HOUSEDEER ISSUE NUMBER SIX 2016

Housedeer Issue No. Six features an interview with Mumtaz Manji, who tells the extraordinary story of her life, beginning in an entirely different part of the world from where she would find herself later. Born in Tanzania, Mumtaz lived in Kenya, Belgian Congo and Uganda in her early years, and in 1972 she was one of the many people expelled from Uganda by the murderous Idi Amin, an event that made news around the world. Thanks to this accident of violent political upheaval, Mumtaz ended up in Canada as a refugee with three small children, no English and, as she puts it, "a big jackass for a husband" who would eventually become her "ex." Mumtaz managed on her own considerable wits, courage, and no small amount of divine counsel to figure out how to live this new life she never imagined she would have, and to live it well. She worked very hard, learned to speak English, and made life possible for her three daughters and ultimately for herself too. When I see the stories of refugees so common today, with images of young mothers with their little children, I think of Mumtaz: the consummate Canadian  lady, observant Muslim, Mom; someone who values her past, her languages, and her experiences, while having made the new country completely her own, and I feel hopeful. This issue was a joy to make, and I hope it will be a joy  to read.
Mumtaz Manji in 1968

Housedeer Issue Number Five 2015


Issue Number Five features the legendary Agosto Machado, one of the last remaining performers from a truly golden age of theatre in New York. He learned his craft by doing it. He worked with Jack Smith and Mario Montez, with John Vaccaro and his Playhouse of the Ridiculous, with Jackie Curtis and Ellen Stewart at La MaMa, with Hibiscus and the Cockettes in San Francisco and New York, and with many others besides. And he continues his work in the present. 

As both a longtime recorder of history and marvelous story teller, Agosto is often sought out by documentarians. You may have seen him in Beautiful Darling, the documentary about Candy Darling, or in Pay It No Mind, about the fabulous Marsha P. Johnson. You may have seen him on the various stages of downtown, where he often appears, sometimes in a splendid gown. His issue of Housedeer is full of beautiful recollections and wandering thoughts, and all the greatest stars of downtown twinkle in its pages. The deer art on the cover is a painting by Charles Schick.

Agosto Machado Photo: Romy Ashby


Housedeer Issue Number Four

         
Everett Quinton became famous during his years with The Ridiculous Theatrical Company and he's never stopped acting. He lives in Greenwich Village with his pretty dog, Raindrop, who he dotes on. Any performance of any kind with Everett in it is worth seeing. There's just nobody like him.


Housedeer Issue Number Three


This is the cover of Housedeer Issue No. 3, devoted to the painter Louise Oliver through interviews done with her son and daughter, Edgar and Helen. The cover image is a drawing made for this issue by Regina Bartkoff, called Edgar, Louise and Helen. Last autumn, Edgar Oliver staged a one-man show at Theater 80 on St. Marks Place in New York called Helen & Edgar. In it, he told many stories about Louise Oliver and the childhood years he and Helen spent with her in Savannah. The show earned a stellar review from Ben Brantley of the New York Timeshttp://theater.nytimes.com/2012/10/13/theater/reviews/helen-edgar-edgar-olivers-solo-show-at-theater-80.html

This issue of Housedeer makes a wonderful compliment to that show for anyone who got to see it, but it also stands alone as a tribute to a truly exceptional woman who lived for her art and for her children.

Housedeer Issue Number Two

Issue No. 2 is devoted to the much loved and admired performer, writer and absolute original Justin Vivian Bond. As a transperson, Justin prefers the pronoun v and the honorific Mx to the standard gender-specific ones, and this cover image, Elegant Transdeer,  was created specifically for v by Michele Burgevin. In 2012 Justin unveiled  a fragrance called The Afternoon of a Faun, inspired by a poem by Stéphane Mallarmé  called L'après-midi d'un faune.





Issue Number One


The first issue of Housedeer is devoted to the artist Liza Stelle Condon. She was the daughter of Jazz great Eddie Condon and copywriter Phyllis Condon. Her sister Maggie offers wonderful stories of their childhood years here in New York on Washington Square Park, when Eddie Condon's club was the Studio 54 of the day. The cover image, used with permission, was taken on Bleecker Street in New York City in 1947 by Berenice Abbott, who was a good friend of Liza's.