Part of our MISSION STATEMENT here at QUEERGURU is to bring you the very best in queer culture and, in turn, help it reach the fullest audiences it deserves. It has been an honor and privilege for our team to do this, and along the way, we have had the sheer joy of meeting some innovative geniuses who have also turned out to be such a delight. Sharing a fleeting moment with them via Zoom or in person has become a highlight for all of us, and we hope, in turn, these encounters are touching your queer souls too.

Today we sat down with Rose Jarboe of The Bearded Ladies, an experimental cabaret company in Philadelphia tackling pop culture and identity with wit, sparkle & cardboard. Their latest ‘event’ is Priority Hoarding: A Retrospectacle and Interactive Experience/Installation built on 16-years of accumulated baggage from a queer cabaret company devoted to art, care, mess, and community.

Made for anyone who has ever lost a bag, gotten stuck, or missed a (metaphoric) flight, this trans(formational) installation asks: how do you know it’s time to move on when you don’t know where you’re going? The Hairport (444 N 3rd Street, Philadelphia PA 19123) is an interactive, immersive installation filled with costumes, cardboard props, and other ephemera from the Bearded Ladies Cabaret’s 16-year performance history.

Visitors will make their way through a sprawling multi-room space made to look like a fantastical, metaphorical “airport”. Visitors will be invited to interact with components of the installation and may encounter docents in guiding roles. The experience will culminate in a “lounge” space full of “Bearded baggage,” which will also serve as the performance site for the Now Hoarding: In-Flight Entertainment live event series.

And if that is not enough, you will get to meet Rose, and you will immediately see why we are more than a little in love with them….