Matthew Bratko Interview
Get set for The Cockettes! The Cockettes were an avant garde psychedelic hippie theater group founded by Hibiscus (George Edgerly Harris III) in 1969. Their brand of theater was influenced by The Living Theater, John Vaccaro’s PlayHouse of the Ridiculous, the films of Jack Smith and the LSD ethos of Ken Kesey’s Merry Pranksters. The troupe performed all original material, staging musicals with original songs inspired by classic Hollywood movie musicals. They gained an underground cult following that led to mainstream exposure with JOHN WATERS and DIVINE that continues today. They will be running amok in Joe’s Pub on September 9th. Cockettes member Matthew Bratko chatted with us and he didn’t hold back. Buckle up buttercups and meet Matthew Bratko!
Matthew’s experience in The Cockettes has been…well…let him tell you. “I fucking love being a Cockette. It’s been such a pleasure to work with this group of absolute lunatics, whether I get to belt out a ballad or prance around with a tiny apron unsuccessfully trying to cover my cock and balls. In my day-to-day, I often feel like I’m too big or too loud or too expressive, faggotty, incapable of assimilation, and I definitely get looked down on for those traits. But that’s the Cockette legacy! That’s who we are! There’s a whole history of queer people who decided fuck you we’re not going to try to fit in anymore and if you don’t like it, you can die mad. Sometimes it’s hard, sometimes it’s messy, but it’s so fucking liberating.”
This is not Matthew’s first rodeo in New York. “I lived here for a couple years actually, so it’s truly a dream to be back and playing Joe’s Pub. It’s a legendary venue for women of the cabaret persuasion, and I’ve never performed anywhere you could order a more expensive salad, so that’s a career high point. My expectations are a sold-out show, raucous applause, and then a wealthy producer coming back to my dressing room and feeding me ketamine. It’s in my rider.”
From the Big Apple to the Emerald Isle, Matthew is hoping to have Irish eyes smiling and laughing with his new show. “I’m heading straight from NYC to the Dublin Fringe Festival to premiere my new show KYLE KYLE KYLE KYLE KYLE KYLE KYLE Has A Complicated Relationship With Reality And With Himself. It’s quite different from my Cockettes work but equally twisted.”
Witness theatrical history and get your tickets to The Cockettes!
COCKETTES: THE SECOND CUMMING
Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater, Saturday, Sept 9 @ 9:30pm, 425 Lafayette St, New York City.
Returning to NYC after a 50-year absence, San Francisco’s legendary, underground-breaking, gender-bending theatrical troupe, The Cockettes, are bringing their bawdy, colorful, cabaret show to Joe’s Pub celebrating the music of original Cockette Scrumbly Koldewyn. Event produced by Dan Karkoska featuring Matt Bratko, Noah Haydon, Kitten on the Keys, Steven Satyricon, Ellie Stokes, Bonni Suval, Birdie Bob Watt and the “original Cockette,” composer and performance artist Scrumbly Koldewyn.
TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW
LEARN the history of this Underground-breaking troupe!
Visit them on FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM and here’s a SNEAK PEEK
ARTIUM: OMNI 