""Everyone who was watching me was like, 'Oh you're weird. You're a weirdo. We like it,'" Obsidienne says. "And that was really cool.""
""You can make noise during this performance. You can clap between movements, you don't have to sit still like a statue," says Obsidienne. "I think it's really cool to be able to highlight through this project that classical music is not one thing, it is actually this whole kaleidoscope of things.""
Classically trained violist Obsidienne Obsurd merges drag, classical music and surrealist stagecraft in the show The Last Seven Days of Obsidienne Obsurd. The performance combines high-fashion visuals, meticulous theatricality and candid vulnerability while challenging norms about who performs drag. The production features local drag luminaries including Lisa Frankenstein, Sassi Fran, Lola Ren and Cult Baby. The musical program ranges from David Bowie and contemporary composers Chen Yi and Kaija Saariaho to 12th-century Hildegard Von Bingen. The performance invites active audience participation, allowing noise and applause, and positions classical music as a diverse kaleidoscope rather than a single tradition. The show runs Dec. 5 at the Henry J. Kaiser Center for the Arts in Oakland.
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