Dirty Little Showtunes: A new musical parody revue at Re-bar, Seattle, WA, September 5, 1997

This poster, mimicking a record sleeve, advertises Dirty Little Showtunes, a new musical parody revue at Re-Bar in Seattle, premiered on September 5, 1997. 

This poster was designed by Ellen Forney (b. 1968), who is a cartoonist based in Seattle. In the 1990s, her autobiographical comic strip I Was Seven in ‘75 ran in The Stranger, and her work has appeared in various newspapers and magazines, in collaboration with comedian Margaret Cho, writer Kristin Gore, professor Camille Paglia, and Stranger sex columnist Dan Savage, among others. She has published work related to mental health and political activism, curated a travelling exhibition on comics and health for the National Library of Medicine, and painted two murals in Seattle’s Capitol Hill light rail station. 

Steve Wells and Patrick “Pit” Kwiecinski opened Re-Bar in January 1990 at 1114 Howell Street, which had long been a safe space for Seattle’s LGBTQ community. The Night Hawk Tavern (or Nite Hawk) opened in the 1930s, creating a center of gay nightlife featuring cabaret, followed by Thirsty’s in the 1970s, which then became Axel Rock, a dance-focused venue, in the 1980s, and finally Sparks Tavern, which added full-length stage plays, before Re-Bar moved in. Until 2020, when Re-Bar, like many venues, closed indefinitely during the COVID-19 pandemic, they hosted disco nights, art exhibits, theatre, drag, burlesque, and live bands, supporting generations of LGBTQ patrons and performers. KEXP’s Riz Rollins got his start as a DJ, becoming a big part of Seattle’s Black music scene, David Schmader put on his first three plays, and drag performer and comedian Dina Martina was born at Re-Bar. The venue also hosted one of the longest running poetry nights in the West, Seattle Poetry Slam, and a weekly Sunday dance night, Flammable. On September 13, 1991, Re-Bar also hosted the infamous release party for Nirvana’s second album, Nevermind.