A CULTURAL HISTORY TOUR of SAN FRANCISCO'S SEX INDUSTRY


Sun., July 22, 11am - 2pm

Casting Call: Sex On Wheels



Sex on Wheels is a bicycle tour that traces the weird, wacky cultural
history of San Francisco's gold-diggin, ass- whuppin, shit-startin sex workers, all the way from the Gold Rush of 1848 to the present day.


This year's tour, co-presented by the Sex Worker‚s Film Festival and the SF
Bike Coalition, will feature live, costumed performers, in character, telling the stories of sex workers who lived, worked and kicked ass in various locations around SF. Think Colonial Williamsburg ˆ but with whores!


We are looking for loud, creative people to play the roles, and are especially interested in casting present and past sex workers.


Roles involve:
1. One on-location rehearsal
2. One performance (July 22 between 11am and 2pm)
4. Assembling and wearing a role-specific costume
5. Delivering a 5-10 minute monolog. You may either use a monolog we write
for you, or write your own, based on historical information that we will provide about your character.
We will try to fill all the roles at the meeting, but if you cannot make it
and would like a role, call to see if any roles are left.


Here are the roles available:
1. Margo St. James
Founder of prostitutes‚ rights advocacy group C.O.Y.O.T.E. (Call Off Your
Old, Tired Ethics) and namesake of the St. James Infirmary.
2. Diamond Jessie Hayman
Whore and, later, a rich madam, early 1900s. Jessie Alley is named for her.
3. Jean-Paul Marat
Young male hustler and leader of the Vanguard, queer youth group based in the Tenderloin, 1966-1970
5. Valerie Solanas
Street hooker, radical feminist philosopher. Worked the tenderloin in the late 1970s after shooting Andy Warhol in 1968.
6. Maiden Lane 'crib' workers
Extremely poor denizens of 1800s maiden lane "crib" brothels canvas covered stalls at street level.
Pre-1906, mostly Chinese women.
7. Abe Ruef
Corrupt political boss, had city hall shut down cribs, and then bought them up himself and reopened them in 1900.
8. Madame Moustache
1860's madam on Commercial St. Came to CA from France in 1854. Began Parlour House Circuit.
9. Ah Toy 1828-1914
Ballsy, beautiful and wildly successful Chinese prostitute of the gold-rush era. Once woke the entire population of Chinatown by chasing a thieving customer through the streets while banging on a gong; whupped his ass and got her jewelry back.
10. Chilean laundress-prostitutes
The first non-native women to arrive in SF, these Chilean women lived in tents on Telegraph hill, doing laundry by day and turning tricks by night.
11. Barbary Coast Drag King and/or Queen
Character who would have performed and worked at one of the bars like Mona's or Finocchios in the 1940s-60s.
13. Lusty Ladies
The only unionized exotic dancers in world and the only worker-owned cooperative sex- workers. Prefer current or former Lusties familiar with union or co-op formation.
14. Sally Stanford
Born 1903, died 1982. SF's last great madam 1930's to 40's. Became mayor of Sausalito in mid-70's. We would like to portray an older Sally telling the stories from her past as a madam.
15. Mary Ellen Pleasant
Voodoo practitioner, powerful business woman and ex-slave who ran the Western terminus of the underground railroad. Female ex-slaves worked in her brothel to gain financial independence.
16. The Mitchell Brothers
Jim and or Artie Mitchell started their porn kingdom in the 1970s. It was all fun and games until Jim shot and killed Artie in 1991. We would like them to be played by drag kings.

Contact: Jenny Worley at jgworley@usfca.edu