In our reconstituted Q&A series, Seven with Sue (+1), we are exploring the local arts scene. We customize the questions for folx in various parts of the arts community.
I received an email from Jeremy about an upcoming show Divas Survival Guide, happening in two fridays at the Historic Carnegie Free Library in Carnegie, in the Studio Cabaret space on Friday, August 21. We are two native Pittsburghers sharing stories of growing up in the Mon Valley, connecting to musical theater, with laughs and stories to share for all Pittsburgh showtunes and cabaret lovers!
Name: Jeremy Mark Mikush (aka Handsome Jeremy on the interwebs)
Pronouns: All pronouns welcome in a respectful manner.
Your Affiliation with the Arts:
I am a music director for RuPaul’s Drag Race Winner Circle Diva Alaska from Erie, PA. I also have classical chops in Early Music (15th-18th century), I love playing folk and Americana and European traditional music. I just released a banger called “I Fucking Love You” with Alaska (as of August 11).
How do you describe your identity (can be as expansive as you like?
I am a faerie unicorn galactic bard and oracle. But for simple humans I’m a sweet oddball that some in the throes of labels would call a charming neurospicy sweetheart with squid-like body language and a love of laughter, deep mystical traditions, and queer ribaldry.
Tell us about your connection to or your first impression of Pittsburgh.
I grew up in Finleyville, loosely labelled the Mon Valley. I like to call it the 88 Corridor cuz it elevates it in a Rick Sebak documentary way. My folks are from the Route 88 and Route 19 Corridor of the South Hills, Trolley Country! I liked the hills and trees and biking in them growing up, when I wasn’t holed up in my room reading or playing music.
Ringgold was a decent school district, but small town mindsets don’t change easily. thirty years later my heart sinks to see shops gone, boarded up places, and too much corporate slop–never thought I’d see national/international banks or Dollar Generals in Finleyville or Mon City. But nature is so powerful here, and I moved back to assess if Pittsburgh and I are gonna have another go. My connection to Pittsburgh is about the DIY, queer groundswell of keeping the live performing arts alive and discovering the riches in our communities here, like my college years here.
There are real barriers to the arts – time, money, etc. But there’s also the matter of perception, that one must dress a certain way, know the culture of their local arts community or be knowledgeable about the medium . How does the creative community collectively lower these barriers so people actually learn if you like opera, ballet, plays, or symphonic music as a few examples?
The history of Pittsburgh shows that even with industrialists, the ones who know that an educated and cultured population contributes and is healthier is a real history. Carnegie’s name (of which one of his donated library-music halls is our venue for the Aug 21 cabaret show) is on places of art and learning. That Scottish kid in the big industrialist knew that part of human dignity is literacy and the arts.
Blue-collar folks learned to love classical music genres and great literature, and until the undermining of public education in the 2000s, I had a strong public education here in the 1990s, thankfully. Great choral programs by the competition to get into a PMEA chorus (PA Music Ed. Association), competition to get into even community theaters or the CLO Academy. We lower barriers by sharing our talents, homes and venues, and passion for what the arts do for individuals and communities–they are powerful markers of belonging, healing, and the joy of creation.
Tell us about an under-appreciated or underutilized cultural resource in this region.
I’ve only been back two months, so that’s a great question. I think there needs to be artist housing that’s underwritten, and work/live spaces. If you historically look at great art movements, folks were living and working together. A portion of renovations needs to continue to house artists where their performances spaces are at the ground floor.
I would love to see a live music venue that’s a 9-5 open house supported by the locals, the region, and the state, by businesses and philanthropists. Venues, venues, venues! And if Pittsburgh stays on its progressive streak politically, there needs to be more taxation on the highest class to let artists lead in the revitalization of the city’s neighborhoods and housing–we are coming to times where I think it serves us as artists to learn what some others call the trades (if one wants) and sustainability practices.
If there’s funding to learn renovation and renovation trades (plumbing, carpentry, painting, lighting, etc–some of us already have some skills there!), that’s art, craft, and sustainability practices all rolled into one. Artists will lead the way as we’re seeing society and civilization go through such radical changes.
With whom in the Pittsburgh region would you like to collaborate and why?
Chatham Baroque, firstly. I adore Early Music. Maybe the Opera for local composers to create intimate works that can travel around the region and state. Amazing experimental groups like Squonk Opera and the wonderful theater groups like PICT and Quantum Theatre. Also Arcade Comedy, I have the odd chops for improv, as I do a lot of musical improv with Alaska at the end of her one-woman shows. I’m sure there’s a handful of others in folk and traditional music I’d also love to collaborate with.
Your upcoming show references the “Broadway icons who got you through life’s toughest moments” – do you think Gen Z and Alpha Generation have that same relationship with Broadway? Who gets them through life’s toughest moments?
I think the biggest pull is that we who love musical theater DO have divas that speak to us, by the uniqueness of their voice, their roles, and in the case of the younger generation, their visual narratives. I wonder what baby queers are gagging over Death Becomes Her while the parental generation may take it or leave it. I think t
here are trends that lock in audiences and certain demographics. Folks my age are now producers and veterans so whatever they loved in a diva thirty years ago is being manifested and then evolving.
I think my most radical challenge is: Screens distract and are a real delusion-illusion machine. I think the humanity and mistakes-happy pop psychology bubbling up now is fully experienced in live performances. Gen Z and Alpha are learning and figuring out these things as the younger generation whose access to whatever makes them curious via technology happened at younger and younger ages.
I’d love to lovingly project that time and experience will hopefully clarify the beauty and joy of live performances, whether they are more local/regional like me and Michelle (though through Alaska I am “known” internationally), or with their own communities, supporting friends and others who perform live.
What sort of performing arts programming was available in your high school and community?
As mentioned above, I grew up with a solid music program in my school district, and a notable yearly Spring Musical tradition at Ringgold High School. There was, I believe, healthy competition to have a great vocal by your sophomore year in high school.
Some of my high school colleagues had the gumption to try to produce community theatre–my first two summers after high school there was a Community Theater at St. Anthony’s in Monongahela where I music directed Grease and Godspell–I’m getting sentimental just remembering it now.
My sister who had such a powerful voice, plus others who just loved hanging out and the comradery of doing musical theater locally, I have such fond memories. My two besties Michelle Weissgerber-Tibble and Brandee Sanders were full-blown coloratura sopranos and others like my sister were amazing high belters.
I felt like a dozen of us could have done very solid musicals out of high school because of the training our choral director Esther Spadaro and the theater and choreographic staff provided.
Will Homestead native Tamara Tunie and star of ‘Beyond the Gates’ delicious new soap opera on CBS move into the pantheon?
I am fully a television Luddite–the reason I’m as wonderfully weird is that I still stick to books and music as my go-to media. I have no clue about soaps and most television. I haven’t had a proper TV since 2003 and my screen viewing is mostly YouTube. I wonder who else is like me out there!…
+1 – How do you strive to make your art, your performances, and your audiences representative and inclusive
Firstly, I think the people closest to me and who get me and vice versa are neuroSPICY… We are stimmy, silly, odd, whacky, wonderful! This show celebrates that implicitly and explicitly!
Secondly, an important part of being a performing artist is storytelling–and story sharing. Each audience member who bothers to get out of the house, zhuzh up, and drive, uber, or take a bus or their access vehicle is putting their faith and trust in us.
Audience… You are the heart of the show!
So when we revere each others’ journeys and make that bit of space for folks to have what they need to enjoy a live performance, and let their needs and voices be heard, we all elevate the space–and that’s what live performance is and what screen stuff simply cannot create. Please let the venue or even the performer you’re going to see a bit of any needs or concerns you have–this is a celebratory event and we celebrate every person making a choice to support us and make the space truly magical.
Finally, please list your socials
Instagram @thehandsomejeremy777
website; https://www.handsomejeremy.com/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/handsomejeremy – for my sound therapy work and intuitive content
Thank you, Jeremy.
You can catch Jeremy at the upcoming show.
Doors Open – 6:30 p.m.
Showtime: 7:00 p.m.
Ages: Recommended for audiences ages 16 and up
Beer and Wine available by monetary donation for guests 21 and older (outside alcohol
is not permitted).
Ticket Price – $25
Tickets:
https://www.purplepass.com/events/380017-divas-survival-guide-a-tribute-to-the-broadw
ay-diva-s-who-got-us-through-aug-21st-2026
Seven with Sue (+1) is one of our favorite Q&A series – a quick dive into the local arts world. (+1) is a nod to my need for a companion when I attend a performance and an acknowledgment of the need for universal accessibility to the arts. If you’d like me to craft a Q&A for your production, email pghlesbianblog@gmail.com. We love talking with actors, directors, stage crew, poets, artisans, and definitely front of house staff.
Previous Q&A’s in this series (pre-re-launch, too)
Actor, Director, and Playwright Elizabeth Huffman Changes the Narrative: a Seven With Sue (+1) Q&A
Cartoonist Joe Wos Celebrates the Amazing Friends We Meet Along the Way: a Seven With Sue (+1) Q&A
Actor Phoebe Lloyd Talks About Queering Chekhov in a new local production: a Seven (+1) With Sue Q&A
My ‘Burgh Vivant Q&A with Jill Sobule #7WithSue
My new Q&A column at @BurghVivant with Nicole Gallagher, creator of ‘Mija: one bitch’s tale’
Discover more from Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents
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