Tippett ~ Praeludium ~ 1998    

 Magnetic Fields ~ 69 love Songs ~ 1999      

 Van Cliburn ~ 2013         

 José Sarria ~ 2013              

 Gian Carlo Menotti ~ 2007    

 Gian Carlo Menotti ~ Amahl And The Night Visitors ~ 1911   

 Samuel Barber ~ 1981           

Misc.
   
Leatherneck bar, San Francisco ~ 1978    
Yukio Mishima - A Man of Honor ~ 1970  
Jim Stewart ~ 2018          

~
Events
MAIN MENU - Blog Articles
 ~

photos by Styrous®

José Sarria & The Black Cat Bar

~
Recently I have been looking through 50 years of my photography. There were many, many surprising discoveries. One of those discoveries was photographs I'd taken of José Sarria at the Black Cat Bar in San Francisco in 1962.

The Black Cat was originally built in 1906 after the great San Francisco earthquake. It closed in 1921 then opened again in 1933. 

 (click on any image for slideshow)

 The Black Cat in the early years
photographer unknown 

During the second part of it's history The Black Cat became a hangout for bohemians in the thirties and forties, then beatniks in the fifties. In the late fifties and early sixties it became a gay as well as a straight hangout.

It was in that last stage of it's life that José Sarria came into prominence. José would perform operas on Sunday afternoons singing all the roles himself, both male and female. He would be dressed in drag (operatic, of course, well, sort of). His specialty was a re-working of Bizet's opera, Carmen, set in modern-day San Francisco. I remember going to the Black Cat Bar after a grueling week at work for some relaxing fun, to meet friends and to see José. It was on one of those Sundays during one of his performances of La Traviata that I photographed him. I did the shoot with my 35mm film, Kodak Stereo Camera. My original slides are in stereo (3-D). Here are the scans of those slides.

José Sarria ~ Black Cat Bar - 1962
photo by Styrous®

José Sarria ~ Black Cat Bar - 1962
photo by Styrous®

José Sarria ~ Black Cat Bar - 1962
photo by Styrous®

~ ~ ~


Historical images of  José Sarria

 José Sarria at his height
photo courtesy of ICS
photographer unknown  

Sarria ran for San Francisco supervisor, 1961 

photographer unknown

 

Photo of José Sarria taken in 2010
photo by John Stephen Dwyer

Viewfinder link:     

      

José Sarria ~ Memorial       

       

Net links:     

      

The Black Cat Bar       

José Sarria      

        

Styrous® ~ June 7, 2012     
        

~

Theater Articles

MAIN MENU - Blog Articles

~