Jefferson Bougie

It's New Orleans: Out to Lunch

In New Orleans we pride ourselves on our extensive array of live entertainment.

According to music media company, Off Beat, and tourist authority New Orleans & Company, on any given night we have, on average, 100 places to hear live music. If New York City had the same per capita number of live music venues, they’d have 800. In fact, they have 1,100.

Ok, so we’re not beating New York, but we’re in the same ballpark, and that’s impressive for a medium-size city.

How about live theater? If, per capita, we had as many options to go see a play in New Orleans as they do in New York, we’d have 142 live theater stages. In fact, we have fewer than 20.

So, what’s up with that? In a city whose Mardi Gras parades are among the biggest live street theater events in the world, why do we have so little traditional theater? Rob DeViney might be able to shed some light on that question. Rob is Executive Director of Jefferson Performing Arts.

In New Orleans there’s a long-running intersection of theater and business – in the person of larger-than-life characters who own or represent businesses. Folks like, Al Scramuzza from Seafood City. The Special Man from Frankie & Johnnie’s Furniture. Restaurateurs Paul Prudhomme and Emeril Lagasse. Ronnie Lamarque the crooning car salesman. Al Copeland. Chris Owens. Morris Bart.

The list goes on. The newest addition to it, is Bougie Man Bourgeois. The Bougie Man is an import from Cajun country where he developed his meat product, Bougie Bologna.

Unlike other bologna, which is apparently made from the cuts of meat discarded from traditional butchering, Bougie Bologna is made from 100% pork shoulder. The slogan summarizing this differentiation was originally, “Butthole free.” Apparently, the USDA frowned on that, so now Bougie Bologna is described somewhat more prosaically as, “no mystery meat or byproducts.”

The Bougie Man is the alter ego of Ross Brown, who is also the creator of Bougie Bologna.

In New Orleans business, like the rest of New Orleans, we’re no strangers to contradiction. The same local companies will sponsor the health-driven Crescent City Classic road race, and the Red Dress Run, an athletic event that’s also an alcohol-fueled celebration of cross-dressing.

We don’t think it’s unusual for a CEO of a serious business to also be an active member of a seriously fun-centric Mardi Gras krewe.

A great deal of our city’s revenue comes from tourists who come here to party. But we’re also on reputable entrepreneurial lists as one of the best cities to start a business.

In this New Orleans tradition of occupational antithesis, Rob and Ross are great representatives of both the business of theater, and the theater of business.

Out to Lunch was recorded live over lunch at Columns in Uptown New Orleans. You can find photos from this show by Jill Lafleur at itsneworleans.com.

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