The GDB

Who's your GDQ?

The theater has been a home for goddesses and queens for centuries. They have shone all around the recital halls and opera stages of the world. They inspire us, uplift us, comfort us, transport us.

But we bet you knew a GDQ or two before you ever fell in love with a diva, or were blown away by the work of a powerful creator. They spotted your talent, made space for your voice, nurtured your progress, demanded more than you knew you possessed. They ran the music and theater programs at your school, they were in charge of the church choir, they kept the community theater going. They created magic on a shoestring, and you were none the wiser.

They picked up extra shifts to pay for your lessons, skimped on sleep to sew your costumes, drove you to solo and ensemble and held your hand while you waited for the results. Some are strangers you’ll never meet who left the dedicated funds, wrote the grant applications, sat on the board. They got you to that bigger stage, whether you stood on it in triumph or sat rapt in the auditorium.

The work they did wasn’t conducive to crown-wearing, so you might have thought they didn’t have one...that they weren’t queens.

Thank god for all the royalty shining on our biggest stages, showing the wide world in a big way what is possible through music and theater. But all those women along the way are queens as well.

G*dd*mn Queens. Now you know.

And now, GDQ Arts enters and takes its bow. We are here for the GDQs of America in every way, and we want you to join us.

What are we doing? Glad you asked. It’s a couple of simple things.

- We believe in the power of the glorious human voice to transport us in its musical storytelling. We support and make that kind of performance.

- We see that the health of our arts ecosystem is in trouble and needs help, and that starts at the GDQ level. We support and foster connections at the local level, not only within the arts community but from that community outward.

- While we realize women are totally capable of being muses (surely we have captivated you, for example), we’re tired of waiting for an abundance of stories on our stages that center women and the full range of their experiences. We’re making those stories.

You’ll be hearing a lot about our first project, INTERSTATE, in the coming weeks - and yes, it does all that. More’s in store.

So hi, nice to meet you. Follow us, discover what we’re about, and support us. What inspiration might occur if, together, we lifted up all of those stories?

Tell us about your GDQs. Send us a picture. We would love to tell your story too.

See you next week. We promise to explain the apple.

Or you can email us here