Sandra Bernhard Brings “Quick Sand” to JCC Nov. 2!

Sandra Bernhard (Brian Ziegler)

Sandra Bernhard, performer, actor, celebrity, writer, has long been known as a proud, bold supporter of the LGBTQ+ community and one of the early celebrities that somehow was able to openly own her own sexuality while cutting a path through the bullshit of censors and erasers of others’ rights. Those who have followed her career will be excited to hear that she’s coming to Seattle for the first time in a lot of years!

In an exclusive interview on a range of topics, Sandra wants you to be prepared for a great evening, November 2nd at the Stroum Jewish Community Center on Mercer Island at 8:00PM. She debuted this new piece, entitled “Quick Sand,” at Joe’s Pub in New York City in December 2018, so this is her newest touring production.

Sandra says, “The important thing is that I’m coming to Seattle, and it’s been a very long time since I’ve been in town and I don’t want people to miss it. People know I do a hybrid of storytelling and music and comedy, and it’s a very entertaining hour and half of what I do.”

She’s bringing a small band, The Sandyland Squad, with her. Several of the members of her team are flying up from Los Angeles for the occasion. She says, “My musical director (and pianist), Mitch Kaplan, and I have been together since 1985 and also the other two musicians I’ve been working with for a long time. I’m lucky to have them with me this time.”

While Sandra won’t overtly talk politics during her show – she describes her show as tangentially referencing politics, but mainly wanting people “to go away having had a fabulous night. That’s the most important thing to me,” she is very political in the media.

This Moment in Politics:

I described some recent news articles that suggested that voter registration among the LGBTQ+ community is actually lagging. That seemed to shock her! “I’m shocked to hear that registration is down,” she says. “We’re in an international crisis between our president and despots around the world. This is no time (to not register), especially to shore up LGBT rights in our country! We must must MUST get this moron out of the White House!

“It’s lazy and unacceptable to have the LGBTQ community not register to vote if that is really what’s happening. We’ve got to band together and support not only our own community but the country! Our rights have to be protected. The Constitution must be upheld! It’s (the Constitution) not “just” for us, it’s for everybody.

“The survival of democracy is at stake right now and that’s the only thing that matters to me at this particular moment. We’re talking about a national election that’s coming up.”

When it was suggested that “blue Seattle, blue Washington State” folk sometimes feel a bit irrelevant in the national conversation because we don’t have to worry about who our state supports, Sandra has plenty of suggestions for where you can choose to put your energy. “Amy McGrath is running against McConnell in Kentucky. There are races in red states around the country.

“You can sign up for Daily Kos or important news sites (to get information) and you can donate to those states even if it’s not such an issue in your state. There are places around the country that we’re ready to flip blue. (For instance) Go to South Carolina, register people to vote, go to door, travel to other states if you’re living in a blue state and don’t think there’s much to do.

“Go somewhere abortion is on the line, education, the list is a thousand miles long of issues that are at stake…. judicial appointments. There are a lot of issues to fight about. We (the LGBTQ community) have a coalition where we’re constantly in the trenches fighting against the backlash to the community, but there are issues that affect the whole country and I think it’s important to focus on those, at this point.”

POSE:

If you follow her career, you may know that her most recent role on television is in the highly praised, unique Ryan Murphy show, POSE. Her character is a nurse who takes care of HIV/AIDS patients right in the middle of the original crisis where thousands of people died before the medical community really understood what it was “looking at.”

At 64, Sandra was already working hard at her job as an entertainer, and reflects on the role. “I happened to be there as an entertainer and celebrity. She (Nurse Judy Katz) is someone who takes care of people and fights for that crisis. I happen to have known a lot of people who died of AIDS. You don’t forget your friends and people that you lost. I think it’s important to help the younger generation that doesn’t know what people went through, an important time to know about and learn how people tried to keep each other alive.”

Now that she’s a regularly seen character, I wondered if there was something she’d love for the writers to have her character do. “They have their own arc of the season and I just show up and do my job like any actress does. (But if I could,) I’d like to see some her personal life (on screen) and how she is in the privacy of her home. I would love to see that next season. (MG: Deepen her background?) Exactly.”

Outspokenness and Career:

Looking back, did Sandra feel like there were barriers to her career, ways that being “out” about her sexuality and her politics held her back or caused career-blocking moments? Sandra says, “I don’t think I’ve had a struggle being who I am. I am who I am, and I say what I want to say. I was most influenced by entertainers. I set out to be an entertainer.

“I don't think it harmed my career. To me, (my brand) was tongue in cheek. I wasn’t trying to make a didactic statement with my sexuality. I used fashion and glamour and groovy music. I’ve had so much fun in my career and broken through like no one ever has or maybe ever will. (I provided) fluid sexuality and high glamour and no one else has done that. I don’t wring my hands about what could have been. I love my life!”

For tickets, go to https://tickets.vendini.com/ticket-software.html?e=598dc9c6e79d2e9422fa7c95920538cc&t=tix&vqitq=544a9afe-8a5a-4189-99cf-3a71aaff612d&vqitp=ace9bde9-9699-4f08-b994-e2984198eddd&vqitts=1571870983&vqitc=vendini&vqite=itl&vqitrt=Safetynet&vqith=4fbfbf85b362a797d600c82099dcd906 or call 206-388-0833.