Episode 363: Corey Payette

Filmmaker Corey Payette swings by the YVR Screen Scene Podcast to talk about Starwalker, his critically acclaimed movie musical about drag queens in East Vancouver. Starwalker is the story of Star, an Indigi-Queer Two-Spirit call boy, who becomes entranced by the House of Borealis, a popular drag house in East Van. Blending drag performance with their grounded cultural spirit, a new, powerful persona emerges on stage: Starwalker. Corey – a renowned writer, lyricist, composer, producer, interdisciplinary storyteller, and director in theatre and film – is the force behind the critically acclaimed stage musical Children of God, about the echoes of residential schools. On the film front, he directed film festival favourites Stories That Transform Us, Guide My Way, and Les Filles du Roi.Corey’s next stage project is On Native Land, and it has its world premiere in April at the York Theatre – but not before Starwalker screens seven times in Vancouver at the Vancity Culture Lab. Corey’s work is searing, life-affirming, and abundant with soul-stirring indigeneity and what the Hollywood Reporter once described as “joyful rebellion.” In this wonderfully entertaining episode, Corey and avowed “musical theatre girlie” Sabrina riff on joyful rebellion, musical theatre as a vehicle for social change, their admiration for previous podcast guest Andrea Menard, and all things Starwalker.Episode sponsor: Fish Flight Entertainment