On
January 20, the Silver Dollar Saloon hosted an event that general
manager Skyler Blue called “the most excitement the strip has
experienced in many years.” The production provoked similar
responses from other eyewitnesses. “More than once I overheard
people say, ‘This has been the best day ever’ … ‘I’ve had so much
fun,’” said Austin-based actress Silvia Lake. The cause of the
thrill:
Jade Esteban Estrada’s music video for “Bella Morena,” a
single from 2003’s "Fabulous Gay Tunes, Vol. 2," shot at the
Silver Dollar, a cornerstone of Main Street’s ’mo-fabulous strip.
Estrada has
shared the stage with dreamboat Ricky Martin and the Material Girl
herself, but he is a super-estrella in his own right who has won
numerous awards with the phrase “performance artist of the year”
attached. Whether the job calls for singing, dancing, acting — even
stand-up comedy — Jade can deliver, making him a modern renaissance
man of the performing-arts industry. You’ve probably seen him on
Comedy Central, or maybe you caught him in the hit stage production
Tortilla Heaven, written and performed by the extravagantly
talented Estrada family. He returns to the Alamo City next week for
an encore performance of the work that has made him a legend in
Say-Town and beyond,
"ICONS: The Lesbian
and Gay History of the World, Vol. 1."
Jade spoke with the
Current recently from his home in New York.
You
came down here to shoot your video at the Silver Dollar Saloon; why?
We went out and
searched several places … and Silver Dollar had the mood we were
looking for for those segments of the video.
What was the
mood or vibe you were looking for?
Well, the song that it
is, “Bella Morena,” it’s very party, it’s very up. But, because I’m
originally from San Antonio, there was like a Tejano feel to [Silver
Dollar] … anyone who lives here probably doesn’t notice because
it’s just a normal part of the culture, but me looking at it from a
New York or L.A. standpoint, there’s a very unique style to the
venue and to the people that go there, whether they realize it or
not. And I wanted to make a music video that had
San Antonio all over it.
Has anything
about the biz surprised you as a performer?
I was very, like, pro
live theater, pro stand-up comedy, pro live performances, and then I
did like one thing on Comedy Central ("The Graham Norton Effect")
and the first bit that I did, I swear, I had never had so much
response in my email box. In my head I was like, “I have done great
things on stage that no one has ever seen, and I do this one silly
bit on Comedy Central for like a couple of minutes and all of a
sudden I’m a star to you.”
You’ve been
called the “Most Notable Gay Latin Act in the Country.” What does
this title mean to you?
Um, about the “Notable
Gay Latin Act,” thing, there’s like … maybe me, and maybe me? I
don’t know anybody else who does exactly what it is I do, so it’s hardly an amazing
title to have. As far as the gay thing, I’m comfortable with it, but
it used to bother me … I believe in people identifying however they
want to identify themselves, and because I feel this way, I have
people identifying themselves with me, whatever that might be, as a
performer, as a Mexican-American, as a gay man, as a lesbian or
transgender person — I’m all about that … So I would be a hypocrite
not to nod in acceptance and approval of people saying positive things about
me … The video is all about, no matter who you are or what you are,
it’s beautiful. As many times as you might here that...as cliché as that might sound
… you always have to deal with a new generation of people who have
never heard that idea.
©2007 San Antonio Current
