The answer appears to be intertwined with Steven’s work with the Cockettes.
The Cockettes were a psychedelic drag queen troupe founded by Hibiscus in the late 1960s in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood. The troupe performed outrageous parodies of show tunes (or original tunes in the same vein) and gained an underground cult following that led to mainstream exposure. On New Years Eve, 31 December 1969, at the Palace Theatre in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood, Steven F. Arnold let the Cockettes perform as part of his “Nocturnal Dream Show”, a showcase of underground films, in exchange for free admission. The show soon became a “must-see” for San Francisco’s hip community.
The Cockettes … performed their final show in the summer of 1972, “Journey to the Center of Uranus”. At this time Divine, star of films by noted filmmaker John Waters, joined the group, thus making her San Francisco debut. In that show Divine performed her song “The Crab at the Center of Uranus” while dressed as a lobster. (This is not the woman in the picture, but may have inspired the costume).
The Boudoir Queen is undoubtedly the model. She wore many outrageous costumes with Steven and is the one to ask. Here is a quote from a post on that particular image from her blog.
“You haven’t lived until you have posed with a lobster on you’re head.”
What year was the lobster head created?
The answer appears to be intertwined with Steven’s work with the Cockettes.
The Cockettes were a psychedelic drag queen troupe founded by Hibiscus in the late 1960s in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood. The troupe performed outrageous parodies of show tunes (or original tunes in the same vein) and gained an underground cult following that led to mainstream exposure. On New Years Eve, 31 December 1969, at the Palace Theatre in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood, Steven F. Arnold let the Cockettes perform as part of his “Nocturnal Dream Show”, a showcase of underground films, in exchange for free admission. The show soon became a “must-see” for San Francisco’s hip community.
The Cockettes … performed their final show in the summer of 1972, “Journey to the Center of Uranus”. At this time Divine, star of films by noted filmmaker John Waters, joined the group, thus making her San Francisco debut. In that show Divine performed her song “The Crab at the Center of Uranus” while dressed as a lobster. (This is not the woman in the picture, but may have inspired the costume).
The Boudoir Queen is undoubtedly the model. She wore many outrageous costumes with Steven and is the one to ask. Here is a quote from a post on that particular image from her blog.
“You haven’t lived until you have posed with a lobster on you’re head.”