“Asking me if I’m homosexual is like asking James Brown if he’s black.” So crowed the American glam-rocker Jobriath as he commenced his career in the early 1970s. Backing up the faggy hubris was Jobriath’s musical talent (he was a classical piano prodigy) and his shameless manager, who unleashed an avalanche of hype—from Times Square billboards to full-page ads in Rolling Stone and Vogue, all before one note of music had been released—that would ultimately prove ruinous. In Jobriath A.D., documentarian Kieran Turner tracks this incredible tale through archival and contemporary interviews, gracefully plot-forwarding animation, and dazzling performance footage. (Grand Illusion, 1403 NE 50th St, grandillusioncinema.org, 7 and 9 pm, Jan 31–Feb 6)
David Schmader—former weed columnist and Stranger associate editor—is the author of the solo plays Straight and Letter to Axl, which he’s performed in Seattle and across the US. His latest... More by David Schmader