Totally Ridiculous: The Lost Films of Charles Ludlam @ YBCA September 24, 2010

Charles Ludlam was the visionary behind the notorious Ridiculous Theatrical Company from 1967-1987. From his midnight camp extravaganzas Big Hotel and Turds in Hell to his celebrated gothic horror play The Mysteries of Irma Vep, Ludlam's densely-layered queer satires embraced the ridiculousness of high culture and the seriousness of the low with drag pastiche and literary verve. The Sorrows of Dolores is one of two films Ludlam shot in the late 1970s and was left unfinished at the time of his death from AIDS in 1987. Until the recent digital re-mastering and the addition of a new score by original composer Peter Golub, it had not been seen in over 20 years. Ludlam’s other film, the short Museum of Wax, will precede Dolores. To close the series, we present Mark Rappaport’s The Imposters, a rarely-seen film which stars Ludlam in a tour-de-force performance.

Fri, Sep 24 & Sat, Sep 25, 7:30 pm: The Sorrows of Dolores

Sun, Sep 26, 4:30 pm: The Impostors

The Sorrows of Dolores
By Charles Ludlam
Fri, Sep 24 & Sat, Sep 25, 7:30 pm
The Sorrows of Dolores recounts the madcap tale of sweet Dolores who, after being tortured by her sadistic mother, is thrown into the harsh city environs, innocent and alone. Chased by villains, abducted into white slavery, and ravaged by monstrous beasts, Dolores spirals deep into the underworld unable to find redemption. The film stars Ludlam's longtime lover Everett Quinton in the role of Dolores as well as Ridiculous luminaries such as Black-Eyed Susan, Lola Pashalinski, and John D. Brockmeyer. Preceded by the gender-bending short Museum of Wax, starring Ludlam himself as a bisexual convict on the lam. (c. late 1970s – 1987, total running time 102 min, digital video)

The Impostors
By Mark Rappaport
Sun, Sep 26, 4:30 pm
Not available on dvd, this rarely-seen absurdist melodrama from 1980 stars Ludlam as a gay magician, and is widely considered his best film performance. By the director of the cult hit Rock Hudson’s Home Movies.

“…one of the wildest and wittiest American movies of the decade” – Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

Screening Room
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
701 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94103

Public Info: 415-978-2787 or ybca.org

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