Queer Histories at AS220
This post was written by Mike Ahern, AS220’s Grants Manager. Mike also took on the huge job of organizing AS220’s Queer Arts Fest during the month of June 2025. Besides his roles at AS220, according to his bio, Mike “is a Providence-residing filmmaker, screenwriter, and community organizer. His work details queer experiences, specifically those on the fringes of the community. He co-founded Monster Makeup Productions.”
October is not only the month to celebrate all things spooky, witchy, and unusual, but it's also LGBTQ+ History Month, as it marks the anniversary of the March on Washington for Gay Rights in 1979, with October 11th being National Coming Out Day. For me, however, queerness is most exciting when it leans into the unusual, quirky, and downright unhinged. So, a month of horror and Halloween combined with queer remembrance invigorates my soul.
This past June, as part of AS220’s Queer Arts Fest, I had the honor of remembering some of my queer elders from our organization’s past: Tom Paulhus, Wayne Wohlschlegel, and Princess Pearl. So many artists have come through our organization in 40 years. We do a good job of commemorating our founders and leaders. But some other histories start to fade when we don’t name them. At the time, I felt a little vexed that I had not heard of these three before, that I hadn’t done my research, that I had never thought to ask.
Starting in the 90s, Tom, Wayne, and Pearl curated and hosted Stravaganza at AS220 during the month of October. Celebrating National Coming Out Day, Stravaganza was a variety show and queer cabaret that raised proceeds for organizations that served the LGBTQ+ community. From video and photo archives, it seemed performances ran the gamut and queer spectrum, from stand-up to spoken word to musical performance. Anyone was allowed to sign up and unapologetically be their queer self on AS220’s stage. As I flipped through the Special Collections at the Providence Public Library, I also saw that each year Stravaganza grew in popularity, extending from one day to two and eventually three days to accommodate all the performers and artists.
During my research, I also had the pleasure of connecting with Wayne’s brother David and Pearl’s sister Brenda. These conversations were, of course, more enlightening than me scouring the library for snapshots of Tom, Wayne, or Pearl. The stories were more vivid, some heartbreaking, many hilarious. From Brenda’s story of Tom accidentally ripping a light out of the ceiling of Muldowney’s before taking the stage at our Empire building, to my drag friend's story of Pearl asking for tips to simplify her already simplified makeup routine of a lip and eye shadow. As my friend recalls responding, “Pearl, if you simplify even further you won’t be wearing any makeup.” Archives are irrefutably important for history. But telling stories is a form of history too, a method of connection, and it makes its subjects immortal.
Wayne Wohlschlegel
A friend of mine who knew her said Pearl didn’t really fit in the drag scene, which at the time was more concerned with pageants and illusion. And of course, she wouldn’t entirely fit in the comedy scene in the 90s. But at AS220, she was able to do what she wanted, the way she wanted to. I kept investigating why I felt adamant to remember Tom, Wayne, and Pearl. Was it simply guilt for not knowing my queer history?
Princess Pearl of Providence. Photo by Pam Murray.
It may be saccharine to draw this parallel, but I couldn’t help but think of my own artist collective, Monster Makeup, and how it began with three friends, who decided they wanted to make a drag queen slasher movie, who sort of felt as though they didn’t fit in naturally with the gay scene at the time, who began writing together and putting on original performances and shows and events and nonsense. Three weirdos that somehow balanced each other out and managed to create art as a result of all their chaos.
In that interview with Tom mentioned earlier, he spoke about how protesting in RI’s ACT UP would get him really upset and angry. That protesting and marching had an emotional weight to it that took its toll on him. And he talked about performing and creating at AS220, and how that became his method and outlet for protest. A quote we at AS220 know and love, by author Toni Cade Bambara is “the role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible.”
So for the month of October, I want to remember Tom, Wayne, and Princess Pearl and their show Stravaganza, a platform that allowed their community to show up authentically as their queer selves. I want to honor their commitment to creating art, no matter how outlandish or unorthodox. I encourage folks, both queer and allied, to use expression and artistry to co-create and imagine a better future for the queer people who come after us. I feel that what Tom, Wayne, and Pearl did at AS220 is, in part, the reason I can show up as myself to work and make queer horror movies with my friends in Providence.
Happy Halloween AND Happy LGBTQ+ History Month.
Mike Ahern
Pearl, Tom, Wayne. Photo by Scott Lapham.