\n<\/p>\n
At first, Mr. Jorden distributed copies of the zine at the Tower Records store near Lincoln Center and at the Met \u2014 tucking them into brochures in racks in the lobby and leaving them in bathroom stalls. On one occasion, caught stuffing the racks before a performance of \u201cSalome,\u201d he was ejected from the theater by security guards.<\/p>\n
That pugnacious, underground spirit fit the era. \u201cIt was a very activist time in the gay community, in terms of fighting back against AIDS,\u201d Richard Lynn, a longtime contributor, told The New York Times in 2018. \u201cAnd I view Parterre Box as part of that bigger cultural trend. It wasn\u2019t afraid to be in your face or confrontational or angry. I felt it was therapeutic.\u201d<\/p>\n
James Glenn Jorden was born on Aug. 6, 1954, in Opelousas, La. His father, Billy Wayne Jorden, worked for the Louisiana State Highway Department, and his mother, Glenora (Jory) Jorden, was a high school teacher as well as a local theater director and actress. (He is survived by two brothers, John and Justin Jorden.)<\/p>\n
Mr. Jorden got his start in opera modestly, costuming a production of Gilbert and Sullivan\u2019s \u201cH.M.S. Pinafore\u201d when he was in a gifted-and-talented program in his teens; his co-designer was a young Tony Kushner. After Mr. Jorden\u2019s mother grew tired of his constantly playing his recording of \u201cPinafore,\u201d she bought him \u201cCarmen,\u201d and his obsession turned to opera in general.<\/p>\n
In 1976, while attending Louisiana State University, he hitchhiked to Dallas<\/a> to hear the Met on tour and saw the soprano Renata Scotto<\/a> in the three leading roles of Puccini\u2019s triptych \u201cIl Trittico.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat turned me around,\u201d Mr. Jorden said in the 2009 interview. \u201cI saw what the possibility was. And I actually choose that date as the birthday of La Cieca\u201d \u2014 his draggy Parterre Box alter ego, named after the blind mother in Ponchielli\u2019s \u201cLa Gioconda.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n