HELL-BENT FOR LEATHER

HELL-BENT FOR LEATHER

(An Existential Crisis in C Minor):

Performed by Michael Pacas, with Pianist, Joel Baker

(Mature Themes and Language / No Pearl Clutching)

HELL-BENT FOR LEATHER isn’t a campy romp in choir robes and chaps—it’s a visceral excavation of growing up queer in the Southern Baptist church. Scripture as weapon. Music, humor, and leather as armor. Beneath the bawdy laughter lies a story of confronting shame, surviving trauma, and reclaiming queer identity with defiance, wit, and Sondheim.

This is exorcism meets celebration: proof that queer souls forged in fire can turn survival into art, pain into play, and silence into showtunes—finding divinity on our own damn terms.

The set list is a curated blend of Broadway and Off-Broadway classics and hidden gems, alongside songs by theatre composers who also write beyond the stage (85%) – plus soul-stirring surprises from Eric Clapton and openly queer country-western singer/songwriter Adam Mac.