Elvia Verdugo For three hours on the second Sunday of every month, The Century Room in downtown Tucson is a little more fabulous than usual.
Yager, a filmmaker and recent transplant from San Francisco, found himself looking for a project that would get him away from a computer screen and more involved in his new home’s LGBTQ+ community. In Palm Springs, there’s a cocktail bar called Oscar’s that hosts a Sunday “tea dance” which has been a popular tradition among the LGBTQ+ community since the 1950s. Yager thought a similar concept could be a good fit for Tucson.
“Hotel Congress is a kind of a cultural hub of downtown and Tucson in general,” Hoffman said. “It's always been super accepting of LGBTQIA allies since way back and it's always been a home for me. I've been going there since I was a freshman in college, so I have a long history with it. And it's been interesting to see it grow and become what it is. And it just felt like a perfect fit.
Following his introduction, the evening’s musicians begin filling the room with catchy, soft jazz tunes. Past musicians include Khris Dodge, the music director of the Tucson Pops Orchestra, Sarah Tolar, Dylan Dominguez and Greg Stickroth. When coming up with the name for Fruit Cocktail Lounge, Yager and Hoffman knew they wanted to take a term that could be considered derogatory, such as fruity or queer, and give it a new meaning.