A Louche, Lush World
10.24.24
Why do I think of the difference between louche and lush whenever I think of vodou?
In this week’s episodes, we welcome back Broadway star Myra Lucretia Taylor, who played the New Orleans queen of vodou in our first season. That starts me looking back to my history with her character –
I have a special fondness for New Orleans. It was the first city I ever explored on my own, with no adult supervision. As a teenager I’d walk through the city and deliberately try to get lost so that I could see if I could find my way back to where I’d been. (Maybe not the best strategy in 1974!)
Through the city and through the Marvel Comics horror craze of the time, I was introduced to the historical figure of Marie LaVeau, known then as the so-called “voodoo queen” of New Orleans. (Elsewhere I will use “vodou,” which came up as a more accurate term in research I did for a Chadwick Boseman project which tragically never came to be.)
I kept thinking through the years about how to do a story centering on Miri LaVeau, whom I envisioned as a descendant of Marie with whom the past is catching up. I pitched the story as a possible project for Zoe Saldana to execs at Universal and Paramount.
In my Paramount-related pitch, I was describing a supporting character as a louche sort of guy. “Louche” is a word meaning “disreputable or sordid in a rakish or appealing way.” You’d describe John Constantine as louche, for example.
But before I’m continuing the pitch, one of the execs interrupts and says, “Lush.”
Ohhhh mannnn.
No. Louche is NOT lush. The character is not a lush (although I guess a lush could also be louche).
But I kinda knew the pitch was over at that point. I’m not slowing down the pitch to explain the word to this guy, nobody wants a vocab lesson in this moment. And also, if you think I don’t know how to properly pronounce “lush,” it’s not the hill you’d die on but you probably aren’t buying from me.
Ah, well. I figured that I’d find another home for Miri LaVeau.
And then came AGENT STOKER, and I realized that the Season One path I was charting for him across the southern US could take him right through New Orleans.
We were lucky to win the blessing of the phenomenal Myra Lucretia Taylor, who’s done everything from AMERICAN FICTION to TINA: THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL. Bringing Myra’s rich voice to the character defined Miri in ways that made words unnecessary.
My fantasy is that in the same way that old TV series had “backdoor pilots” where they’d launch a new series within an existing series, we might find further life for Miri’s character elsewhere, now that she’s been established in AGENT STOKER.
But for now, enjoy the return of one of the Stokerverse’s most charming characters in Episode 302 – and don’t miss the debut of the ghost of George Raft in Episode 303! And then I’ll see you back here next week for Halloween!