New Orleans is “one of the last frontiers of Bohemia” and “my favorite place to write.”
—Tennessee Williams, interview with Pen Wilson, 1955
The Last Bohemia is a series of theatre, music, and social events embodying New Orleans culture, the spirit of Tennessee Williams, and the profound effect New Orleans had on the playwright, personally and professionally.
The Last Bohemia includes non-traditional stage performances, New Orleans music, culinary and cocktail events, and special events with a Bohemian spirit. Events are below with ticket links included, and here are PERFORMERS' BIOS.
Thank you to our Last Bohemia venue sponsors and community partners for their generous support:
Wednesday, March 26
5 - 6:30 PM
MISTER GREGORY’S SHRIMP BOIL CABARET
Festival President Mister Gregory invites you to join him and long-time TWFest favorites, Delta Revues for an old fashioned Shrimp Boil and roots music experience. An intimate dinner party awaits at our shrimp shack (actually the faded front parlor of an 1820s Creole Cottage). Tastings of local blue crab, fresh black drum from Lake Pontchartrain, and crawfish will tempt your tastebuds before a big pile of wild-caught Louisiana gulf shrimp hit the table. A little storytelling, a lot of music, and a light dessert, all wrapping up just in time to enjoy a stroll back to the Hotel Monteleone for the opening night show.
Mister Gregory’s Shrimp Boil Cabaret, 830 North Rampart Street, $100. Not available with VIP Pass.
Wednesday, March 26
7:30 - 9 PM—Opening Night
Midnight movie idol, John Waters’ muse, Tennessee Williams’ leading lady from the rarely staged The Mutilated, and underground legend, Mink Stole returns to TWFest! She has had one of the most interesting careers you can imagine in show business, and she intends to dish it with song and anecdotes. Mink will be accompanied by New Orleans legend, pianist and marionettist Harry Mayronne with a special appearance by Dr. Sick of the Squirrel Nut Zippers. There is no greater starlet in the alternative arts and film underground than Mink Stole. Her unique brand of star quality led to her characters often being imitated, along with their memorable catchphrases. An entire universe of Internet memes is devoted to her most notable roles, including Connie Marble from Pink Flamingos and Peggy Gravel from Desperate Living. TWFest is proud to feature, not Connie nor Peggy, but the real Mink Stole for this one-night-only celebration.
“If Susan Sontag had written notes on camp in 1974 instead of 1964, Mink Stole surely would have been the first entry on the list.”— Gregory Gajus, President of the Tennessee Williams Fest.
Doors open at 7 PM. Raise a glass to celebrate Tennessee Williams’ birthday at our cash bar.
This event is sponsored by Joy and Boysie Bollinger.
Hotel Monteleone, Queen Anne Ballroom, $35 or VIP Pass.
Thursday, March 27
4 - 5:30 PM
CHEF ERIC COOK—INTERVIEW AND BOOK SIGNING
With tastings and cocktails
Join Chef Eric Cook for an interview and signing of his first cookbook Modern Creole: A Taste of New Orleans Culture and Cuisine. Held at his award-winning restaurant, Saint John, the event includes tastings and cocktails from the book, plus a conversation with Chef Eric Cook led by Darren Chabert, Chef de Cuisine at Saint John. Modern Creole features over 200 pages of food and cocktail recipes focused on Southern, Cajun and Creole cuisine. The book fulfills home cooks’ desire for dishes that are accessible and straightforward enough for an everyday meal, yet impressive enough for company or the holiday table.
Saint John, 715 St. Charles Avenue, $50 includes a copy of the book or $40 for the event only. Not available with VIP Pass.
Thursday, March 27
7 - 8:15 PM
A reimagining of the Classic film Harold and Maude. In 1982 at the beginning of the AIDS pandemic, young Harold is coming OUT and meets Claude, an older drag queen. Together they explore life, death and love. We have a band, but it's not a musical. And we encourage the audience to come dressed like it's the 1980s.
Thugsy DaClown, Director, with Blue Muhlowd, Bizzy Barefoot, Dakota the Bearded Lady, Lilith Dorsey, Velvet Spade, Dick Jones, and Rose Bush Blues.
The Twilight Room, 2240 St. Claude Avenue, $35 cocktail table, $20 general admission, or VIP Pass.
Thursday, March 27
9:30 - 10:45 PM
You've always relied on being a cool kid. What happens when you wake up one day and realize you’re neither cool, nor a kid? You think, You're not a kid anymore, I don't think you'll ever be a kid again, kiddo. (55-year-old Sondheim reference.) What if you were never cool? What happens when time marches on, and you have been left chasing the parade? Can you redefine what it means to be cool? Fauxnique. So Relevant is a hard-hitting and hilarious romp of songs, storytelling, and real-time on-stage crisis management. It's art therapy served up with Fauxnique’s signature blend of sardonic wit and vulnerability. From the legendary lady drag queen and published author who brought you the solo shows, Faux Real with Fauxnique and The F Word, and the memoir Faux Queen: A Life in Drag, whose work has been called “engaging, critically serious, counter-culturally crucial,” (Author Michelle Tea) and “hilarious,” with an “intellectual spark” and “enough to make a girl want to revisit her Susan Sontag.” (SF Chronicle)
The Twilight Room, 2240 St. Claude Avenue, $35 cocktail table, $20 general admission, or VIP Pass.
Thursday, March 27 - Saturday, March 30
7:30 PM DOORS, 8 PM SHARP PERFORMANCE
The Mudlark Puppeteers in collaboration with Nightshade present for the stage
A RECLUSE AND HIS GUEST by Tennessee Williams
In a cruel village at the top of the world, where women are sometimes strung like sails from the trees in a midnight forest, a mysterious stranger comes wandering under the cold northern lights, seeking refuge in the home of a bitter recluse. This is a meditation on madness, a fable of patterns and disruptions where there may yet be hope for tenderness among outcasts. Told through rod puppetry, marionettes, and dimensional shadows.
The Mudlark Public Theatre, 1200 Port Street, $20. Not available with VIP Pass.
Friday, March 28
7 - 8:15 PM
Written by Mari Kornhauser and directed by Reese Johanson, Seeking Asylum is an immersive one-act, two-character play (starring Sallay Shameka Gray and Kathy Randels). A climate change exploration, it takes place in a speculative world of 2040 in what once was the United States. Based on the original 29 questions immigrants filled out on the ships’ manifests in the early 20th Century and then used in interviews at Points of Entry, the play explores how citizenship is not guaranteed. No one is immune. It can happen to anyone, even people in power. One minute they’re in, the next, they’re out, and so are you as the political borders of nations change.
The Twilight Room, 2240 St. Claude Avenue, $35 cocktail table, $20 general admission, or VIP Pass.
Friday, March 28
9 - 10:15 PM
THE NIGHT FIONA FLAWLESS WENT MAD: A Dark Comedy Drag Musical by Trey Ming
Meet Fiona Flawless. Breathtaking drag queen. Talented chanteuse. Admitted murderess. After turning herself in for a double homicide, Fiona and her psychiatrist dive through convoluted memories in search of that pivotal moment when her otherwise flawless mind disconnected from reality…the night she went mad. A dark musical comedy for certain, The Night Fiona Flawless Went Mad is an exploration into the issues of Queer identity, loneliness, and the reclamation of self-love.
Written and directed by Trey Ming. Cast: Laveau Contraire, Prince Octavian, Sebastien E’toile, Bette Tittler
The Twilight Room, 2240 St. Claude Avenue, $35 cocktail table, $20 general admission, or VIP Pass.
Friday, March 28
10:30 - 11:45 PM
KITTEN ON THE KEYS IN LANGUE DE CHAT
International cabaret pianist and singer Kitten on the Keys introduces her latest cabaret show, Langue De Chat. Named after her favorite French patisserie, Langue De Chat translated from French is “the cat's tongue.” Like many of Tennessee Williams’ characters, a cat's tongue presents as soft but is coarse and rough. Kitten embraces numerous genres and eras and will accompany herself on piano and accordion. Expect stories and songs from her extensive songbook.
The Twilight Room, 2240 St. Claude Avenue, $35 cocktail table, $20 general admission, or VIP Pass.
Saturday, March 29
7 - 9 PM
THE LAST BOHEMIA SOIREE: TIM MURRAY IS WITCHES!
Join us for a magical evening of music and performance in the storied Toulouse Theatre in the heart of the French Quarter. The evening begins at 7 PM with Kitten on the Keys playing showtunes in the lobby bar made famous from countless performances of the late great James Booker. Try the signature Soirée cocktail and have your photo taken by our paparazzi. At 8 PM the lights dim as our emcee Michelle Nelson aka LOVE the Poet invites us into the main theater. San Francisco-based performance art witch and drag queen Fauxnique will call the winds and the directions. She’ll set the stage for the night, quite literally, with a feminist incantation for healing and magic. Our featured artist, Tim Murray, is hot off his sold-out and award-winning run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Tim Murray is WITCHES! is a mix of stand-up and original comedy songs about Tim's favorite pop culture witches. Murray is like a gay Bo Burnham, but painted green and doing drag! The show is a tribute to how we discover our magic once we find our coven. Murray speaks to the many people who feel like we have to hide ourselves to fit in, and we find our powers grow stronger once we find our chosen family. From The Craft to Wicked to the Sanderson Sisters to Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and Angelica Houston's Grand High Witch, Murray celebrates famous sorceresses throughout herstory and uses their stories as a parallel to our own journey towards community.
Tim Murray has performed stand-up all over the U.S. including SF Sketchfest, The Brooklyn Comedy Festival and DragCon. His new sketch comedy TV show Wish You Were Queer produced by Trixie Mattel will debut this year. Tim Murray Is WITCHES! received several 5 star reviews at Edinburgh Fringe, was nominated for an Off-West End award, and WON Best Musical show from Entertainment Now.
The Toulouse Theatre, 615 Toulouse Street, Preferred Seating $75, General Admission $45. Not available with VIP Pass.
Sunday, March 30
11:30 AM - 2 PM
A DRAG BRUNCH NAMED DESIRE
STELLAAA! IT’S TIME FOR DRAG BRUNCH!
Step into the drama and decadence of the Tennessee Williams Festival Drag Brunch, where the mimosas are bottomless, the performances are electrifying, and the food is as rich as Blanche DuBois’ taste in men! Join New Orleans drag royalty, Debbie with a D and Laveau Contraire, for a high-energy show paired with a three-course brunch inspired by Poppy Tooker’s Drag Brunch Cookbook.
FIRST COURSE - Crabmeat Cheesecake: pecan crust, mushroom sauté, Creole Meunière sauce, Gulf crab claws
SECOND COURSE - choice of Grits & Grillades: slow simmered pork cutlets, Creole tomato gravy, creamy stone ground grits OR Pain Perdu: Creole style French toast, fresh berries, Louisiana cane syrup drizzle
THIRD COURSE - Tarte à la Bouillie: rustic Cajun sweet dough, vanilla custard, Old New Orleans rum caramel sauce
Plus, Bottomless Mimosas!
Dickie Brennan’s Tableau, 616 Saint Peter Street, Brunch & Show $120 inclusive of tax & gratuity. Tickets available at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-drag-brunch-named-desire-tickets-1252283195749. Not available with VIP Pass.
Sunday, March 30
12:30 - 1:30 PM
DRUMMER & SMOKE: THE SLICK SKILLET SERENADERS
The Slick Skillet Serenaders are a New Orleans-based band who bring a pre-WWII sensibility to their effervescent and enthusiastic shows, with vaudeville jokes and slapstick stage antics adding dimension to their repertoire of ragtime, traditional jazz, and blues. The band has a handful of albums out, including the 2019 Stagger Straight, with the rollicking “Fourth Street Mess Around” and an energetic take on the early blues classic “What’s the Matter With Your Mill?” They have a great love and appreciation for the music of the 20's and 30's and the showmanship with which they were performed.
Drummer & Smoke is made possible by a Community Partnership Grant from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival & Foundation.
The Toulouse Theatre, 615 Toulouse Street, $10 or VIP Pass.
Sunday, March 30
1:45 - 2:45 PM
DRUMMER & SMOKE: LAYLA MUSSELWHITE
Layla Musselwhite is a New Orleans-based singer songwriter and slide guitarist who draws on a rich musical legacy via her father, blues legend Charlie Musselwhite. Layla grew up on the road steeped in the music of the greatest artists of our time including Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf, Big Mama Thornton, and John Lee Hooker. While her music spans rhythm & blues, blues rock, folk, and soul, the touchstone is always the same—a deep understanding and respect for the early rhythms and melodies at the heart of the blues. Layla performs and records solo, duo, and with her full band of New Orleans heavyweights, The Cosmic Gentlemen. She’s recently graced stages at Jazz Fest, Big Sky Blues Fest, Crescent City Blues Festival, and the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise. Her 2023 album American Primitive is a collaboration with the New Orleans acoustic virtuoso Jimmy Robinson (Rolling Stone’s “Best of Fest” 2018.)
Drummer & Smoke is made possible by a Community Partnership Grant from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival & Foundation.
The Toulouse Theatre, 615 Toulouse Street, $10 or VIP Pass.
Sunday, March 30
3 - 4 PM
DRUMMER & SMOKE: ALEXIS AND THE SANITY
Alexis and the Sanity, a pop duo hailing from New Orleans, were formally christened in Spring 2023 when their debut single Hind Legs was released online. The band’s sound marries electronic samples, acoustic instruments, and the powerful soprano of frontwoman Alexis Marceaux. Members Marceaux and multi-instrumentalist Sam Craft began their previous incarnation Alexis & the Samurai in 2012 and their bilingual roots-meets-modern sextet Sweet Crude in 2013. Alexis & the Sanity live audiences can expect a mix of industrial grooves, haunting soundscapes, pop bangers, and moments of show-stopping acapella. The strength of Alexis and Sam’s successes (including appearances on NCIS, Tremé, and inclusion in numerous other TV shows and movies) have won the pair weekly residencies and invitations to large festival stages. Alexis & the Sanity’s debut LP Tongue Tied was released in February 2025.
Drummer & Smoke is made possible by a Community Partnership Grant from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival & Foundation.
The Toulouse Theatre, 615 Toulouse Street, $10 or VIP Pass.
Sunday, March 30
7 - 9 PM
BIBI’S KITCHEN: A ROMANI CULINARY RITUAL
Join your slutty, stoner Aunties Bimbo Yaga and Moonbear as they lovingly share their kitchen witchery with you. This four-course family-style meal will feature inspired dishes of Eastern European and Balkan Romani family food traditions with slight variations to accommodate gluten free and vegetarian guests. Following dinner, Jezmina and Paulina will guide guests through a brief tealeaf reading session. Includes live music from the renowned troubadour Milly Raccoon and special musical guest Viktor, this ritual of food is curated to nourish your spirits. Our menu for this event is subject to change.
The Menu
1st Course: Pickled onion and cucumber salad with herbed smetana, in-house smoked cheese, buttermilk biscuits, gluten free corn bread, and garlic honey butter.
2nd Course: Delicious gluten free & vegetarian Sarma, a stuffed cabbage similar to Golumpki (made with baked rice, impossible burger, and mushrooms), and a gluten free kimmel soup.
3rd Course: A choice of braised greens with roasted eggplant and chickpeas topped with feta OR braised lamb and curried vegetable stew all served over baked herbed rice.
4th Course: Baked apples with spiced honey and sweet cheese with tea, followed by tea leaf readings.
Beverages: Iced Herbal Tea, Herb Infused Wine
Mister Gregory’s Shrimp Boil Cabaret, 830 North Rampart Street, $100. Not available with VIP Pass.
