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Make a tax-deductible donation through our nonprofit partner About Face Theatre. Join the movement to bring this exiting project to fruition.

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A rock n' roll ride with the real-life gay bikers who kickstarted the sexual revolution in 1950s Chicago.

 

Acclaimed theatre artist Scott Bradley and recording artist Mercy Bell are creating a musical experience based on the Chuck Renslow biography Leatherman by Tracy Baim and Owen Keehnen. Jonny Stax and About Face Theatre lead the commissioning team behind the effort to bring these trailblazers to life in an immersive transmedia experience honoring the power of LGBTQIA+ individuals.

 

LEATHER DADDIES recounts the adventures of artist-entrepreneur-outlaws Domingo Orejudos (pictured left) and Chuck Renslow (pictured below) as they lead a pack of leather-clad rebels, pushing the boundaries of art, activism, and sexual exploration at a time of crushing conformity and persecution. They dreamt of a world where interracial same-sex love could be expressed without shame or hiding. That world didn’t exist, so they turned their dream into an underground empire that would grow into a global community.

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LEATHER DADDIES

Join the Leatherverse

Make a tax-deductible donation through our nonprofit partner About Face Theatre. Join the movement to bring this exiting project to fruition.

Meet the creators of LEATHER DADDIES

Theatre artist Scott Bradley &

Recording artist Mercy Bell

Watch the making of

the Musical

Through their residency, a creative idea becomes reality

Leather Salon - Chicago - Nov 7, 2022

Leather Salon - Chicago - Nov 7, 2022

Play Video
Leather Stories 

LEATHER DADDIES illuminates the ingenuity and resilience in LGBTQIA+ communities. Given the current backlash to civil rights progress, we need powerful stories of our brave forebears and contemporaries to guide and inspire us as we fend off attacks on young people and communities of color.

 

In partnership with the Leather Archives & Museum, LEATHER DADDIES will be working with queer and sex-positive communities across the country to collect and share intergenerational stories that amplify our rich diversity of voices and histories.

 

Support the birth of this exciting project.

It takes a village to make Leather Daddies!

Pictured: Artist Dom "Etienne" Orejudos with his mural at the Gold Coast Bar.

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JOIN THE LEATHER DADDIES WORLD

Our non-profit partner About Face Theatre is processing your tax-deductible donations

If you prefer to donate by check and avoid service fees, put LEATHER DADDY in the Memo section and write the check to About Face Theatre. Address: PO Box 408092, Chicago IL 60640-0001

The LEATHER DADDIES musical experience and story collection are made possible through the support of the following individual donors and organizational partners.

Producers

About Face Theatre & Jonny Stax

 

Partners

Authors Tracy Baim & Owen Keehnen

Leather Archives & Museum

 

Commissioners

Up to $10,000

Rob & Libby Mayor

John Sanders & Jason Held

 

Up to $5000

Todd Buchacker 

Cassandra Damm 

 

$1000

Carolyn Grisko

Michael Leppen

Scott Smith

 

Champions

Up to $1000

Roberta Mayor, Christopher Okiishi

 

Up to $500

Karen A. Reitan, Jack Jetmund

 

Up to $250

Heather Bailey, Tracy Baim, Owen Keehnen, Benjamin Sprunger

 

Up to $100

Greg Armknecht, Michelle Bagshaw, Ian Bell, Jeff Berry, Sue Carrier, Andrea Cedusky, Susan Fritz, Hilary Holbrook, George Lynch, Michael McAdams, John Peller, Michael & Maria Roloff, Jane M Saks, Gwen Senio, Jen Shook, Daniel Smith, Michael Warren

Support art = equity projects

Jonny Stax provides development assistance to creative ventures that progress justice, equity, and diversity. Each project is given resources, time, and space supported by contributions and grant monies working with non-profit partners in their home state.

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