Play Explores Impact Of Julio Rivera's Murder In Jackson Heights

JACKSON HEIGHTS, QUEENS — The brutal murder of a 29-year-old gay man in a Jackson Heights school yard sent shockwaves through Queens's LGBTQ communities nearly 30 years ago as police tried to write it off as a drug deal gone wrong.

Julio Rivera's death in 1990 formed the building block for the Queens Pride Parade and Festival, which each year passes by the street corner at 78th Street and 37th Avenue now named in his honor. It became the subject of a documentary, "Julio of Jackson Heights," in 2016.

Now it's the inspiration for a new play, "Julio Down By The School Yard," that explores the aftermath of the violent attack and its impact on the queer communities of Queens — with a fantastical twist.

Playwright J. Julian Christopher, who is Puerto Rican and Dominican and identifies as queer, said he wanted to address the question of how marginalized communities cope with grief and use it as an impetus to mobilize.

"I don't believe in theatrical trauma porn," Christopher said. "I don't think we as a queer community and Queens community need to relive it, those of us who remember it from 1990."

Christopher, who teaches theater at Queensborough Community College in Bayside, developed the play using the LGBTQ archives at LaGuardia Community College. He also collaborated with UNIT52, a training company by the Latino theater company INTAR, to celebrate WorldPride.

The play's protagonist, J. Heights, is inspired by Jackson Heights LGBT icon Ms. Colombia, who was found dead last year.

"I hope that the play inspires people to be their authentic selves," Christopher said. "I hope it also inspires people to take action and form their own mobilization to fight injustice."

The Kew Gardens resident's next project, "Ronald Reagan Murdered My Mentors," will focus on the generation of LGBTQ individuals wiped out by the AIDS epidemic, which Christopher said left the next generation with a dearth of mentors in the queer community.

"Julio Down By The School Yard" runs from June 27 to June 29 at INTAR's Theatre, 500 West 52nd St. at Tenth Avenue, on the fourth floor. Tickets cost $10 and are available for purchase at INTARtheatre.org.