House of Leather

The year, 1969, now fifty years ago, was quite an interesting time. I guess every year has its share of significant events, but 1969 is particularly memorable for me. 

Of course it was the year that man first walked on the moon, Neil Armstrong declaring, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." (I think he was supposed to say "...for A man..".) Richard Nixon became President in 1969, and the Manson "Family" cult murdered five people.

While the "New Hollywood" revolution began in 1967, several notable films of that movement were released in 1969 including Easy Rider, Midnight Cowboy, The Wild Bunch, and Medium Cool.

Four hundred thousand people attended the famous music festival, Woodstock, on a farm in New York. The Beatles gave their last live performance on a rooftop of the Apple building in London. Other major music events were the Isle of Wight Festival and the Altamont Speedway Festival, which was marred by violence, notably by Hells Angels who had been hired as security for the event.

For me, 1969 was also the year I saw House of Leather in Minneapolis. It was a quasi "rock opera"  about a Civil War bordello, the music by a local group, the Blackwood Apology. It was a huge hit, running for 50 sold-out performances at the 90 seat Cricket Theater.

House of Leather began as a concept rock album with the music composed by Dale Menten. Frederick Gaines was brought in to turn the album into a stage musical. The show starred Lynne Moody who went on to a very successful acting career.

My then-wife and I loved the show, and I immediately bought the LP. On a whim, I called the Cricket box-office, and was able to speak to composer Dale Menten. I asked if I could get him to autograph the album jacket, and he told me to come to the theater the next day. But he later called back and told me not to come. No reason, no alternatives, just don't come. Kind of rude, I thought.

Because of the demand to see it, the show moved to the much larger Crawford Livingston Theatre in St. Paul, but reviewers complained that it lacked the intimacy and special quality it had in the tiny Cricket. 

House of Leather was produced as an off-Broadway show, opening at the Ellen Stewart Theatre on March 17, 1970. Most of the original cast was replaced by New York performers, including Barry Bostwick, and Menten assembled a new band named Hugo for the production. It was trashed by the critics and the show closed after one performance.