SEASON 16 | JANUARY 2004

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Jade Esteban Estrada’s The Lesbian and Gay History of the World, Vol. 1

Presented by the VORTEX & Vicarious Productions

A glittering presentation of the history of the Lesbian and Gay people as told through the voices of Sappho, MichelAngelo, Oscar Wilde, Gertrude Stein, Sylvia Rivera and Ellen DeGeneres and has won glowing reviews. The show is directed by Jeff Wills and costume design is by Aliza.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch calls him "the first gay Latin star." Sam Blackwell of the Southeast Missourian calls ICONS "timeless." Rose Martelli of the Riverfront Times in St. Louis raves "Estrada’s work onstage picks up where Will and Grace and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy leave off!" Larry Flick of Out Q in the Morning on Sirius Radio calls Estrada "a man of many talents." Ray Romano of Sirius Radio’s Broadway’s Best hails "ICONS is a triumph!" Robert Urban of Stonewall Society calls it "charming, ambitious, and yes! scholarly!" Columbus Dispatch calls it "compelling…Broadway caliber!" "Estrada is multifaceted in ICONS!" says Colin Murphy of the Vital Voice of St. Louis. "Wonderful…Don’t miss this show!" raves Tony Bossaller of GayStLouis.com.

"Jade Esteban Estrada's ICONS is a theatrical history of prominent gays and lesbians that is palatable to mainstream audiences while maintaining a decidedly queer perspective...an entertaining vehicle for an admirable agenda," affirms Frank Episale of the Off-Off Broadway Review.

San Antonio native Estrada graced the cover of the statewide magazine Q Texas in March 2001 for the celebrated release of his full-length Latin pop CD ANGEL which received favorable reviews in the media. He was also Honorable Grand Marshal for the 2002 San Antonio Pride Parade. Estrada is making his debut at The VORTEX, but his brother David Miguel Estrada
recently starred in "FIGURES OF GIACOMETTI" as part of VORTEX’s BareBones Festival. His sister Celeste Angela Estrada is a celebrated Austin-based playwright, whose play "TORTILLA HEAVEN" is on a nationwide tour and is also the recipient of the 2004 Gertrude Stein Literary Award.

Estrada, who has publicly endorsed Governor Howard Dean for President by hosting a party in Miami for campaign supporters, world premiered the show at the Columbus National Gay and Lesbian Theatre Festival in September 2002. It has since enjoyed five New York productions at such notable venues as The Producer’s Club, the Pantheon Theatre, Theatre for the New City, the Milagro Theatre and Off The Map Theatre including a very special performance for LGBT youth at the Hetrick-Martin Institute/Harvey Milk School.

Estrada is nationally recognized for having his music on the Golden Globe and Emmy award-winning police drama "THE SHIELD" on the FX network. He also stars in "PERSONAL MOMENTS IN HISTORY" on the Emmy nominated Lesbian and Gay Newsmagazine show "IN THE LIFE" on PBS scheduled to air in January 2004. NBC San Diego calls him "America’s Prince of Pride." The Advocate calls him "exquisite Jade." Urban Latino TV has calls him "a 21st century Oscar Wilde" due to his cutting-edge theatrical endeavors on Off-Broadway in New York as performer and director.

Genre Magazine calls him "the most exciting Latin pop artist ever to emerge onto the music scene." He is also a featured artist on the benefit CD BEING OUT ROCKS (Centaur) where he joins Cyndi Lauper, Taylor Dayne, k.d. lang, the B-52's and Sarah MacLachlan and other stars in support of the Human Rights Campaign as well as the "American guest artist" on the Canadian equivalent FABULOUS GAY TUNES, VOL. 2 (Chris Michael).

Jade Esteban Estrada was a 2003 Timmy Award Nominee for Best Singer of the Year and was also awarded the PREMIO ESTRELLA (for outstanding work and visibility in the entertainment industry as an openly gay Latino) in October 2002 by LLEGO (the Washington D.C.-based LGBT Latino organization). In September, Estrada also won the 2003 Spotlight Award for outstanding contribution to the international LGBT community.