There's A Riot Going On!

Everett Bradley-2.jpg

Kevin Smith Kirkwood-1.jpg

Michael Musto-1.jpg

“As queer and trans people are systematically negated, erased, and pushed aside by our own government, now is the time for us to be as queer and loud and visible as we can possibly be,” says New York performer, David Driver, the creator and producer of There’s A Riot Going On!: The Real Music & True Story of Stonewall.

In 2019 – fifty years after the historic Stonewall uprising – the show that has grown into There’s A Riot Going On! (TARGO!) debuted at Symphony Space. Today, Driver believes this work-in-progress is more timely than ever.

Like the uprisings that inspired it, this multimedia documentary concert harnesses the urgency of a tipping point in history. Through high-energy performances of selections found on the original jukeboxes of the Stonewall Inn interwoven with narration drawn from period documentation, TARGO! illuminates a pivotal moment in the fight for LGBTQ+ equality, including many underrepresented facets.

“The commonly perceived narrative of Stonewall is not entirely accurate,” says Driver. “The real narrative is actually more compelling and nuanced, and also weirder. There's a lot of humor in the way that people talked about the ways things were happening, as well as horrible pain.”

Sourced from mainstream and underground media, gay-bar guides, court decisions and political flyers, as well as first-person accounts, the texts of TARGO! reframe selections like Shirley Bassey’s “This Is My Life,” the Flirtations’ “Nothing But A Heartache,” Sly & the Family Stone’s “Stand!,” and popular favorites by Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland. Heard in this context, familiar hits and deep cuts alike take on new life, giving modern audiences glimpses into why these songs resonated with the Stonewall Inn’s diverse patrons amidst the societal pressures they faced, and ultimately, confronted.

“I was surprised by how vividly the texts brought you back to that pivotal moment and also how some of the participants clearly had no idea that they were part of a revolution with seismic proportions, they were just filled with righteous rage at the moment and did what they felt was right,” observes Michael Musto, one of the show’s narrators. “Not all heroes wear capes, and not all of them know they even could have!”

“These are people who put themselves on the line,” adds Driver. “They literally sacrificed their livelihoods and risked their survival to bring about monumental changes that many people now take for granted.” Recognizing that historical significance, the New York State Council on the Arts awarded Driver a grant to expand and further develop his original Symphony Space show, resulting in a 2024 concert at City Winery followed by smaller stagings in upstate New York.

Several cast members from 2024 return for this limited engagement at Joe’s Pub, including Driver, Musto, queer burlesque legend Tigger!, Machine Dazzle, and drag chanteuse Castrata. This latest iteration expands the show’s perspectives by interpolating excerpts of audio interviews from the archives of Eric Marcus’ book and podcast Making Gay History. Now, the actual voices of LGBTQ+ pioneers including Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and Frank Kameny have a say in There’s A Riot Going On!, too.

“These interviews allow us to meld pieces of history into the aural landscape of the whole thing,” says Driver, who hears the myriad source materials as interrelated components, transmuted by performance into a singular theatrical experience. “One of the most important things about the show is that there's always a musical pulse running through it, carrying you along.”

And if audience members leave TARGO! feeling compelled to lift their voices in protest at the ongoing oppression of LGBTQ+ individuals and families, Driver feels he’s accomplished his mission. “This show has taken on a much bigger meaning than it originally had,” he admits. “In the face of our current political regime, I thought a lot about what I can do to push back and this is where I landed. I can put this show out into the world and, if we’re lucky and things go as hoped, we’ll be able to bring it to a lot more people.”

From Symphony Space to City Winery to Joe’s Pub, Driver believes the journey of There’s A Riot Going On! has only just begun. He imagines high school and community groups licensing productions, a televised concert special, and audiences from all walks of life embracing TARGO! with the same enthusiasm as shows like Hairspray and Hamilton. He also hopes to bring it to cities where LGBTQ+ communities have experienced large-scale trauma: Orlando, FL; Boulder, CO; Laramie, WY.

“This show is jubilant and celebratory and, ultimately, it's about queer victory,” he concludes. “That’s an important message at a moment like this: We can win. We’ve done it in the past and we’ll do it again.”

“Experts in group behavior say that tensions in a minority group become most acute at times when the minority group members see their status suddenly take a turn for the worse after a long period of improvement. That was exactly the situation in New York preceding the Stonewall riots.”
– Don Jackson, The Los Angeles Advocate, 1969