The Queen Of Argentina

Nine months ago I sat down to write a musical based on the life of Jorge Perez (Evelyn) whose extraordinary career as a transvestic vedette (cabaret performer) in Buenos Aires during the 1970s sent shock waves through the city. He was beautiful, he was talented, he was one of a kind. He was Evelyn.

In the early Spring we assembled a cast so that we could hear the words (book) and listen to the songs that had been composed. Not everyone was a trained singer. They were simply the very best people we knew and everyone was excited to see what we had.

In the past eight months I’ve revised the story and the lyrics over and over. A few weeks ago we recorded about a dozen and there is another dozen to go.

But we know we have something worth watching. Listening to. Learning from. The life of a gender non-conforming person is a dangerous one but I don’t’ have to tell you that.

What I want you to know is that Jorge survived, but so many didn’t. Haven’t. Won’t.

If you would like to help us tell Evelyn’s story, please support my Substack page but even more importantly, surround people with your light of love and empathy, especially the most Nine months ago, I sat down to write a musical based on the life of Jorge Pérez, whose extraordinary career as a transvestite vedette—a cabaret performer—in 1970s Buenos Aires sent shock waves through the city. He was beautiful. He was talented. He was one of a kind.

He was Evelyn.

In early spring, we assembled a cast to hear the words and songs aloud for the first time. Not everyone was a trained singer. They were simply the very best people we knew, and everyone was excited to discover what we had.

Over the past eight months, I’ve revised the story and lyrics again and again. A few weeks ago, we recorded about a dozen songs. There’s another dozen to go.

But we know we have something worth watching. Listening to. Learning from. The life of a gender-nonconforming person can be a dangerous one—but I don’t have to tell you that.

What I want you to know is that Jorge survived. But so many others didn’t. Haven’t. Won’t.

If you would like to help us tell Evelyn’s story, please support my Substack. But even more importantly, surround people with the light of your love and empathy—especially those who are most vulnerable.

To help us tell Evelyn’s story, please support my Substack page. But even more importantly, surround others with the light of your love and empathy—especially those who are most vulnerable.