At the end of May, Dumpster Raccoon Cinema is ECSTATIC to kick off our Pride celebrations with a VERY SPECIAL PRESENTATION of queer erotic arthouse masterpiece PINK NARCISSUS (1971) – with LIVE ACCOMPANIMENT THROUGHOUT by musicologist and countertenor RYAN MCDONALD!

A dreamy, sumptuous spectacle, PINK NARCISSUS follows the steamy, astonishingly beautiful reveries of a handsome young man as he daydreams spectacular sensual fantasies, imagining himself by turns as a matador seduces by a leatherclad “bull,” the kept servant of a shimmeringly beautiful Greco-Roman emperor, lost in a springtime pastoral idyll, and the denizen of a filthy, post-apocalyptic city – each fantasy realized with unsurpassed pin-up art design and stunning pastel palettes never before or since seen in the annals of smut or indeed cinema writ large. 

Shocking the art world with its gem-like beauty and eroticism, PINK NARCISSUS circulated anonymously – by turns erroneously credited to the likes of Andy Warhol and Kenneth Anger, in fact the work of photographer, drag artist, and hairdresser James Bidgood, who drew inspiration from the camp of cheerful kitsch eroticism like the Ziegfeld Follies and intense technicolor masterpieces like THE RED SHOES and BLACK NARCISSUS. Shot on 8mm over seven years largely in his own Hell’s Kitchen apartment with a wordless classical music score, Bidgood’s masterwork went on to leave an indelible mark on photography and film, inspiring artists like Tarsem Singh, Pierre et Gilles, David LaChapelle, and Christian Louboutin. Reedited by producers without his consent, Bidgood took his name off the project in protest – and a mystery that endured for decades was born.

Now RESTORED in a beautiful 4k resolution, the film celebrates its 55th anniversary – and Dumpster Raccoon Cinema is pulling out all the stops with a screening paired with LIVE SUNG ACCOMPANIMENT by queer musicologist and gifted countertenor RYAN MCDONALD!

Toronto Mendelssohn Singers, Jean-Sébastien Vallée

The Sacred Veil by Eric Whitacre

Glimmer is a new trans-disciplinary, concert-length work by Thierry Tidrow that explores the many layers and interpretations of queerness, both within society and through diverse personal experiences. Commissioned by NMC, and presented at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, this piece marks a significant shift as it brings together text, music, and staging organically created by an all-queer team of performers and musicians.

BUS Opera

Composer & Librettist: Rebecca Gray

BUS Opera is a dark, surrealist comedy that follows an anxious and anguished millennial as their hopes, horrors and histrionics collide on an overnight bus trip. Through an innovative musical structure of dreams, reality and fantasies in between, BUS Opera explores gender identity, alienation, and the quest for stability in modern life.

Immerse in the world of Leonardo da Vinci with Jocelyn Hagen’s groundbreaking multimedia concert, The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci. Through state-of-the-art video syncing technology, Da Vinci’s words and drawings are brought to life, harmonized with the live voices of the Toronto Mendelssohn Singers. And, experience Vivaldi’s celestial Gloria in this concert that gorgeously reflects the profound complexity and beauty of life.

Join Ryan McDonald for an intimate concert at the historic Commissariat House on October 2nd, as part of our OOTA Fall Festival.