You’ve hear us mention him before. On June 21st Jason Jenn is teams up with West Hollywood’s (Weho) Pride month celebration, and the theme is “I Do.” He’s taking James’ work and making it his own creative endeavor, this time in celebration of gay marriage.
His work, entitled, “Behold the Bridegrooms Revisited” brings to life some of Broughton’s most inspiring, love-infused poetry. Several guest artists will also help. Here Jenn reveals why he chose this work, what inspires him about it, and why it’s relevant today.
Q: Why this? Why now?
Jenn: I fell in love with James Broughton’s poetry last year after reading the collection “Ecstasies,” which includes “Behold the Bridegrooms: A Connubial Masque for James & Joel”. When West Hollywood announced they were celebrating marriage equality as the theme of this year’s One City One Pride festival, I immediately recognized it would be a rare opportunity to present James and Joel’s wedding as a staged reading.
FREE June 21st, 2014 7PM
Fiesta Hall- Plummer Park
7377 Santa Monica Blvd. W. Hollywood
I loved the piece. The wedding text is full of lyric beauty and splendor that stands as a monument to queer love and sexual liberation. I couldn’t quite include any of the material from it into my other work, “ECSTASY FOR EVERYONE”, so this gave me a chance to share it that I couldn’t pass up. I’ve designed a program that not only presents the wedding text, but introduces audiences to James and Joel’s relationship. It also includes a few of James’s love poems like “Wondrous the Merge”- set to live cello music by David Mergen.
Q: Why do you feel their story is still relevant today?
Jenn: James and Joel were pioneers in what gay love can look like. To think they were married in 1978 is quite remarkable. Any time that two people can come together, feeding each other creatively and collaborating on beautiful art together is inspirational.
Q: What inspires you about their tale?
Jenn: There are so many elements of their love to take inspiration from. One message is that one can find the love of their life at any age or point in time. James certainly had a fascinating life up to meeting Joel, but as the “Big Joy” documentary makes clear, he was unfulfilled/unhappy in aspects of his life before their relationship. It’s obvious from the body of poetry created after meeting Joel that theirs was a passionate love and that James was inspired to create some of his greatest works as a result. They shared the “blessed years” of their life together, and the idea that it is never too late to discover that connection from the most unexpected of places is inspiring.
Q: Did you know James and Joel personally?
Jenn: I never knew James in person, but from the process of developing his poetry into performance I feel I know him well – and that his spirit has guided this process. I have mentors in my life, like author Mark Thompson, who were good friends of James, so there is a small degree of separation between us. As an artist with a background in film and writing poetry, I definitely feel a kindred connection with both James and Joel. Mark introduced me to Joel after the screening of “Big Joy” in San Francisco and I am so grateful for his encouragement in creating these works.
Q: Why did you chose their story over others?
Jenn: After seeing “Big Joy” it was simply more obvious than ever that their story deserved cherishing. Over the past decade I’ve created performance art with similar themes to James’s poetry, so it seemed like a perfect fit. I love the playful and passionate nature of it. I feel that in some ways the work chose me! I resonate with the sensual beauty of their love and the art their love created – it stands out as unique, yet universal. I seek love in my life that contains a collaborative connection like theirs. I’m a lover of men of all ages, recognizing the Eros in both youth, adult and elder stages of life, so the romance between James and Joel certainly inspires me on that front! I feel that there is something for everyone in their love.