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Gay Holocaust survivor shares life lessons

Alfred Munzer laments ongoing religious, racial hatred

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Holocaust Munzer, gay news, Washington Blade
Holocaust Munzer, gay news, Washington Blade

Alfred Munzer in his Van Ness apartment. Now retired from his medical career, Munzer devotes much of his time to the Holocaust Museum. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

First Person 2015 Series: Al Munzer

 

Conversation with a Holocaust Survivor

 

Wednesday, July 29

 

11 a.m.

 

U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

 

100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, S.W.

 

Free

 

No registration required

 

ushmm.org

 

Although the odds were not favorable for Alfred Munzer in the circumstances surrounding his birth, in many ways, he ended up being the luckiest member of his family.

Heā€™s the youngest of three children of Simcha and Gisele Munzer, a family of Jewish immigrants from what is now Poland. His parents were childhood sweethearts and were raising two daughters, Eva (born in July 1936) and Leah (born in November 1938) in the Hague, Netherlands. After World War I, anti-Semitism was rampant in their native land and opportunities were limited, so they moved to Holland where there was a substantial population of Jews, some of whom were from families that had been there since the 15th century. Simcha ran a menā€™s tailoring business.

When Gisele discovered she was expecting a third child ā€” the pregnancy was unplanned ā€” an abortion was advised and, as Munzer tells it today, his mother was told that, ā€œit would be immoral to bring another Jewish life into the world.ā€ Although not especially religious, she was inspired by the Old Testament story of Hannah, the childless woman who vows to God that if she is given a son, she will give him back to God. Her wish is granted with the birth of Samuel.

Munzer, now 73, was born on Nov. 23, 1941. Before he reached his first birthday, in July of 1942, Germans began mass deportations of nearly 100,000 Jews from the occupied Netherlands to the east, primarily Auschwitz, a network of Nazi concentration camps in German-annexed regions that had previously been part of Poland. It marked the beginning of a harrowing season for his family.

Munzer says growing up, he was often reminded of the circumstances around which he was born.

ā€œAny time I was bad growing up, my mother would remind me of this, how she had prayed to God and requested a son,ā€ Munzer says. ā€œShe indoctrinated me with this. It was made very clear that she had made the same pledge as Hannah and that I was here in service of God ultimately.ā€

Itā€™s one of many biographical stories Munzer will share on Wednesday, July 29 when he does another installment of the Holocaust Museumā€™s First Person program in which survivors are interviewed about their life experiences. Since retiring from his career as an internist and pulmonologist last year, Munzer has become increasingly active as a volunteer at the museum. The program is free.

Having shared his life story many times over the years, first at an artistic event in Woodstock, N.Y., in the early 1980s, Munzer says itā€™s important that his story and those of other Holocaust survivors continue to be told.

ā€œThe angle I usually take is that even in a sea of evil, it is possible for people to do the right thing and stand up for what is right,ā€ he says.

Unlike, for instance, the Anne Frank family, the Munzers thought theyā€™d fare better if they went into hiding separately. Munzerā€™s two sisters went to live with a Catholic family. Simcha Munzer had received a notice to report for so-called labor duty, essentially a one-way ticket to a concentration camp, but was able to delay it by first having a hernia operation heā€™d been putting off and later faking a suicide attempt. Joined by Gisele at a Jewish psychiatric hospital where she was pretending to be a nurseā€™s aide, the two were eventually deported, in early 1943, to Vught Concentration Camp and then a year later to Auschwitz where they were separated.

Gisele had sold the familyā€™s possessions. Neighbors kept some items such as a silver candelabra and fire dragon puppet that are now in Munzerā€™s Van Ness apartment where heā€™s lived for about 25 years with his husband, Joel Wind. Though only married for a year and a half, the two have been together since they met at Bet Mishpachah, a local LGBT-affirming synagogue where Munzer sometimes preaches, in 1980.

Things quickly turned dark for the family. The husband of the family raising Munzerā€™s two older sisters turned out to be a Nazi sympathizer. He denounced his wife and the two girls and all three were arrested and sent to the Westerbork transit camp. On Feb. 8, 1944, Eva, 8, and Leah, 6, were deported to Auschwitz where they were killed three days later.

Alfred was put in the care of a family friend named Annie Madna who placed him with her sister. After about a month, she became too nervous to keep him and placed little Alfred with her ex-husband Tole, a native of Indonesia. Munzer stayed there for the next three years and was looked after by their housekeeper, Mima Saina, who went to great lengths to care for him.

ā€œShe really became my mother,ā€ Munzer says. ā€œShe was a woman who was completely illiterate, who spoke no Dutch, couldnā€™t read or write, she spoke only Indonesian, but she had a heart of gold. She would walk ā€” I was in the house illegally, so there were no ration coupons for me ā€” she had to scrounge up milk for me however she could, sometimes walking miles just to get it. Iā€™m told I slept in her bed. She kept a knife under the pillow to kill off any Nazis who might try to get me or even kill me rather than having me fall in their hands. She was an amazing woman who raised me from the time I was about 9 months old till I was about 3 and a half.ā€

Simcha spent several months in Auschwitz and was then sent to three different camps in Austria. Although eventually freed from one in Ebensee in the Austrian Alps by the U.S. Army, he was so weakened by the ordeal that he died under the care of nuns at a convent just two months later, on July 25, 1945, 70 years ago this weekend. Munzer was told his father had contracted tuberculosis.

Gisele fared better and worked on electronics equipment in a series of camps before she was freed at the Danish border through the intervention of the Swedish Red Cross in early 1945. Although fussy from having been awoken from a nap, being reunited with her is one of Munzerā€™s earliest memories.

ā€œI was cranky and crying so the whole Matna family was passing me around, like you do with a crying baby, and the only lap I wouldnā€™t sit on was my own motherā€™s,ā€ Munzer says. ā€œShe was a stranger to me by that point.ā€

It was decided that his de facto surrogate mother Mima would continue to care for him while Gisele looked for work but Mima had a cerebral hemorrhage about two months later and died. Gisele eventually found work in the garment industry. Although deeply traumatized by the Holocaust, Munzer remembers her as a stoic, matter-of-fact woman. He had no sense growing up that his life was any different from anyone elseā€™s.

ā€œI was surrounded by kids who had lost their parents, who had lost siblings, there really was nothing unusual about that,ā€ he says. ā€œI did not understand as a very young kid what had happened to my sisters. All I knew was that there were these beautiful pictures on the wall of these beautiful girls. Everybody would tell me how wonderful they were. One of my motherā€™s neighbors would tell me that my older sister could write so perfectly when she was just 6. I was a little bit jealous of them in a sense. I had no comprehension of the fact that they had been killed. I just did not understand why they were missing or just didnā€™t really think about it.ā€

Neither, too, did the bombed-out landscape of the Hague, strike young Munzer as unusual.

ā€œMy mother had a very good friend who was in a concentration camp with her and she and her husband, well, there was very little housing available there. After my mother closed her store, she had acquired a little cosmetics store, weā€™d go to visit the Van Der Pols in these few little rooms they had in an attic and weā€™d walk across these huge fields of rubble to get there. I thought walking through rubble was just a normal thing. Or playing hide and seek in bunkers on the beach. It wasnā€™t until much later that I came to grips with the Holocaust as such.ā€

In July 1958, Gisele and then-16-year-old Alfred came to the United States where he became a bit of an overachiever. Located in Brooklyn, he finished high school, college, medical school and advance training at Johns Hopkins. He first came to Washington in 1972 during a two-year tour of duty with the Air Force and an assignment at Andrews Air Force Base.

He has many happy memories of his later years with his mother and says the two enjoyed many trips, including a few to visit his fatherā€™s grave, in her later years. A pivotal turning point in his understanding of the Holocaust came in 1978 when the miniseries ā€œThe Holocaustā€ aired on CBS.

ā€œBefore, I would hear her in conversations with friends and it was always, ā€˜so-and-so came backā€™ or ā€˜so-and-so did not come back.ā€™ They never used the term survived. She had told me little bits and pieces here and there, actually humorous things mostly. She told me once very late in the game, she was actually cast as Adolf Hitler in a play, that type of thing. But she always had an incredibly positive attitude, which I think is really what kept her alive. She even spoke of being in one of those cattle cars and being able to look out and see the beautiful countryside. She said, ā€˜After the war, we may not have much money, but at least that was not a bad way to travel around and see nature. ā€¦ After the ā€˜Holocaustā€™ miniseries, I took out a map and had her trace the 12 concentration camps she had been through and she told me the approximate dates and things that had happened at each place.ā€

Munzer says she was ā€œvery matter of fact about it.ā€

She eventually embraced Wind and on later trips introduced he and Alfred as ā€œher two sons.ā€ She settled in Rockville and enjoyed painting and was ā€œnot especially anti-German,ā€ Munzer says. ā€œShe judged people individually and felt that was important.ā€ Several of her landscapes hang above Munzerā€™s sofa now. She died at age 95 about 12 years ago.

Munzer started volunteering at the museum about eight years ago. He conducts tours, helps with Dutch-to-English translation work, gives talks to student groups and more. He says heā€™s delighted that the museum has remained popular and, although a challenge, is often overwhelmed by the number of people who visit, crowds having far surpassed estimates since its 1993 opening.

Museum staff say the stories from survivors are hugely important and valuable.

ā€œOne of the most powerful ways people (understand history) is to engage with someone who witnessed it,ā€ says Diane Saltzman, director of survivor affairs. ā€œHolocaust survivors who volunteer at the museum provide that personal connection for our visitors and bring an incomprehensible past alive and add a unique and powerful dimension to the visitorsā€™ experience.ā€

Munzer is thrilled the staff ā€” heā€™s the only LGBT survivor volunteer he knows of ā€” has not raised the slightest issue with him being gay. He also says being out during his medical career was also pleasantly uneventful in that regard.

Last weekā€™s conviction of 94-year-old SS sergeant Oskar Groening, an Auschwitz bookkeeper sentenced to four years imprisonment for his role as an accessory to murder in 300,000 deaths, is ā€œawfully lateā€ in Munzerā€™s opinion.

ā€œAlthough I do think itā€™s important for people to be brought to justice.ā€

Equally important, Munzer says, is that the Holocaust is not forgotten.

ā€œTo me one of the greatest tragedies of the Holocaust is not even what happened but the fact that violence continues and especially genocide continues. The world really did not learn its lesson and the slogan ā€˜never againā€™ has really not been upheld. The fact that there is still religious hatred and racial hatred is just really, really sad. The re-emergence of anti-Semitism but even more in general, just not recognizing people as part of the common human race.ā€

Holocaust, gay news, Washington Blade

Joel Wind (standing) and Alfred Munzer married in 2013 after more than 30 years together. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

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Rehoboth authorā€™s new book tackles love, loss, and the allure of P-town

Will Freshwaterā€™s series concludes with ā€˜The Dark Horseā€™

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Author Will Freshwaterā€™s new book ā€˜The Dark Horseā€™ is out now.

For those of us who have experienced the allure of Provincetown, thereā€™s no mystery about why author Will Freshwater set his series of three books there. 

Itā€™s not just about the scenic, remote location, or the many fine restaurants and spirited bars and nightclubs and theme weekends. Not just the picturesque harbor and its famed magical light. Itā€™s about a shared sense of community unique among LGBTQ destinations.

Freshwater, whose latest book ā€œThe Dark Horseā€ is out now, lives in Rehoboth Beach, Del., with his husband Stephen Cremen. And although Rehoboth became home after Freshwater retired from a career as a corporate attorney at Verizon in 2021, P-town always beckons. He first visited during the height of the AIDS crisis.

ā€œI donā€™t think weā€™ll ever experience anything like that again,ā€ he said. ā€œThe community welcomed anyone who showed up on the ferry looking for love and support; it was a transformative experience.ā€

Freshwaterā€™s parents worried that heā€™d never find a ā€œnormal,ā€ happy life as a gay man, but P-town put those fears to rest.

ā€œI saw people who were plenty happy and living lives that were what they wanted to be,ā€ he recalls. ā€œI had never been able to hold my boyfriendā€™s hand and walk down the street; young people canā€™t conceptualize that. It felt like home for me ā€¦ it felt welcoming, a warm place where I could be myself.ā€ 

So, naturally, the protagonist in his series of books, John Wells, travels to P-town from D.C. to find himself. 

The first book in the Provincetown series, ā€œFavorite Son,ā€ is a familiar read to any gay man of a certain age who worked on the Hill in the 1990s ā€” the sting of the closet, the need to be the best at work, and the chance meetings of romantic partners while riding the Metro. The story of John Wells, a senior Hill staffer, takes a turn after tragedy sends him reeling to P-town to heal. 

The second book in the series, a prequel titled ā€œThe Light Reflected,ā€ takes readers back in time when the main characters ā€” all gay men ā€” are in their 20s. Freshwater says it wasnā€™t a conscious decision to write a prequel, but that it evolved out of wanting to show younger readers what life was like for gays at that time.

ā€œWe did stupid stuff and made stupid mistakes and ran away,ā€ he said. ā€œAs a reader I often want to know what made a character a certain way. I was aware of my audience and in my generation I had the older mentors that shared our history and they died; I wanted readers to see what itā€™s like for these characters to be in their 20s not just their 30s. I wanted to give that perspective to younger readers because I donā€™t know how theyā€™re going to experience that if not through books.ā€ 

The new book, ā€œThe Dark Horse,ā€ finds the characters Danny and Peter/John in domestic life in Boston where Danny runs the family business. Everyone is feeling restless and a bit miserable. 

ā€œItā€™s about what happens after the fairy tale,ā€ Freshwater said. 

The book also confronts the issue of unresolved feelings for past boyfriends, which takes the characters back to Provincetown. Thereā€™s a shocking plot twist at the end of the second book, an unexpected ending for the romance genre, that is resolved to satisfaction in the final book. 

ā€œYou wonā€™t know until the final four pages of the book how it resolves,ā€ he notes.

This is the shortest book in the series and Freshwater says it took just 11 months to complete, compared to six years for the first book and eight years for the second book.

ā€œThereā€™s a great sense of closure and I can always visit these characters but Iā€™m excited to move on and do new things.ā€ 

Indeed, Freshwater is working on several new projects, including a book set in Rehoboth that heā€™s co-writing with a friend, the gay romance author B.J. Irons. Freshwater is writing one character, a Rehoboth local who manages an inn on Baltimore Avenue and wants to ā€œbreak out of his shell.ā€ Irons is writing the other main character, a developer from Los Angeles who moves to Rehoboth to open a large resort across the street from the inn. The book explores their friendship and business rivalry. 

Rehoboth became home for Freshwater and Cremen thanks largely to the pandemic.

ā€œIā€™d been coming here since age 3 because it was the closest beach to Pittsburgh,ā€ he said. ā€œWhen I was in law school I got introduced to a guy who had a house on the beach between Rehoboth and Dewey so I used to come down a lot in the mid-1990s and became hooked.ā€ 

The couple bought a house in Rehoboth in 2018 and split their time between there and a home in New Jersey. 

ā€œWhen the pandemic started, we went to Rehoboth for two weeks thinking it would all blow over quickly and then never went back.ā€

 The couple began questioning their stressful lifestyle of maintaining two homes and corporate jobs. So they sold the New Jersey house and moved full time to Rehoboth in 2021. 

In addition to the new book, Freshwater is writing a childrenā€™s book using the classic ā€œVelvet Rageā€ as inspiration. It features a puppy with a pink spot on his cheek while all the others in the litter have a black spot. The dog wears a mask to conceal his difference, but when it comes out everyone accepts him.

ā€œIt thematically speaks to not hiding who you are,ā€ he said.

Freshwater offers sound advice to aspiring writers struggling to find their voice and overcome writerā€™s block.

ā€œIt always starts with an idea or character or theme and then you develop a broad outline and then work your butt off,ā€ he said. ā€œDecide when youā€™re going to write and make a commitment that youā€™re going to do it, like an athlete who commits to practice every day from 3:30-5:30. Donā€™t wait for inspiration, just commit to writing every day, and then edit, edit, edit until it feels like whatā€™s inside your head.ā€

 The new book is self published because Freshwater craved creative freedom. 

ā€œIā€™m not sure what traditional publishers have to offer anymore,ā€ he said, ā€œlike YouTube for musicians, if youā€™ve got what you think is a high quality manuscript, put it out there and it will generate a following.ā€ 

Freshwater will read from ā€œThe Dark Horseā€ at an event on Saturday, March 23, 5-7 p.m. at Top of the Pines (56 Baltimore Ave., Rehoboth Beach). His books are available at Amazon and anywhere books are sold. 

(Amazon screenshot)
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ā€˜Tigerā€™ burning bright: an interview with Mary Timony

Todayā€™s female-driven music scene wouldnā€™t be the same without her

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Mary Timony is back with a new album. (Photo by Chris Grady)

Itā€™s hard to imagine what the current female-driven music scene would be like without Mary Timony. From Sleater-Kinney to Haim, from Angel Olsen to Mitski, the influence of Mary Timony is in every note being played, every word being sung. On her new solo album, ā€œUntame The Tigerā€ (Merge), with its sly nod to Joni Mitchell, Timony has brought her many years of musical experience to the fore, resulting in what is easily her most accessible release. Beginning with the incredible six-plus minute opener ā€œNo Thirdsā€ and continuing through the first single, ā€œDominoes,ā€ and gorgeous numbers including ā€œThe Guest,ā€ ā€œThe Dream,ā€ and ā€œNot The Only One,ā€ Timony is assured to keep listeners purring along. Timony made time for an interview shortly before the album was released.

BLADE: Mary, Iā€™d like to begin by talking to you about your musical lives in D.C. and Boston. I went to college in Boston in the early 1980s and was constantly amazed by the bands of the era such as Mission of Burma, Human Sexual Response, and ā€˜Til Tuesday. I moved to D.C. in the mid-1980s to go to grad school, and at the time, the music scene there was dominated by go-go music, and a smaller indie music featuring BETTY and the late Tommy Keene, among others. What do you remember about the music in D.C. as someone who grew up there?

MARY TIMONY: Thatā€™s interesting. We kind of did a switcheroo. Iā€™m from D.C. and I moved to Boston. (In D.C.) I learned, as a teenager, about rock shows and rock music from being involved in the punk scene, the post-hardcore scene of kids here. Those are the shows I went to in high school. Basically, the Dischord (Records) bands and stuff. I saw every single Fugazi show from when they started in ā€™87. Before that, whatever was happening in 1985, hardcore shows by Swiz and Soulside and Kingface and I loved Ignition. Other than that, I would go see bluegrass out in Virginia and I loved go-go. I would go to see (go-go bands) Rare Essence and Trouble Funk. I was very into that stuff; that was really exciting. I think I liked go-go the most out of all of it, actually [laughs]. I would go to DC Space and 9:30 (Club), mostly for local (acts). I don’t think I ever saw BETTY, but I was a teenager then.

BLADE: Was the active music scene in Boston in the early 1990s part of the appeal for you when it came to relocating to Boston to attend Boston University?

TIMONY: The reason why I went there was because I wanted to go to a music program that was in a big university, in case I didn’t wanna study music the whole time, which is exactly what happened. I studied classical guitar for a year and then I didn’t really like the program much, so I transferred to study English. I found out about the (Boston) music scene from friends. We went to The Middle East (nightclub) and TTā€™s (T.T. The Bearā€™s nightclub). Then after college, I ended up living right down the street from The Middle East and I was there constantly.

BLADE: Good old Central Square! As a performer playing in bands including Autoclave, Helium, and Ex Hex, and as a solo artist with her own band, itā€™s not unreasonable to say that Mary, you are someone who plays well with others. 

TIMONY: [Big laugh.]

BLADE: What makes you such a good team player?

TIMONY: I didn’t know I was [laughs]. I’ve gone back and forth between doing solo stuff and being in bands. Mostly, I’ve done projects where I’ve written a bunch of songs and I’m trying toā€¦I haven’t done a ton of collaborative stuff really. Ex Hex was fun because it was more collaborative. Wild Flag, the same thing, totally 100% collaborative in every way. But Helium was really my thing, but I got some great people that totally influenced it. I’ve always been doing my own thing but tried to find really good people. Music really is about connection. Itā€™s never as good if it’s only one person’s vision. Usually, if it’s good it’s good because of the connection between the musicians. Music is a social art form, I think.

BLADE: ā€œUntame The Tigerā€ is the title of your new album. In 1999, Joni Mitchell titled her album ā€œTaming The Tiger.ā€ Are you, in any way, making a nod to Joni?

TIMONY: A little bit because I am a huge fan. I have been since I was 18. But, it sort of came to me because I have a song called that on the record and I’m sure that probably came from ripping off Joni Mitchell. Then I just thought thatā€™s a cool name for a record. Then I thought, ā€œOh, shit!ā€ [Laughs] Itā€™s already been taken! Then I thought about it and then I forgot about it. Then I thought about it again and finally, I was like, ā€œItā€™s OK. It’s a little bit different.ā€ And I love her!

BLADE: Iā€™m currently reading Ann Powersā€™ book ā€œTraveling: On the Path of Joni Mitchell,ā€ which comes out in June.

TIMONY: Oh, I’m definitely going to have to read.

BLADE: Yes, please add that to your reading list. ā€œUntame The Tigerā€ is your first new solo studio album in 15 years. Are there things you write and sing about on your solo records that might be out of place on an album you would record with another one of your musical outfits?

TIMONY: Yes. That’s why this ended up being a solo record. I guess it was because of the tuning of my guitar. They were more or less finished songs. I wanted the songs to sound kind of acoustic. I also wanted to play with a bunch of musicians who I really love. All those things just made it seem like a solo record. If I’m writing for a band, like Ex Hex, which is basically the other band that I do right now, they’re not finished. I bring them in (to the band members) with that band in mind.

BLADE: I love the lush instrumental section on ā€œThirdsā€ and the psychedelic sounds of ā€œLooking For The Sunā€ and ā€œThe Guest.ā€ Were there things you were listening to while writing the songs for ā€œUntame The Tigerā€ that were inspiring to you?

TIMONY: I was listening to a lot of music, a ton of stuff. I don’t ever try to purposely emulate anything very often, but I can’t help it. I’d rather be influenced by stuff without really thinking about it too consciously. I always have loved listening to The Left Bankeā€™s instrumentation and The Moody Bluesā€™ string parts. Most of the string parts come from trying to emulate The Moody Blues [laughs] or The Left Banke. I’m obsessed with The Left Banke.

BLADE: ā€œWalk Away RenĆ©e,ā€ right?

TIMONY: Yes. This guy, Michael Brown, was such a genius. He wrote so much stuff as a teenager. His dad was a string arranger. Anyway, I love those string parts. I was listening to this prog-rock band The Strawbs and this early (Ronnie) Dio band Elf. (The Flying) Burrito Brothers and The Byrds, too. I love Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span. Richard Thompson and I was really obsessed with Gerry Raffertyā€™s early solo record called ā€œCan I Have My Money Back?ā€ I love that record. I was listening to it a ton when I was arranging the songs.

BLADE: Why was the song ā€œDominoesā€ selected as the first single from ā€œUntame The Tiger?ā€

TIMONY: I don’t know. I let other people tell me [laughs]. I really hate sequencing records and I hate choosing singles. Iā€™m just too close to it. I can’t tell what people are going to like or not. A lot of times, the ones that I like are not the ones that other people like. I asked (the people at) the label and they suggested that. I think it’s more poppy sounding. Dave Fridmann mixed that one and ā€œDonā€™t Disappearā€ and heā€™s a genius mixer. and these mixers are always very pleasing and accessible sounding. I think that has something to do with it, too.

BLADE: Earlier, we talked about your long history of playing music with others, which reminded me of your guest spot singing ā€œAll Dressed Up In Dreams,ā€ written by gay singer/songwriter Stephin Merritt for his band The 6thsā€™ ā€œWaspsā€™ Nestā€ album. 

TIMONY: Heā€™s such a genius!

BLADE: How did that come about?

TIMONY: When I moved to Boston, for a year I lived with Claudia (Gonson of Merrittā€™s band The Magnetic Fields), who is his drummer. I lived in a group house in Cambridge. I was friends with Claudia, and Stephin lived a few blocks away. She told me he was making this record with guest singers they wanted to go over and sing on it. I went over there one day and he taught me the song and I sang on it.  I think he’s one of the best songwriters of the last 50 years or whatever.

BLADE: I completely agree. As someone who has collaborated with Stephin, are you aware of an LGBTQ+ following for your own music?

TIMONY: I don’t know. I think maybe a little bit. Iā€™d love that. I love everybody who can connect with it, because all I’m trying to do is connect with people.

Mary Timony (Photo by Chris Grady)
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Sherry Vine is turning 60 ā€” and sheā€™s not quitting anytime soon

Legendary drag queen coming to D.C. for new show, ā€˜Smoke and Mirrorsā€™

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Sherry Vine performs in D.C. on March 9. (Photo courtesy of Sherry Vine)

There are many things Sherry Vine is proud of. Throughout her 33-year-long career, the drag queen has accomplished so much ā€” sheā€™s released music, launched her own variety show and toured across the United States and Europe. 

But what she loves the most about her career is making people laugh. 

This calling to be a comedy queen started before her formal drag career. In high school, she remembers taking part in the musicals, and Vine would find joy in making people laugh by wittily changing song lyrics. 

ā€œThen it just evolved into doing that as the act,ā€ Vine said in an interview with the Blade. 

From the beginning of her career, sheā€™s made singing live parodies a central part of her performance as a drag queen. And for her 60th birthday, she knew she wanted to put on an extravaganza. 

Vine is coming to the Woolly Mammoth on March 9 while on tour for her new show ā€œSmoke and Mirrors,ā€ performed and written by her. Itā€™ll include new parodies, from Bruce Springsteen to ABBA. The D.C.-based drag queen Tara Hoot will be a special guest at the show.Ā 

Thereā€™s a lot that led up to this milestone year for Vine. It all started with developing her character more than 30 years ago. 

Developing Sherry Vine

Vine describes her persona as a down-on-her-luck showgirl from Las Vegas with a heart of gold. 

She was always obsessed with stars like Joey Heatherton and Stella Stevens. Not to suggest those stars are down-on-their-luck showgirls, Vine said, but she wanted to evoke a sex kitten mentality. Her character eventually morphed into what it is today from these inspirations. 

But at first, Vine said she thought she had to look funny to be funny. 

ā€œI didn’t care about the makeup. I didn’t wear big breasts. I just thought I had to look like a clown,ā€ Vine said. 

When she moved to New York City in 1992, she was surrounded by queens who balanced being funny and gorgeous simultaneously. That was eye-opening for her, she said. 

Now, she relishes surprising people, she said. Sheā€™s been told she looks ā€œtoo prettyā€ to be taken for a comedy queen, but thatā€™s OK with her. 

ā€œI want to walk out on stage, and anyone who’s never seen me, maybe they’re like, ā€˜Oh, she looks good,ā€™ā€ Vine said. ā€œAnd then I started singing about poop and penis and they’re like, ā€˜Oh my gosh, she’s so stupid.ā€™ā€

When she was starting out as a drag queen, Vine reflected that she didnā€™t envision doing drag as a career. She remembers not wanting to commit to it. She wanted to be a movie star, she said. 

ā€œI kind of fought it. I loved it,ā€ Vine said. ā€œBut I was like, I’m not doing this as a career.ā€™ā€

But once she let go of fighting it, her career exploded. She got connected with RuPaul and was on two television specials in the 1990s. That support was crucial, Vine said, and helped her believe in herself more. 

ā€œI was like, ā€˜Oh, OK. If this person thinks that I have something, then maybe I do,ā€™ā€ Vine said. 

Drag has changed ā€” a lot 

(Photo courtesy of Sherry Vine)

The drag scene has changed drastically. Vine credits a lot of this transformation to ā€œRuPaulā€™s Drag Race.ā€ 

ā€œWhen we started doing drag 30 years ago, no one in their right mind would have been like, ā€˜I’m going to do drag so I can make a lot of money and be famous,ā€™ā€ Vine said. 

Before RuPaulā€™s iconic single “Supermodel (You Better Work),ā€ one of the only examples of drag the average consumer saw was ā€œMrs. Doubtfire,ā€ Vine said.  

ā€œYou had to have a passion for it,ā€ Vine said. ā€œYou had to have a calling.ā€

When Vine started, drag was a fringe art form that had an audience of mostly gay men. 

Nowadays, itā€™s mainstream. Drag is enjoyed by a much wider audience, and is more of a way to become famous. When Vine was coming up in the industry, there were few ways to get on TV and in films as a drag queen, short of playing a character that was murdered on ā€œLaw & Order,ā€ she said. 

But even though drag has evolved and grown in popularity, Vineā€™s advice to drag queens has stayed the same over the years. 

ā€œDon’t try to do something because you think someone else is doing it successfully,ā€ Vine said. ā€œFind what you do, and then exploit and explore that.ā€

Looking back, looking ahead 

Out of her multi-decade run as a drag queen, Vine said sheā€™s most proud of the longevity of her career. There are a few people who have been in it as long as she has ā€” Lady Bunny and Miss Coco Peru, for example. Few others have made it as long as Vine, she said.  

She stresses that she canā€™t take credit for creating things, but she takes pride in being one of the first drag queens to go viral on YouTube in the 2000s. Her ā€œBad Romanceā€ parody, released in 2009, racked up more than 6 million views over the years. 

In the next few years, sheā€™s looking into doing more television and film projects. Her latest show, ā€œThe Sherry Vine Variety Show,ā€ just wrapped filming its third season. Creating this show is fulfilling a childhood dream of hers, she said. Itā€™s an homage to ā€œThe Carol Burnett Show,ā€ which Vine grew up watching. 

Whether itā€™s performing on camera or onstage, Vine doesnā€™t see herself quitting anytime soon. 

ā€œI love performing and drag as much now as I did 33 years ago,ā€ Vine said. ā€œSo I don’t see ever stopping.ā€

To get details on how to buy tickets to ā€œSmoke and Mirrors,ā€ visit woollymammoth.net/productions/sherry-vine.

(Image courtesy of Sherry Vine)
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