New Orleans, 1914.
Lulu White sits at the heart of Storyville, the legendary vice district, a self-made queen who enraptured the city’s powerful and clawed her way through its violent underworld, despite being Black. She’s bold, she’s sexy, and she’s rich, her Mahogany Hall is a notorious bacchanal for the city’s white elites hungry to satisfy their antebellum fantasies. 

But there’s talk of closing Storyville. Jazzmen are taking their new music to Chicago and the pressure from moral crusaders is intensifying. What’s a queen to do? 

One night, she meets Charles Frohman, famous theatre producer, who declares: “Hollywood is the future!” Under her spell, he sees Lulu’s story as his ticket into the movies: 

PLANTATION GIRL DREAMS OF BECOMING SOMEBODY AND MAKES HER WAY TO HIGH SOCIETY THROUGH THE BACK DOOR. 

With her world under threat, Lulu turns on the charm yet again: while other Madams are scrambling to find their exit plan, Lulu bets on a second life as a Hollywood star. That’s where we open. 

Script & Research: Nathalie Rech
Art: Stephanie Cox