“Like a pansy in winter, even the brightest things must fade.” Tragically beautiful, a quote pulled from the ‘history wall’ at the front of the ‘exhibit’ before you fully submerse yourself into Submersive Productions The Pansy Hour. Conceived by Josh Aterovis and fabricated into fruition by The Creative Team— Josh Aterovis, Aaron Barlow, Liz Gordon, Vicky Graham, Jacob Marrero, Ursula Marcum, Glenn Ricci— this secretive, immersive theatrical experience delves into the history of Baltimore’s Queer social scene and visibility, going nearly a century back to the late 1920s during ‘The Pansy Craze.’ It’s a wholly unique, uplifting experience, one that teaches the importance of taking the memories with you as you go so that no matter what happens, you keep telling the story, and keep fighting for the right to be yourself, live your best life, and uncover joy while you’re at it. But do remember— what happens at The Pansy Club…stays at The Pansy Club.
Settling into their new HQ, Submersive Productions has installed The Pansy Hour into a properly modeled 1920’s/1930’s Speak Easy. And it’s even got TARDIS vibes…definitely looking bigger on the inside! What Set Designer Aaron Barlow has done with the space is truly extraordinary. Cabaret stage, tables and chairs, booths, a back bar with a view clear across it to the stage; it’s cozy and vast at the same time. And there’s some fun little nooks and crannies, though you’ll have to go for yourself to get the full experience. It’s detail oriented and truly feels like you’ve stepped through a temporal portal, entering this underground, after-hours world of soul-luxuriating entertainment and camaraderie. Barlow’s scenery quite literally sets the backdrop for this spirited experience and encourages you to ‘vibe’ with the spirits and the spirits. It’s all thrillingly inviting.
It’s not just the scenery that’s transportive; the production itself invites you to time travel— literally from a modern moment where you, the audience, are gathered to explore a small, carefully curated history exhibit that is focused on Baltimore’s Queer clubs during The Pansy Craze to one of the nightclubs of that era— by way of spiritual invocation and a becalming ritual. The opening bid has this hinted nod of Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream…in so much as two of the ‘modern day’ people who exist before your time journey show up in the 1920s era experience. It’s all very magical; truly a mesmeric immersion into this fictious living history. Praises are given to Lighting & Projections Designers Juan Juarez and Ben Levine; their most notable work is featured during the invocation ceremony, alongside the work of Sound Designers Mo Oslejsek and Glenn Ricci. There’s a hallway that separates you and your modernity from the shadowy memories of the past; flanked on both its sides by mirrors with a ceremonial table at its center. Your Guide (at this performance, Angel— Caitlyn Hooper) invites you to participate in this grounding ceremony, where the work of Juarez, Levine, Oslejsek, and Ricci shines. The illumination combined with sound and projection generates an ethereal moment of majestic majesty, crafting this sense that you have awakened the past; it’s extraordinary.
Once you’ve entered The Pansy Club, you’re invited to take a seat or a stand, fill the space and you’ll find yourself in utter awe as the spirits— apparitions— memories of lives lived slowly unfurl and wend themselves to life. It feels cinematic, like living inside of an enchanted film where ever so slowly the denizens and entities of The Pansy Club have life breathed back into their existence, almost in slow motion. There is this dance of sorts, an unsung melody of awakening that invites these souls to play. It’s mesmeric.
The Pansy Club that the Submersive Productions team has fabricated into existence may be wholly fictitious but its historical roots are thriving and well-represented in the dramaturgical efforts of consulting historian Ben Egerman. It’s strongly recommended to arrive at least ten minutes prior to the start of the experience as the entire left wall of the lobby waiting space has been curated with actual historical anecdotes and photographs that serve as the springboard of inspiration for this show.
Wrapping the show’s aesthetic up in a nifty little bow are the sartorial selection selectors— Betty O’Hellno and Jasmine Blue on wigs, Byron “Oprah” Powe with an assist from Michelle Jenkins on costumes, and Marci Schwartz on special effects makeup. Their efforts and styling prowess combined are the gilding touches that complete the late 1920s/early 1930s experience. In the times, it was referred to as male and female impersonation and more modernly and popularly, drag, but however you label it, these five fabulous individuals have outfits for everyone that fit their unique characters in flawless alignment with the time period.
One could attend every single performance— presently running through November 15th 2026 with a near-guaranteed extension in its future— and get a different experience and performance every night. That’s the true beauty and inspiring experience behind any and every Submersive Productions theatrical engagement that I’ve ever attended. And The Pansy Hour is no exception. The audience is encouraged to engage, respectfully of course, and at their comfort level with the denizens of the club and it makes for a wondrous and curious and lively evening’s entertainment.
While each and every performer involved with the production is doing something marvelous and extraordinary, if you’re anything like me, you’ll find you have your favorites, simply because they speak to— physically and metaphorically— on a personal level. I’m going to endeavor to speak on some of the highlights without giving anything away as it is truly something to be experienced in person and honestly…what happens at The Pansy Club… well, let’s just say it and Vegas have a lot in common.
I had meaningful and engaging conversations with Eddie Parker (at this performance Dev Kelley) and the importance of media coverage for marginalized groups, particularly when authorities— religious and legal— keep thwarting their natural right to exist. Kelley’s Eddie Parker was an amazing light-touch to interact with, wholly the opposite of any preconceived notions one might have for media-coverage/journalist types from that era. And much like with any character encounter, if you make a connection, you might get shown or get to experience something secretive, something that not everyone else will get the opportunity to have. I was fortunate enough to have that bonded experienced with Kelley’s Parker. And Kelley, like all the performers I encountered, kept the magic alive every step of the journey.
By far my favorite encounter was the multiple instances— including one very personalized and private experience— with AJ (at this performance Alex Shawn.) Watching Shawn move through the space was its own form of hypnotic ecstasy. And watching the other characters watch me— a hand on my shoulder, a gentle ‘are you all right?’ – was equally entrancing. Catching eyes with Shawn was both disarming, unsettling, and deeply meaningful. There is an intensity that Shawn brings to this incarnation of the AJ character that is the definition, however misquoted, of live theatre— “…meant to comfort the discomforted and discomfort the comfortable…” and to be able to achieve that juxtaposition in such striking balance is truly otherworldly. I took a deep fascination to Shawn’s character and the story of AJ, which actually enhanced the narrative experience for me personally, and again, enabled me chance encounters that I might have otherwise missed had I just been watching all of the fabulous talent up on the Cabaret Stage.
I want to give props galore to the evening’s antagonist, Paul Sinclair (at this performance Alex Shade), who is one of the only two actors to start in the present time and also ‘reincarnate’ to the past with the group. Shade is a whole host of inappropriately colorful language that could essentially be summed up in total with the word Bigot in this character role. (I had a lengthy conversation with Shade post-performance; nicest, most open-minded human!) There is this anxiousness, this restlessness, the duality of ‘I’m going to use the mantle of religion as my shield’ and the transparency that shines through is unhinged. I don’t want to give to much away but he was, by far, my favorite character to agitate and rile-up and honest engine, Shade had stunningly perfect responses to the improvised curveballs I was throwing, all of which stayed well within the bounds of the established character of Paul, some of which were very subtle but just enough to hyper-fixate on!
Ruth Levi (at this performance Hannah Fenster) was the epitome of blossoming into one’s true self, making a full costume switch at some point during the evening, though when, I couldn’t say exactly. And another true-to-form improvisationalist that just made my heart sing for all the interactions I got to have with the Ruth character. There was a shyness to Fenster’s character, and yet a beautiful need to ‘be a part of it’ and that was both comforting and joyful to watch. Almost like watching someone see themselves really and truly in the mirror for the first time; wholly exquisite and vibrating glee on every level.
Of course the Cabaret Performers— (at this performance) Lukas O’Boyle as Lady Luck, Byron “Oprah” Powe as Haddie Mae Bullock, Stealya Manz-Blue as Billie Beard, and Connor Kertiss as Philip Gartner— were a magic all their own. Several of them hang in the back bar area when they’re not up strutting their stuff on the Cabaret stage and they have attitude for miles that will delight anyone who is fortunate enough to engage with them. These wondrous performers are some who I must return to see in action and engage with further. Kertiss, as Philip Gartner is the most adorable little trouble-maker as well, nothing truly harmful but clearly very worried that his presence might get reported to folks…beyond…the realm of the club.
You have the Proprietors as well, the brother-sister duo of Big Papa Duchess (at this performance Vicky Graham) and Remi Mayfair (at this performance Nigel Semaj) both of whom are wild characters with bits of themselves they are boldly putting on display and other things that they’re keeping close to breast. I didn’t get to interact with Semaj’s Mayfair— wholly of my own obsessed interests, mind you— but caught sight of the Remi Mayfair character in quite a few inevitably attention-grabbing moments near the end of the evening and was enthralled with what I did witness. A brief conversation with Graham’s Big Papa Duchess set my trail ablaze to the two most extraordinary encounters of the evening— with Dev Kelley’s Eddie Parker and Alex Shawn’s AJ. Both Semaj and Graham have that ‘in-charge’ verve about their respective portrayals while still understanding how to have fun; it’s brilliant.
And I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk up the equally chatty Bartender (at this performance Anna Holmes) Lucy Liquors. She’ll get you anything they have…just so long as there isn’t a whiff of bacon in the air. It is prohibition after all. Watching saucy flirtation across the bar counter between Holmes’ Lucy and Graham’s Big Papa Duchess was one of the most cheeky and fun moments of the evening, regardless of how brief it was. The evening was essentially a culmination of little moments, readily observed, just like that. Building the world, creating the reality, cementing the memories that one carries with them long after they leave The Pansy Club and long after The Pansy Club is gone.
Oh and I nearly forgot the live Musicians! To aid in all that Cabaret performing! At this performance it was Glenn Ricci as Vin on upright…cello? Bass? Upright strings. And Senyo Agawu as Buddy on the ivories. I heard their music and know that they were there, creating atmosphere and important soundscapes for the evening. Much like bubbly Caridad (at this performance, Tara Caraso) I saw her in passing— apparently her sweet potato chips are superb and on the ‘must-consume’ if you can get your hands on them— drifting about throughout the evening. I was even told there were a few other denizens helping out— perhaps behind the bar? (At this performance Ursula Marcum as Ruby and Liz Gordon as Sadie) though where they were, I couldn’t be certain; all part of the pulsating atmosphere inside The Pansy Club.
I can’t speak highly enough of the real human connections made therein. The safe space created for Queer members of the community to shine and be themselves, the reverence for the irreverence of it all; it’s a spectacular sensation and wholly worth investigating. And you’ll need to experience it at least twice; no two shows will be the same. They do cap the numbers on the house, though, somewhere between 30 and 35…who once you’ve mixed with the denizens of the evening makes for quite a jumping joint. It’s a reassuring tale and experience— history may repeat itself but when it does, you take the memories, you keep celebrating, you keep living, and you love one another no matter what. The Pansy Hour is an absolute necessity in today’s repressed political climate. It’s the grace of joy, gift of hope, and cultural revolution that Baltimore— and cities everywhere— truly, truly needs.
The Pansy Hour is currently playing through November 15th 2026 as a Submersive Productions theatrical experience. Performances are Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sundays at 2:00pm. The exact location of hidden Speak Easy (Baltimore, MD…Hampden neighborhood) will be revealed upon purchasing your ticket. Tickets must be purchased in advance online.
**BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR AN EXTENSION AS TICKETS ARE BOOKING UP QUICKLY**
