May 6 - Classic Disney Cabaret, Jack Berger, Joe Panzarella, and ROCKY HORROR

Brett Cullum starts this episode talking to Paul Hope about his CLASSIC DISNEY CABARET running Mondays in May at Ovations. Then Bryan Hlavinka talks with Jack Berger about becoming a Distinguished Grand Marshal for Pride 365. Matthew Williams talks to Joe Panzarella about running for City Council. And finally, Bryan talks to The Royal Mystic Order of CHAOS about doing ROCKY HORROR at the River Oaks Movie Theatre. 

Paul Hope Cabaret:  

https://www.paulhopecabarets.org/

Joe Panzarella Campaign:  

https://www.joeforhouston.com/

Rocky Horror at River Oaks:  

https://www.theriveroakstheatre.com/movie/RiverOaks/ROCKY-HORROR-PICTURE-SHOW-with-The-Royal-Mystic-Order-of-CHAOS

Queer Voices airs in Houston Texas on 90.1FM KPFT and is heard as a podcast here.  Queer Voices hopes to entertain as well as illuminate LGBTQ issues in Houston and beyond.  Check out our socials at:

https://www.facebook.com/QueerVoicesKPFT/ and
https://www.instagram.com/queervoices90.1kpft/

Transcript

Station ID And Show Preview

SPEAKER_06 0:02

This is KPFT 90.1 FM Houston, 89.5 FM Galveston, 91.9 FM Huntsville, and worldwide on the internet at KPFT.org.

Classic Disney Meets The Songbook

Brett 0:23

You're listening to Queer Voices, a radio show and a podcast that has been an outlet for the LGBTQIA Plus community since the 70s. I am Brett Cullum, and in this episode, I get to talk with Paul Hope about his Disney cabaret at ovations this month. And Brian Llavinka talks with distinguished Grand Marshal for Pride 2026, Jack Berger. Matthew Williams interviews Joe Panzanella, who is running for city council. And Brian Llavinka closes us out with The Mystic Order of Chaos. They are a group who do the shadow cast for Rocky Horror at the River Oaks Theater. Queer Voices starts now. Hi there, this is Brad Cullum. And uh Paul Hope is a famous Houston actor, known for his runs on stages like The Alley and Tuts. He puts on cabarets featuring some of Houston's most talented singers. This time out it is called With a Smile and a Song, a classic Disney cabaret. It will run at ovations and rice village on Mondays in May, starting May 4th. We've got 11th and the 18th. So Hey Paul, how are you? Well, bring me up to speed. For those who don't know, what are Paul Hope's cabarets?

SPEAKER_09 1:39

Okay. I like to say, which is sort of a fancy schmancy description, is that our mission is to keep the Great American Songbook alive in Houston. And I've been doing these cabarets under one banner or another for about 20 years now. And when I started, we have been working chronologically through the Great American Songbook. So when the the materials that we first sang were in the public domain, I mean, because we were pre-1900s, is when we started. And so now we're we're leaving the 40s and 50s and tipping into the 60s. So before we left, one day I thought, you know what? There's one group of songs because we've done tributes to Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Gershwin, Rogers and Hammerstein. But I thought there's the Disney studios, they're they're animated films that we all grew up with, and uh, and certain people's grandchildren and great-grandchildren are now growing up with. I'll introduce so many songs that have become part of the American consciousness. And I thought that are really part of the great American songbook, even though it's not Broadway song literature. And we're we're doing just like Snow White through Jungle Book, the the songs that were in the movies that were done while Walt Disney was still alive.

SPEAKER_04 2:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 2:58

So we're not doing Alan Minken, Little Mermaid, Frozen, Aladdin, da-da-da, you know, all of that. We're this is classic Disney.

Brett 3:06

Snow White goes all the way back to 1937, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_09 3:09

Exactly. Exactly. The first full-length feature animated film, you know. So um uh and uh my singers got very excited when I announced that we were gonna do this. So everyone's having a wonderful time with it. And um and we are making sure to, in all of our publicity, to say that this is a grown-up cabaret, do not bring your children. That's not to say an adult cabaret, because then people think it's something else, you know, or that we're gonna we're gonna do some sort of Rocky horror version of Disney. But no, it's just it's it's an evening for grown-ups, not for don't bring the kids, you know. So that's that's not our mission, you know.

Brett 3:53

And also, don't give me unnecessarily excited.

SPEAKER_09 3:56

You know, and the thing is, is I think kids would be bored with an evening of just songs, you know, because there's not, you know, we're the just the singers, singing our singing actors, we're the visual, you know, in a in a cabaret setting. So I don't think that's enough to keep them engaged. But adults is a whole other story, you know.

Brett 4:14

So well, Junkle Book ironically took you to 1967. So I think you're catching up with your great American songbook from the 30s to the 60s here with this. Oh yes. You know, the Disney stuff. I know that when you do your cabarets, and usually when you pick like a certain uh composer or composing team or something like that, you sprinkle this in with all of these spactoids and trivia and things about their career and like, you know, learner and low and their relationships. But for Disney, I mean it's a little bit different, isn't it? Well, the I mean are you still gonna be doing this kind of lecture in between?

Making A Grown-Up Disney Night

SPEAKER_09 4:51

Well, it's probably gonna be a little more streamlined because it's not a lot of the songwriters that in the early Disney are people you've known that I've I have not even heard of. Now, like for the one that I've that I have heard of, and that we start to get into the Sherman Brothers around Jungle Book and around in that period. But Sammy Fain, F-A-I-N, who I believe wrote some of the songs for Dumbo, I think that's right around the time he came on board. And he did some shows on Broadway, and unfortunately, none of them were very successful. Probably for for Broadway aficionados, his Barbara Cook's first Broadway show, Flahooly, was written by him. And it ran about, I don't want to say maybe about four months. And it was with Yip Harburg, wrote the lyrics, and honest to God, Ema Sumac was in the cast, you know. But Sami Fain did not write her songs. Her husband wrote those songs. So Ema Sumac's numbers sounded like Ema Sumac numbers, you know, but the rest of it was some really lovely stuff. And um, so I think he was a he was somebody I think who wrote more for Hollywood than than Broadway. And he just didn't have very good luck on Broadway. But so he's the only name besides the Sherman Brothers that have it popped up. What I have, what I do enjoy doing, which hopefully isn't boring to my audiences, is drawing connections between the voice actors. Is you realize that the voice that's doing the voice of Lady and Lady in the tramp is also the voice of Meriwether in Sleeping Beauty. You'll you realize that I think pretty much everybody knows Eleanor Audley, who is the voice of Lady Tremaine in Cinderella is the voice of Maleficent. You she has such a distinctive voice. So I'll be doing a little bit of that. This is, I think this is a show where the audience sort of comes with their own movie in their head. I mean, you just sing these songs, and you it's almost like you don't need to give a whole lot of, you know, info. There's a period in there where Walt was doing a lot of films for during the war effort, and he was doing a lot of shorts for Our Neighbors South of the Border. That was when he was doing like Saludos Amigos and Three Caballeros and things like that. Uh we we do try to tip our hat in in our finale. We do sort of a mashup of a lot of the smaller Disney songs or the more minor Disney songs, like, you know, in case you thought we forgot these, you know, here, you know, you know, uh so that there's some surprise. So I don't list those in the program because I want those to be a little, you know, parting gift. So like we do include a song from one of the theme parks and a song from one of the Disney television shows. And that's the only clue I'm gonna give you for that. But I think it's it's something that actually the the only song in that medley that goes beyond Jungle Book is and it's mostly because Tamara Seiler, who's one of my singers, is such a cat person. I did put in Everybody Wants to be a cat from the Aristocats. And, you know, I said, Tamara, would you like to sing that? And you know, and she was just jumping up and down, please, please, please, please, you know. So I had to have something feline, you know, for uh for Tamara. So Aristocats is the is the the the newest of all the titles. But we are singing stuff from Snow White, Pinocchio, Humbo, Andorella, Being Beauty, Peter Pan. We're even doing a number for Song of the South, and we're even doing a number from a Disney film that was, I think, part animated called Dear to My Heart, So Dear to My Heart, which is Lavender Blue. Burl Ives was in that and had sort of a hit with the song Lavender Blue, so we're which is lovely, and we're including that. And uh, so any rate, it's a great group of people. It's eight singers, four men, four women, some of my regulars. One young man who is a U of H grad who's working for the Humphrey School at Tutts now is coming back. He's done only one of our shows before, and I'm really glad to get him back, Jude Iber. He's he's sort of like a living, breathing Disney character himself. So he's just real right for this material. But Tamara Siler, Whitney Zangarini, um, you know, uh Amanda Passanante, Richard Paul Fink, some of a lot of my regulars, Panteles Carastamatis, um, are are back. You saw the Learner Lo show, so a lot of them were in that. Laura said the night you were there, uh Lauren Salazar had gotten ill, so Laura Smolek came in and and uh pinch hit for her. Well, she's in the in the real cast this time. She's our Disney princess voice.

Brett 9:30

Well, I mean, you've got a great group to do this. And it is it's interesting. You know, Disney is almost like this cult thing. I mean, it it there's so many people that are just mega fans of it. And I was born in Orlando, so I mean I just Oh my. I feel like it was always like a a thing around you swirling around. So uh it's it's interesting and the and the songs are interesting, and it's it's wild how many people know it as opposed to like the Broadway stuff. I think the Broadway stuff it is a very niche kind of thing, but this is so much broader just because of the accessibility of these movies over time. They got kept continuously being re-released in theater and home video and Disney Plus streaming where we can go back and watch all of these again and again and again. And it's something that kids seem to do frequently. They are just in their head. So it's it's very interesting. And it's it's funny that a lot of the writers didn't end up because you know now we see this intersection between Broadway and Disney that's kind of right in there. But it really didn't. It was two different worlds forever.

SPEAKER_09 10:30

No, exactly. Exactly. And it wasn't until well, even when Alan Mencken started writing uh for Disney, he and Howard Ashman were mostly known for Little Chop of Horrors. They had that an off-Broadway hit, but they weren't household names. Disney is what made them really made them famous. And uh but they I mean they certainly had done some things in New York, but I think Smile, they did had a flop musical cult Smile based on that wonderful teenage beauty pageant movie with Bruce Dern and Barbara Feldon, which I love, which is a great cult movie, but that had not that was not um a success. But Little Shop was really put them on the map. And then the Disney folks woke up and said, Hey, come work for us. And you know, now Robert Lopez and of course Steven Schwartz, you know, are all of them are working, you know, are writing material for Disney. And but back then, um one time I s uh a friend of mine said, Oh, all the songs in those old Disney movies, they all sound alike, and I said, And the ones now don't. It's all a particular style. The Disney songs were written in what Broadway songs sounded like, or American pop music in the 40s and 50s sounded like, you know. Um so and now it's you know, Broadway has a different sound, uh, you know, it's like Broadway pop, and Disney is mirroring those tastes, you know, for their you know, for the the for the audience. So but I think our our audiences for this are going to have a you know have a marvelous time. And we're trying not to we're trying to have maybe wink a little bit, but not send it up, you know, uh we because it's just really lovely material. And you know, with the comedy stuff. Well, for instance, I said we have to do I want to be like you from the jungle book so we can do the scat singing for King Louie and Baloo. So I'm actually doing that. That's one of my spots in the show. I don't I try not to do too many featured things anymore, but that's one where I was just like, okay, guilty. I've got to be so I'm doing that with one of the one of the guys. We're gonna do, we're gonna do, we're gonna be Louis Prima and Phil Harris. Yeah.

Brett 12:41

Who wouldn't want to be them? I mean, yeah.

SPEAKER_09 12:43

Well, exactly. You know, exactly.

Brett 12:46

I mean, it's such a joyful uh number from that uh movie. So Right. Exactly. Is there anything that surprised you working through this material? Like the where you thought, oh wow, this is not what I thought once I get it all together.

Surprises In The Set And Tickets

SPEAKER_09 12:58

Um well, actually, um, I I think some of my younger singers are coming to this, as with most of our cabarets, they come to this and go, I've never heard the song. I love this this song. Now, Amanda is a parent, so she already knows, you know, a lot of a lot of this material because of her kids. She's, you know, like Pantalus was singing Love is a song from Bambi, and which is a song a lot of it, you forget the songs in Bambi because none of them are sung by the characters, they're all sung as sort of soundtrack numbers. Because we're doing we're doing drip drip top middle April showers that you hear in in Bambi as well. We're doing that as a group number. But when Pantalus was singing Love is a song, and uh Amanda was like, Oh, this is this is so great. Um we did come up with a little bit of a campy approach to um uh Bella Note from Lady is a Tramp, with Richard and Pan sort of as competing opera singers a little bit. And in order to get them to do an encore, I have to bring out a plate of pasta. You know, so to motivate them to sing a second verse. But I think but uh Lucy Hargan is she's our musical director, is just really excellent. And she's I mean, she's just been having a great time with you know, with the material. It's not complicated. I think is it's not something that I think my singers are finding particularly challenging. It's more like like it's a warm bath. It's like, oh, this these songs are so great, and we're having such a great time. And and and singing everything from Hi Ho to the Mickey Mouse Club to Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf, and and and uh The Second Star to the Right, and A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes when you wish upon a star, you know. But so we try not to do go too heavy on the Disney ballads, but you have to because those are the some of the most famous songs. But luckily there's plenty of the fun stuff, you know. You get to have Tigger bounds around the room a little bit after you after you've sung something really pretty, you know.

Brett 15:15

So Well, it sounds very charming. It sounds like it's gonna be a lot of fun. I'm I'm really glad that you're kind of branching out, so to speak, into the Disney territory.

SPEAKER_09 15:23

But next season, uh, you know, we're back with uh our first Cycoleman evening, which will be which would focus on Sweet Charity and his early jazz pop songs like Witchcraft and The Best Is Yet to Come. And we're doing our first Sondheim related evening in February, but it's paired with Richard Rogers. So it's the end of Rogers' career and the beginning of Sondheim and their intersection when they collaborated on Do I Hear a Waltz? And um, you know, so we've got some you know wonderful uh return to you know Broadway song literature um in the you know in the fall. But I was just like, before we say goodbye to the 40s and the 50s and tipping a little now that we're tipping into the 60s, I I was like, we can't leave Disney behind. And actually what inspired me to do it was I was listening to Barbara Cook made a wonderful Disney album, and the arrangements are just delicious. And so that inspired uh that I was like, you know what, we need to do this. We need to do our our evening. And so there are a lot of things that are on that album that were those songs that I I put on our program. Um not necessarily her arrangements, you know. Um, but um I did we did uh uh steal her version of uh when I see an elephant fly. We're doing that from Dumbo. A la a la girl group, like she does, you know. So, you know, Lucy was nice enough to write out all the parts for the women's, you know, so they're hard at work, you know, learning how to how to fly. I call it Whitney and the pack of dames.

Brett 17:01

If anyone could do it, it would be Whitney, but yes, yes, yes, yes, exactly. Well, this is at uh ovations, which if anybody's not familiar is a club kind of right next to Main Street Theater, actually. Right next to Mayor Down in Rice Village, and Paul Hope's Cabarets are Mondays, and this one starts in May, May 4th, 11th, and 18th. You can go to his website to get it. It's Paulhope's cabarets.org. Uh, or you can buy tickets at the door, is what you're saying as well. Yeah, just kind of show up on a Monday. What time does it usually start? Is it seven or eight? Seven thirty. Oh, okay, right in the middle.

SPEAKER_09 17:37

Yeah, it's you know, seven thirty. And um ovations has two floors. So the bar is upstairs, and all the seating upstairs is unreserved. You know, if you want a reservation for a downstairs seating, usually those are the things that go first. But almost always we have a way to get you in upstairs. And those those seats are a little bit cheaper too. We don't charge as much for those.

Brett 17:59

But they're great because you're you've got a bird's eye view of everything. You can hear the pick.

SPEAKER_09 18:03

That's true. That's true. So you can see things other people don't.

Brett 18:08

Yes. You can watch Whitney how she gets off the ground and flies.

SPEAKER_09 18:11

Yes, exactly. If you sit over house left, you can actually see the music that Lucy's playing from. You know, you get to it's almost like you're looking behind the the pianist. So um but a great group.

Brett 18:24

Yeah, no, it's always a great group. So I will definitely be there. So uh hats off to Disney and put on your mouse ears and come join Paul and his merry band of Disney princesses and animals and princes. And cool cats. The cats just for them, yes.

SPEAKER_09 18:40

Yes, yes, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 18:56

I walked with you on the tree. So ugly.

Jack Berger Named Pride Grand Marshal

SPEAKER_07 19:45

This is Brian Levinka, and today I'm speaking with Jack Berger, a Grand Marshal for the 2026 Pride Parade. Jack, now, what kind of Grand Marshal have you been named? Distinguished. Tell me what does that mean to you?

SPEAKER_03 19:57

Well, you know, it's interesting. About nine or ten years ago, uh, I was approached by the Pride Committee, and they told me I was a nominee for the male-identifying Grand Marshal. Went through the process of trying to be elected, I guess, or or voted in, was unsuccessful, and decided I'm really not a big fan of coming in second or third. Uh, I like to use the analogy of uh the lovely Miss Susan Lucci, who finished runner-up, I don't know, 19 times or so for the All My Children daytime Emmy. And so I kind of um did not accept any other nominations and I was kind of surprised this year to uh find out that I was awarded one of the distinguished community leader slots in the parade. And I was very pleased by that. Uh, I guess it's a uh uh a sign that I've been doing some good things in the community for a few years. So I appreciate the recognition.

SPEAKER_07 21:02

Yeah, so just to be clear, the when you're nominated for a grand marshal, it becomes like a campaign for you to get the votes to be elected, or I guess chosen as the like say the male grand marshal when you're distinguished, you that's just bestowed upon you a recognition.

SPEAKER_03 21:19

I didn't have to run. So I didn't have to campaign, let's say that.

SPEAKER_07 21:22

Yeah, it's it's a pull-on campaign.

SPEAKER_03 21:24

Right.

SPEAKER_07 21:25

So can you tell me your past experiences with Pride? When was the first Pride you went to?

SPEAKER_03 21:29

Well, I officially came out in about 2005. I was working for OutSmart, so the first Pride Parade, I was on the OutSmart entry. We had a really fun pickup truck with a big billboard in the back of the of the pickup truck, and it had a pink uh sheep on it and the tagline of I'm the the pink sheep of the family. We had a lot of fun with that campaign. We had fabulous t shirts. So for Two years I rode with OutSmart and then I joined the Bunnies and we had a float. So even though I was still working for OutSmart, I rode with the Bunnies for several years before becoming an attendee and a festival attendee, et cetera. So um a little over 20 years now.

SPEAKER_07 22:18

So talk to me about your community involvement. I know you've done various things around the community.

SPEAKER_03 22:22

So again, most of it I can attribute to being part of the OutSmart staff. I I came out late in life at age 46. And my work at Outsmart gave me a lot of access to the community. And my first official engagement was with the former LGBT chamber of commerce that existed in the mid-2000. And also, uh, like I said, joining the Bunnies Host Committee. I'm a big fan of you don't get to complain if you're not willing to put in a little work and help with a solution. So not that I was complaining, but um I did get involved and was afforded a leadership role, became the president of Bunnies on a couple of different occasions and then filled in another couple of times, so four total times as president of Bunnies. I joined EPA, the Executive Professional Association of Houston, fairly early on, served in the vice president capacity, and then uh was elected president. Seven individual one-year terms that has now been passed on, but that was a great experience. Also served on the board of Outreach United with Gary Wood, and also a couple of years with the back then it was uh the gay men's chorus with Bayou City Performing Arts. And also, uh, one of the things I'm very proud of was I was the only male member of the Lesbian Health Initiative board as well. So, you know, and then getting really involved with the chamber uh 10 years ago when the new chamber was created with Tammy Wallace and Gary Wood, and eventually joined the staff there and now work with the Montreux Center. All along doing a lot of volunteer opportunities, like to uh donate fun prizes to auctions for LGBT nonprofits. I feel like my donation can be exponentially larger, whatever it costs me to make a prize or a basket or an item. Hopefully, we'll get even more money on the back end so that ultimately the nonprofit does better. So that's sort of been my community involvement, just getting involved and being part of leadership if they'll have me and just trying to make a difference.

SPEAKER_07 24:43

Definitely been putting in the work in the community, I would say.

Why Pride Still Matters

SPEAKER_03 24:46

Yeah, I am partially uh a lot of it has always had a component of what I do for a living. So um I I I guess that's a bonus and a little extra benefit that whether it was in my role as an advertising salesperson without Smart or on the membership side of the LGBT uh Q plus Chamber of Commerce, it always made sense to be involved. So yeah, just an added benefit.

SPEAKER_07 25:12

So what does pride mean to you specifically?

SPEAKER_03 25:15

My good friend Carol Wyatt, back when she was in charge of Pride Houston, told me it's always somebody's first pride. And I think that what has always resonated with me and stuck with me from the beginning that, you know, a lot of our LGBTQ plus forefathers and sisters came that came before us set the right path down. And it's up to us to continue to make it available for new folks to feel comfortable. So for me, pride is a celebration, it's a an opportunity for us to be in community. When I went to my first bunnies in 2006, I think, maybe 2005, I felt like I was part of the majority for the first time. And I think pride gives us that another opportunity to feel like, you know, this is for us and about us and by us. So I think it's important, you know, whether it's a pride night at a sporting event or a cultural event or the big parade and the big festival, it's really just a another opportunity to educate and introduce some folks, but also to step back and and just take advantage of the community and to say thank you and to just be part of a a larger group.

SPEAKER_07 26:34

So do you think pride is still relevant these days?

SPEAKER_03 26:37

I do. I I hate to say uh a now more than ever kind of thing. Uh having worked in LGBT media and working with LGBT owned businesses, um, I I think it's very important for us to be intentional, whether it's our spending or our celebrating. If we go back in the closet, that doesn't help anybody. So yes, it's still relevant to me.

SPEAKER_07 27:00

So what would you say is your biggest achievement that you're most proud of in the community?

SPEAKER_03 27:04

Oh, I thought you were gonna say in general on that. And that's being a dad. I think for me, I really enjoy connecting dots. I love putting businesses together. In my role as the institutional giving officer at the Montreux Center, I get to, you know, raise money and uh get companies involved, get organizations involved, and really just like I said before, connect dots to make it the community a little better. So whether it's uh a youth program, a senior program, anti-violence program, trans awareness, all of the parts of the community deserve to be they deserve to exist and they're and deserve to be better. So to do that, it takes funding. Uh the ability that I have to move the needle even just a little bit, uh, that to me is my my my biggest thing. I I don't look for um accolades and milestones and and achievements and accomplishments. Hopefully it's just a sum total of at the end of the day, at the end of the month, at the end of my career, that I can look back and say, yeah, I did my best. I'm proud of what I did. And hopefully the community is just a little better.

SPEAKER_07 28:24

Now, have you picked out your outfit for the parade yet?

Service Mindset And Staying Involved

SPEAKER_03 28:27

It's it's funny you said that. Uh you know, as we tape this, the Montra Center is hosting uh Empowering Our Future tonight, which is a once upon a time theme. So I've been working to create a beanstalk to go with my namesake Jack and the Beanstalk. So one costume, one outfit at a time kind of thing. I I don't not sure. I I keep going back and forth between either uh a sport because I am a sporty gay, either a uh a vintage Astros uh Pride jersey or something. I feel like I I need to represent. So maybe a Montrose center t-shirt under a Pride jersey and a Rockets Pride hat with a dash flag. I don't know. We'll see. I'm negotiating for a fabulous Pride Jeep as we speak.

SPEAKER_07 29:15

That sounds extra gay.

SPEAKER_03 29:16

Yeah. Well, you know, if not us, who? And if not now, when. Exactly. I I'm not I'm not uh uh afraid of a little colors.

SPEAKER_07 29:24

Now, is there anything I didn't ask you that you would like our listeners to know?

SPEAKER_03 29:27

I mean, I think it's important for the community to stay involved and stay connected. When I started getting involved with with Bunnies, one of the nice things is even if you can't be as philanthropic as you'd like, Lord knows I'd love to be able to write huge checks. But as president of Bunnies, I found some pretty significant checks that didn't have my name in the top left-hand corner, but it did have my name in the bottom right-hand corner. So, you know, getting involved can take a lot of shapes and and form. And uh every everybody can make a difference in the community. So I think I'm I would sort of challenge everyone to to find something to to participate in. If if you write checks, bless you, bless you, bless you. That's the that's a great, that's a great um uh ability to have. And and I think the community does appreciate that. But you know, it may just be a commitment of time at first, and then use your connections, use your your friend networks and things like that. And, you know, do something good. You that'll make you feel a whole lot better. Um, so I think that's that's my message to the community. Just enjoy it, have fun, um, and yeah, get involved.

SPEAKER_07 30:43

If you're joining us, we've been speaking with my good friend Jack Berger about becoming a distinguished grand marshal for the 2026 Pride Parade. For more information, go to HoustonPride.org. Thank you for coming on, Jack. Anytime, Brian. I appreciate it. This is Queer Voices.

SPEAKER_01 31:06

All right, my name is Matthew Williams, and you're listening to Queer Voices on 91 KPFT, also as a podcast on wherever you're listening to for streaming. I'm so happy to be back after a few years, and maybe more than a few years. I don't want to count. I'm getting older, I'm just gonna let that be. But is I'm happy to be back, and I'm coming back with a nice little series about talking to people about what gives them hope. And so I've been trying to look around for different people to speak with on this issue. We have a nice little runoff happening in Houston in Houston City Council District C. And there was a very interesting kismet meeting that I had going to the flat, my favorite spot, where I met the guy that's gonna be in the runoff, Mr. Joe. And so he's uh he's running. I'm gonna let him introduce himself to y'all. But you know, he's a he's a great community advocate. Do not mess with those bricks. He's a fighter for people. The bicyclers out there in the world. Went out there to Italy in some kind of way, came back, could have stayed in one of the in the beautiful uh country of Italy, but he found his way back. Mustache enthusiast. He is here to help make Houston a better city. Uh, that is my introduction to him. I'm gonna let him introduce himself to y'all in uh whatever way he feels like. Go ahead, Joe.

SPEAKER_04 32:17

That is amazing. Wow, what an introduction! Good afternoon, good morning, whatever time it is, y'all to listen to this. My name is Joe Panzarella. I am running for Houston City Council District C. As Matthew said, we are into the runoff. We finished first on April 4th with 33% of the vote, which was a huge accomplishment. And a huge shout out to all of the volunteer grassroots individuals and our team that put in the work to get us into this place. I am a grassroots community organizer. I have volunteered with MyCusim for the past five years. I co-founded an organization called No Higher No Wider IT, where we were advocating to stop TechStock from expanding I-TIN through District C. I'm also the president of the Freedmanstown Fourth World Super Neighborhood, which I reactivated last summer with the Freedmanstown Conservancy and the association and all of our neighbors there in the community. And I'm a renewable energy developer. I help push forward utility scale renewable energy projects across the nation. I'm running because I love Houston. I believe deeply in its potential, but it can be hard to live in. And I want to make it easier for all of us. So I am running for safer streets, more affordable housing, and a more transparent city hall. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_01 33:25

Yeah, yeah. I'm glad to have you here. I'm gonna, well, I will say, do you want to expand anything more, uh, expand a little bit more on what made you because those are all great reasons to run. But what was the like the big deciding factor? Like, all right, I gotta do this. All right, especially during these times.

SPEAKER_04 33:41

Yeah. You know, uh, as a community organizer, I have been fighting for the things in our policy for a couple of years now. I have been going to city council meetings, I've been going to tourist meetings, to civic club meetings to advocate for more sidewalks and more and high visibility crosswalks and bike lanes and all of these amazing transportation features that make Houston safer, but also more comfortable and more accessible. When it comes to affordable housing, I have lived to, you know, what you said in in Europe and I've lived in various cities throughout the US, and I've been able to see cities that have developed really amazing mixed-use affordable housing in a dense fashion. And when you get told no, time and time again by your elected officials, you start thinking to yourself, well, maybe it's time for me to run and and I'll bring this stuff forward myself. And I'm lucky to have such an amazing grassroots volunteer run team and and they've uh they've really helped make this uh vision a reality.

SPEAKER_01 34:34

Yeah, that's good to hear. I I kind of there's a lot of things, you know. I don't know everything about transportation and how cities work and everything, but there's so many times when I'm like, you know, I feel like we could be a superpower. I feel like Texas alone could be a superpower if we had good. I went to I went to London last year, but it was my first time going outside the country. And the idea of people just being like, yeah, you know, you can hop on a train and just go to France, you know, like I was like, that's huh, that that that's interesting. Or just anywhere in the city, I could just hop on a bus or a train and go anywhere I wanted to. And it's like, oh, that is okay. Yep, yep, that's interesting to have that ability. And I come from a place that doesn't really have that ability. And like, what if Houston, having all the resources it had, you know, kind of invested in these kind of things, or at the very least, you know, like the bike lanes. You know, I don't think people fully understand the power of having those bike lanes that even the little bit that we do kind of have. And so, yeah, I it's just, you know, I don't even know what's the question I want to ask, but just the the Well, I mean, I'd love to talk on that.

Walkability And Affordable Housing Vision

SPEAKER_04 35:34

I I got to spend a couple years in Amsterdam, and it's a city where they really have developed people-centered infrastructure. And in my time there, I constantly was thinking to myself, well, it's not like Amsterdam is vastly richer than Houston or they've invented this super novel technology. They just invested their infrastructure dollars in people-oriented infrastructure. And that's what I want to do here in Houston. And, you know, I don't think we can completely overhaul everything tomorrow, but I think if we can begin to change that culture in the city in advocating for more walkability and advocating for more biking options, then our leaders are gonna start to take notice and hopefully we can shift where those where those public dollars are going.

SPEAKER_01 36:14

Yeah, you know what that, and this is kind this is going into the what gives you hope thing. I feel like, how do you talk to people about that who look at the federal government and who has power and the state government and who has power and is like, well, I how how you know, and kind of, you know, that's great, but that's not gonna happen. Or at least they feel like that.

SPEAKER_04 36:34

Yeah. You know, we here in Houston are in a in a tough spot because we have Trump at the federal level, we've got ABI at the state level, and then our local mayor is not necessarily the most um supportive of multimodal infrastructure. So it is kind of in a difficult spot where it feels like a lot of things are stalled out. I think that's what makes this election so special and what kind of gives me hope into the future is that when our higher up office holders are kind of against the vision we have, that's where you turn to your most local options. And this is city council. And I'll say 9,400 vote 9,400 folks voted in the general special and we think maybe 5,000 are gonna vote in this runoff. And so if you come out and vote, that means your voice is gonna mean so much here. Um, and it's gonna have a direct impact on your built environment because that's what city council does.

SPEAKER_01 37:29

You know, I so I'm gonna ask a question that I know the answer to, at least I have my answer to. But I would like for you to give your answer for this. Can you talk about how much uh how uh I want to make sure I phrase this in the right way? Can you talk about the power of local government that people don't realize exists?

SPEAKER_04 37:47

Yes. The power of local government is incredibly powerful. The power of local government is powerful. No, but the way I consider it is local government has the biggest impact on your built environment. So when you walk out the door, if there isn't shade in your neighborhood, that's probably on your local government to plant more trees and to build shade structures and to provide that cooling shade infrastructure for you. When you leave your house, if your sidewalk's broken or there's a really wide street that's ugly and cars are speeding on it and it's dangerous for you to cross, that's your local government that's going to impact and rebuild those sidewalks and redesign the street to make it to where you can cross it easier and get to that park on the other side of the street. So I think a lot of times people love to focus on the governor's race or the president's race, and those are really important elections, but your day-to-day quality of life is mostly impacted by by your local government.

SPEAKER_01 38:41

Yeah, I I think I have so many friends that I try to say this who aren't as nerdy as me, because I'll look at things I'm, you know, studying what that went down in Hungary and what's going on in whatever primary race halfway across the country. And I'm like, you know, we I don't think people fully get that like you to get something done on a federal level takes a lot. That takes it's going through committees, and you gotta get the right person to introduce it. You probably just gotta be a lobbyist or in a pack of some kind, even if it's a good one, you know, you gotta be in the know just to get to the right person to get the thing going, to get into a meeting and get out of this and da-da-da-da. So getting a and then get the president to sign. And so, you know, all of that takes a lot of work. And then even on the state level, it's pretty much the same thing, just more on the state level. And I don't think people realize how quickly something can get done on in a on a local level that can just at least just fake affect your neighborhood. Like it's it happened in a snap just by going to the city council person that you or your uh representative on the uh Harris Council, Harris uh sorry, Harris Council board. And so it's it can happen way, way, way quicker, but you gotta know what's going on. You know, you gotta be in the know.

SPEAKER_04 39:48

And to your point, the the decision makers at the local level are generally your neighbors. These are people that you might see at the grocery store. And so to your point, when when it comes to federal decisions and federal dollars, you pay your taxes and then you know it kind of disappears into what's happening in DC. But when you pay your taxes here in Houston, we can see how the budgets are impacted at city council or how our TERS is, these tax increment reinvestment zones, how their budgets adjust, when we're paying our taxes into it, and what kind of projects that they're then able to invest in. And that's what really makes, I think, local government special because, like I said, you know who the decision makers are. You can see exactly how much and where their money's coming from, and then you can have an impact on on what it's being spent on.

Local Government Shapes Daily Life

SPEAKER_01 40:31

The last thing I want to say, because this is, you know, I'm unnerved about this stuff. I was as a nerd, and I'm I'm supposed to be interviewing you, but I just just to throw in there for people listening, like, I don't think people fully get how uh few people participate in things on the local level. So your vote can get like your I mean I remember there was one year there was a city council race that went to a runoff, and I believe it was like it is a few years ago, but it was chosen by like I think three or four votes. Yeah, no, it was it you can you can have so and then b belonging to the right or um the right organization, the uh G O B T political caucus or something like that. Then now you're behind a group that has some kind of weight if you're behind something you care about or whatever it is. You can you can I would I even went to did the endorsement meetings with the caucus one year, and there was like a decision where it was my decision that made the endorsement go one way, that went to the meeting that they went along with that that person eventually got endorsed, got the nomination, and so in it's like I know it wasn't just me, but it was just interesting to be a part of the process that was like that, you know, I I played a role.

SPEAKER_04 41:33

You know, I'll say uh I want to give a shout out to my good friend Senator Molly Cook. When when she got elected, she's a young member of the LGBTQ community, uh progressive. When she won her race, I think she ended up winning it by 75 votes, something like that. Yeah. And it just shows that in these local races, so few folks are coming out to vote that when you do, it's making a huge impact.

SPEAKER_01 41:56

Yes, yes, yes. Okay, I need to get to the meat of this interview of what I'm trying to do in this series. Joe, what is it that gives you hope? Whether it's things you do on the side, like the arts you take in or what everything involved in what you're doing with the race or just even before you decided to run, what is it that during these times, which kind of irritates me to say because people say it a lot, but uh, what what is it that gives you hope?

SPEAKER_04 42:18

I have to say it's the people, it's the community. Community gives me so much hope. And as a grassroots community organizer, I have seen when regular citizens come together, use their voice, and they make a change in their community. And it's awesome to see. And we're seeing that now, you know, myself as a candidate, where bringing people that I've worked with from all different types of organizations, the LGBTQ caucus, urbanism groups, uh, public health groups, transit groups, all coming together behind this shared vision of safer streets, affordable housing, transparency at City Hall, and getting to work with these individuals day in and day out gives me so much hope. And it's really a pleasure. And it's made this campaign so much more fun than I thought it could be.

SPEAKER_01 43:02

Yeah, yeah, it's I can sometimes just reading about these things gives me hope. When I just see y'all, just the images of people come together. Also, for me, you know, we've had it's it's it very interesting. I'm like, have y'all not seen special elections, all the special elections that we've had? Like when I'm around friends, like oh no, I'm like, it is going so far in our direction. Like, we gotta just have hope. Also, for me, and uh, I just and again, sorry if I didn't say this earlier. I want to make this like more of a conversation, you know, between two people instead of just question and answer. But for me, it was I went to Texas Southern and I monitored in African American studies, and maybe up until like maybe my mid twenties, most of everything I was a part of and ever done has been mostly in the black community. And like we we survive so much. It's hard for me to be like in give up mode when I think about one thing I like to think about is well, what would my ancestors say about my behavior right now? Like if I I'm like just doom scrolling and sad and like almost ready to start becoming a what is it a prepper, whatever those people are called. Like, like which I've heard some people talk about dudes they prepper. I'm like, y'all, what what would my ancestors say about me behaving like this? Like, this is I I know things ain't great, but come on, y'all. There, and there's some wild stories of how people have survived in creative stories, just super creative stories of how people have found the found the way to survive. Even in the past, or even today, uh, this is my political nerdy side popping in, but like, is it is it Wyoming? Wyoming has abortion access because they were able to use what the Republicans did about COVID against them and to keep the super, super red state, you know, would think one of the first ones to get rid of it was fine, they found a way to keep it going. There's the story about how Houston got um desegregated for his public accommodations, which the Houston Chronicle did look into and verify that a lot of the black leaders had meetings with the white families that owned everything and was just like, can you do a media blackout and you so you can just get this black money? And they were like, Okay, cool, sure. And then they went along with it, and then we just got the Houston got desegregated and it was all good. And so, and it was like, Well, that's called being creative. That's called being creative and finding a way to get it done. So those for me, that's the kind of stuff, and then and I'm always just looking and just seeing how people can again, like I just mentioned, Hungary. I didn't even think that was gonna happen in Hungary. I thought that dude was not gonna step down. I knew the polls weren't looking good too.

SPEAKER_04 45:28

She just voted out an autocrat, right? Simple as that.

SPEAKER_01 45:31

And the guy who came in is fully like, okay, y'all all gotta go, and I'm starting to expose things, and they've been giving money to CPAC, and they've been doing this, and I'm about to change everything and that. I was like, what that I I'm usually an optimist, but I didn't think that was gonna happen. I did not think that was gonna happen. So it's stuff like that that gives me hope, and I like what you just said about what gives you hope, and that's why I want to kind of, you know, just have these little conversations for people to hear, like, stop it. Stop it. That's what friend, that's kind of what some of them want. They want to they want to drive us crazy. That's that's literally like a a being in in I think war or whatever, like, you know, let your your enemy defeat itself by driving it mad, pretty much. And so, anyways, anyways, anyways, I don't want to rant about that too much.

Hope Comes From Organizing Together

SPEAKER_04 46:17

Well, you know, I'll I'll just add to that too, about what gives me hope is that a lot of times I have found in organizing this feeling of apathy in Houston that this is just how it has to be. It has to be a car city full of traffic where we're not really able to walk or bike or you know, drive safely, all these things. And we've learned that that's just not true. Things can change and things can get better. And we're seeing that right now with with this campaign. And to see the cu the community uh recognize the vision, come out and vote for it, but also work for it. I mean, we've knocked on over 15,000 doors throughout this campaign, and we're gonna keep doing that. And so for anyone listening, if if you feel stuck and you feel like Houston's just not changing for the better, come out to joeforehouston.com. We're block walking every Saturday. We're hoping to win this election on May 16th, and I think we can really change the city.

SPEAKER_01 47:06

Yes. Well, thank you so much. I'm I'm gonna cut it off right there. I know you're a very busy person, and we're talking about things that I can rant about all day. So at a certain point, you just gotta cut it off. But you know, these are I'm a nerd about these things. I want to give people hope. I like talking about people who want to give people hope. So thank you for coming to speak with us. Uh set it, sorry, set aside a little time and speak with me, Matthew Williams with Queer Voices. Uh, thank you very much, Joe. I'm gonna let you get on to it with your day.

SPEAKER_04 47:32

Thank you, Matthew. Have a great day.

SPEAKER_01 47:34

You as well.

Rocky Horror Shadow Cast In Houston

SPEAKER_07 47:42

This is Brian Lavinka, and today I'm speaking with Zoe Wallace of the Royal Mystic Order of Chaos and their production of Rocky Horror that they produce at the River Oaks Theater. Welcome to the show, Zoe.

SPEAKER_02 47:54

Thank you, thank you.

SPEAKER_07 47:56

So tell me tell me about the Royal Mystic Order of Chaos.

SPEAKER_02 47:59

We are a Rocky Horror Shadow cast, meaning that we perform the show in front of the screening movie every month right here at the River Oaks Theater in Houston, Texas. We've been a cast for the last 14 years going since 2012, and just rocking and rolling and performing on stage every month. It's been lovely.

SPEAKER_07 48:20

So, how did this get started here in Houston? I know this has been around for a while.

SPEAKER_02 48:23

It has, yeah. So the first show in Houston was at the Alabama Theater, would have been in the 1970s, late 70s, until they got turned into the bookstore. And then that cast went ahead and eventually moved over to the River Oaks Theater where we are today. We've had a few evolutions of casts, formerly the beautiful creatures in the 90s. They dissolved in 2012 and we went ahead and reformed and took over as the Royal Mystic Order.

SPEAKER_07 48:53

And so what role do you play?

SPEAKER_02 48:54

I am the director here. Uh I also usually play Janet, but we all are in a cycle of casting. So everybody kind of gets to perform every role. The cast members actually have bingo cards where we try and check off every role in the show uh and let them all have that kind of variety and fun with it. It's a very campy performance. So we really like to let people come up with new bits and new gags and have the experience of stepping into a new role whenever possible.

SPEAKER_07 49:25

Yeah, I was gonna ask how you kind of uh evolved this over time and how it has changed.

SPEAKER_02 49:30

Absolutely. Yeah, it's we try and keep true to the core of what Rocky Horror is, both to us and to the community at large, um, of being a showcase of a queer performance and experience and joy, um, and really celebrating people. But it of course has changed since the 70s, right? So we still have the same fanatic base, which is wonderful. Most of our cast members actually started as fans of the show coming to see it every month, sitting in the dark seats and now getting to be on stage and perform with the show. There's a lot of callbacks that happen the whole time. There's just a lot of audience engagement and fun. We try and bring in the people that come to see the show as much as we possibly can, mess with them as much as we can.

SPEAKER_07 50:18

So, do a lot of people dress up for this?

SPEAKER_02 50:20

So many, and we encourage it. We love to see people's costumes. People come dressed up as characters from the show, they come dressed up as other cultural references, uh, their own original costumes. We get a lot of cosplayers, we get a lot of theater kids, our cast in particular are a lot of those. So we really, really love getting to see people show up and show out.

SPEAKER_07 50:41

So, for people that have never been to this before, can you explain what it's like?

What A Midnight Show Is Like

SPEAKER_02 50:45

Yeah. So Rocky Horror is a campy 70s movie. Um, it doesn't make a lot of sense as a plot of the show. It's all about this couple, Brad and Janet, who get engaged and then go on a trip and lose their way and end up at Frankenfurter's castle trying to find a phone because their car's broken down. And once they get into the castle, they are met with this team of characters who seem otherworldly and are really taking them along for a ride. There's lots of song, lots of dance. So when audience members come into our show, we have about a 30-minute pre-show where we give them prop bags for the performance for them to use and throw. We try and immerse them in the kind of energy we like to bring to the show. Really high energy, high octane. There's lots of yelling, there's loud music going, uh, there's lots of lights. We have great dynamic lighting for the show. Uh, and then we bring them our virgins up, we call them, our newcomers to the show, people who've never seen the live show before, even if they've seen the movie, haven't truly experienced what it is to be at that midnight showing. We do some virgin games, which are usually kind of to get them loosened up and feeling fun and accepted and feeling like they can also join in and scream and yell and throw things. And then we start in on the show. So we do a full performance in the audience on stage in front of the movie showing for about two, two and a half hours. We start at midnight, we get out at about 2:30, go do our picture meet and greet and wrap it all up.

SPEAKER_07 52:24

So the River Oaks Theater was closed for a couple of years. What did y'all do then?

SPEAKER_02 52:28

So we did a lot of campaigning to help reopen the River Oaks Theater, but we also had a few roadshows in between. We performed at White Oak, we performed at Warehouse Live, we held a benefit at Warehouse Live. The team there helped us to put that on. We actually raised almost$10,000 uh towards the historic restoration of the River Oaks Theater as it came back together. Um, it was a really strange time during the pandemic, but I think our cast and our community became even closer, really trying to make sure to save the home that we've been at and loved so much for so many years.

SPEAKER_07 53:04

It's definitely quintessential Houston, the River Oaks Theater.

SPEAKER_02 53:08

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I've been going to Rocky Horror there since I was probably 15. Uh but it's it's a wonderful place. I couldn't imagine it not being part of the Houston skyline anymore.

SPEAKER_07 53:20

Now I was gonna ask how you got involved with the Rocky Horror. Sounds like you've been doing this for a while.

Reopening River Oaks And Community Bonds

SPEAKER_02 53:24

I have, yeah. I've been going since gosh, probably 2014. No, definitely earlier than that. I don't know. It's been a long time. Um, but I've been a cast member since 2015. I turned 18 and the fall after I graduated high school, I got recruited in and uh joined the cast. I joined in as Janet. I was Rocky for a while, back to Janet. But it we're truly such a close-net group and community. We do outside events together. We have our Rocky bag nights making the prop bags, we get together for rehearsals, we hang out, we're all such a tight-knit group.

SPEAKER_07 54:04

So tell me about the prop bags. I know there's some bread and rice. What else is in?

SPEAKER_02 54:08

We don't do the food anymore. I wish we did. We try and keep respectful to the theater and make sure that they're not getting stuffed in between fissions. But we do have several things. We've got a roll of toilet paper to throw, we've got playing cards in there, we've got a glove noisemaker, we've got a party hat for you to wear. We're putting in a newspaper as well as having our playbill for people to use during the show. People bring lighters. We really encourage all kinds of props and things as long as they're not rice hot dogs, bread and water guns.

SPEAKER_07 54:41

Yeah, I guess you don't want to mess up that nice theater.

SPEAKER_02 54:43

Those seats are real nice.

SPEAKER_07 54:45

Yes. So what is your favorite song or the favorite thing you'd like to perform at the show?

SPEAKER_02 54:49

Mine would definitely be Rose Tent My World. Uh, during the floor show at the very end, we do our big song and dance number. Uh, I think that's really, really fun. But I genuinely I love getting to see new people step into these roles and really showcase themselves and something magic comes out of people when they're up there in the lights. It's great.

SPEAKER_07 55:09

So if people want to get involved, how can they get involved with this and go to the performances or volunteer?

Prop Bags Costumes And Joining The Cast

SPEAKER_02 55:15

Yeah, so we a lot of the culture around Rocky Horror is people coming month after month after month, seeing the show again and again and really getting that tingling excitement in the seats. And we really encourage people to come see the show a few times, really get ingrained in the group and the culture and everything. And oftentimes we bring people from the audience to come join us on stage. We do have formal auditions open if people come request it, but most of our recruitment comes from picking people out of the seats.

SPEAKER_07 55:47

Very good. Is there a website or something that you people can find out more information on?

SPEAKER_02 55:52

They can find us on Instagram and on Facebook. On Instagram, we're at RHPS Chaos, and on Facebook, we are Rocky Horror Houston.

SPEAKER_07 56:01

Well, I've been talking with Zoe Wallace of the Royal Mystic Order of Chaos about the Rocky Horror Talkback show. So is there anything else you want our listeners to know before we go?

SPEAKER_02 56:11

Please, we are a wonderful space. We try to be a wonderful space for young queer people. Please come see, come dress up. We'd love to meet you. We'd love to have you at the show. And I hope we see you guys soon.

SPEAKER_07 56:24

Thank you for coming on Queer Voices.

SPEAKER_02 56:25

Thank you.

SPEAKER_07 56:26

Thank you.

SPEAKER_06 56:34

This has been Queer Voices, heard on APFT Houston and as a podcast available from several podcasting sources. Check our webpage queervoices.org for more information. Queer Voices executive producer is Brian Lavinka. Deborah Moncrief Bell is co-producer. Brett Cullum and David Mendoza Kruzman are contributors. The newscraft segment is part of another podcast called This Way Out, which is produced in Los Angeles.

Ghost of Glenn 57:08

Some of the material in this program has been edited to improve clarity and runtime. This program does not endorse any political views or animal species.