Looking for Tiger Lily
Written and Performed
by Anthony Hudson
November 16-18, 2023
Presented in partnership with Oklahoma Contemporary
Starring Anthony Hudson – the human vessel for Portland’s premier drag clown Carla Rossi – LOOKING FOR TIGER LILY utilizes song, dance, drag, and video to put a queer spin on the ancestral tradition of storytelling. Asking what it means for a queer mixed Native person to experience their heritage through white normative culture as they recount growing up watching the 1960 production of “Peter Pan” featuring Sondra Lee’s blonde, blue-eyed “Indian Princess” Tiger Lily, Anthony (and Carla) draw from a songbook stretching across Disney’s “Pocahontas” to Cher’s “Half-Breed.” Not just autobiography, LOOKING FOR TIGER LILY is a coming-of-age story that’s more than cowboys versus Indians.
Brett Campbell, Oregon Arts Watch:
"Touching on Disney’s Peter Pan, mid-century cigar-box Indian depictions, the absurdity of racial classification, and poignant family memories, Looking for Tiger Lily promises to be one of those rare identity-oriented shows that might actually appeal to audiences much broader than those directly implicated."