Take a step back in time to the French Quarter in 1973 as the patrons of The UpStairs Lounge help a modern-day millennial reevaluate his concepts of love and freedom.  

Wes, a 20-something social media obsessed fashion designer has returned from New York to his hometown of New Orleans to transform the former Upstairs Lounge nightclub into a retail store. After a nerve-wracking visit with his realtor, he time travels through a burned-out curtain into the 1973 arson-destroyed club. There, he meets the men who inhabited this “underground” venue decades ago. Despite the many limitations and challenges of the lounge patrons’ lives--and the horrifically tragic hate crime that ends them—their lifestyle ultimately proves to be more honest, authentic, and joyful than his superficial online social life.  Will Wes take these lessons back to the future with him? 

This show is based on the real-life events and victims of the 1973 arson attack at the UpStairs Lounge, a gay bar in New Orleans. This attack resulted in the deaths of 32 people, the deadliest attack on a gay club in U.S. history before the 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting.  

This production contains adult language, sexual content, and violence.