The Chan National Queer Arts Center is located at 170 Valencia Street - SF, CA - 94103

Why see this at The Chan?

The experience delivers a glamorous cabaret setup, golden lighting, and being close to the performers. Our bar and lounge, Pansy’s at The Chan, will be offering chilled bottles of champagne, signature drinks, and plenty of nonalcoholic selections. Whether you're here with your mother or your chosen family, this is an experience designed for you to indulge, connect, and to celebrate our collective queerness!

IMPORTANT TICKET AND VENUE INFO

Tickets for this event are $52 for Premium Seating and $36 for Standard Seating and $26 for Rear Seating.
The event will be presented in our signature Cabaret-Style seating format.
Pansy’s at The Chan (our bar and lounge) will be open one hour prior to showtime and during the performance.

An Interview with JASON Brock

What does performing in a Mother’s Day concert mean to you personally?

I have a strained relationship with my mother, but I still send flowers. Why? Because I think having some relationship is better than none at all. Can we talk about religion or sexuality? No. Do I love her? Yes. I guess it's pretty hard to kill love between a mother and a child, no matter what has happened between the two of them. I don't think I'm alone in this situation with my mom. I have talked to many LGBTQ+ people in the same boat. Hopefully this is getting better for more recent generations.

So, doing this show specifically on Mother's Day is complicated for me personally, but I hope people can spend this time with (or thinking of) their mothers. I mean, if nothing else, we can all at least appreciate that they gave birth to us.

Can you share a favorite American song from the program—and why it resonates with you?

One song I'm going to sing is "A Place in My Heart." This is a song sung from the perspective of a mother. The mother is saying that she will always be there for her child, unconditionally. She will always be the place where her child can come home and feel safe. This resonates with me, because it's a beautiful kind of love — that perhaps doesn't really exist. A pure love. It's the kind of love I'd like to have. God, I feel like I should see a psychologist about this. But anyway, this song will probably make you cry tears of either joy or sadness (depending on your situation). It's a beautiful song that I've only heard performed by a group called "Sounds of Blackness."

How do you think music helps us celebrate and connect across generations—especially on occasions like Mother’s Day?

Music helps us celebrate all occasions — from birth to death and everything in between. Music is a way for us to find our emotions and dwell in them for a moment — whether we're making the music or just listening. Music lets us feel our joy, our sadness, our anger, our memories — all of our emotions. This powerful force is experienced across all generations, although different age groups tend to have different tastes in the music they like. However, sincere emotion behind a song will touch anyone.

For Mother's Day, all kinds of songs can make us think of our mothers. We'll be performing this "Queer American Songbook" show with that in mind. Doing classic songs, along with some not so classic songs, to talk about the mother-child relationship from a queer perspective. There will be music from different generations with stories and emotions that everyone can relate to.

What do you hope audiences take away from this special evening at The Chan?

I hope people come away from this show feeling uplifted. This performance will make you laugh, inspire you and maybe even cause you to shed a tear. You might feel like you just had a good therapy session. If you come with your mother, I hope this show will make your bond even stronger, and perhaps spark a conversation about some issues touched on during the show.

If you could dedicate one song to the maternal figures in your life, what would it be—and why?

I'm glad you asked about the maternal figures in my life, because that means I can mention my grandma. She was the person in my family who understood and supported me most. She felt like the closest thing to unconditional love that I had in my life. I loved her (and yes, this is past tense because she has passed away). And there is a song I would dedicate to her — not because of the lyrics, but because of a memory I have with her. There was a Woody Allen (sorry) film that I used to watch on VHS in the living room with her all the time called "The Purple Rose of Cairo." One of the songs in the film is called "Cheek to Cheek." It's a standard and will be in this show.

ARTIST BIOS

Dee Spencer is a Professor of Jazz and Musical Theatre in the School of Theatre & Dance at San Francisco State University (SFSU).

She received her B.S. from Florida A&M; M.M. at Washington University in St. Louis; and EdD., University of San Francisco. Dee founded the Jazz Studies degree program in the School of Music at SFSU and served as director for five years.

Dee Spencer’s musical director/sound designer credits include “Androcles and the Lion”, “Raisin” award-winning Theatreworks production with legendary directors Danny Duncan and Tony Haney, “Purlie Victorious”, “The Me Nobody Knows”, “No Place To Be Somebody”, “Ain’t Misbehavin’”, “Sassy Divas”, “One Mo Time”, “Twelfth Night”, “Spring Awakening”, “Lysistrata”, “Chicago”, “Hair” and "Dreamgirls in Concert".

She has performed/recorded/toured/judged with Wynton Marsalis for Jazz at Lincoln Center; GRAMMY Award winning vocalist “Ledisi”, TOWER OF POWER’s Lenny Williams and legends John Handy, Jimmy Scott, Louis Bellson, Clark Terry, Regina Carter, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Bernard Purdie and X-Factor star Jason Brock and the legendary GLIDE ensemble. Her latest recording “Tranquility” was released in 2018. She is an Annual Screener for the GRAMMYs Music Awards.

Her former students include recording artists/producers, Braxton Brothers, BEYONCE’S music director, saxophonist Tia Fuller, and LAUREN HILL’S music director, saxophonist Howard Wiley.

As an active contributor to the San Francisco community, she founded the San Francisco Jazz Organization (SFJAZZ) education program and performed for a US Senator Kamala Harris’ fundraiser at the African American Cultural Center formerly headed by San Francisco Mayor London Breed. She also served as program director for the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts.

She has served on the following boards: International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE), National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), San Francisco Jazz Organization (SFJAZZ), Stanford Jazz Workshop, Community Music Center and the Women’s Audio Mission. Dee is currently serving on the People in Plaza and The Amateur Musicians Network boards.

Jason Brock is a singer and actor who was a top 12 finalist on the X-Factor USA (Season 2). He’s also a four-time recipient of the Bay Area Reporter’s “Best Male Cabaret Singer” award. Jason has released several singles and music videos throughout his career. He’s been seen in many Japanese and American TV shows, films and commercials, as well. He’s currently focusing on live performances in the US and abroad.

MEDIA

FEATURED ARTISTS

Dee Spencer - Piano
Jason Brock - Vocals

We are proud to co-sponsor this event with SFIAF