Partner Joe Cino
Queer Places:
Cafe Cino, 31 Carmine St., 10014, NYC, NY, USA
Joe
Cino relied heavily on lighting designer John P. Dodd, who lit the stage using
electricity stolen from the city grid by Joe Cino’s lover, electrician Jon
Torrey (April 2, 1942 - January 5, 1967). The space made for intimacy between the performers and audience, with
little room for typical fourth-wall illusionary theatre. Cino decorated the
café with fairy lights, mobiles, glitter dust, and Chinese lanterns, and he
covered the walls with memorabilia and personal effects.
Cino eventually became addicted to amphetamines as he struggled to keep up
the pace that Caffé Cino demanded from him. On January 5, 1967, Jon Torrey was
electrocuted and died in Jaffrey, New Hampshire. Though his death was ruled
accidental, skeptical insiders claimed that he committed suicide. The event
sent Cino into a depressive spiral. He began socializing with members from
Andy Warhol’s Factory (attracted by the success of "Dames"), including the
notorious Pope Ondine (a.k.a. Bob Olivio), with whom Cino did a great deal of
drugs. Caffe Cino itself was beginning to suffer. The Caffe Cino, as a
commercial enterprise, was ineligible for the government grants which had
allowed other experimental theatres to prosper, and Joe refused to charge an
admission or even a minimum.
On March 30, 1967, Cino hacked his arms
and stomach with a kitchen knife. He was rushed to the hospital, where doctors
announced that he would live. However, on April 2, Jon Torrey’s birthday, Joe
Cino died. Though friends tried to keep Caffe Cino open, it closed in 1968,
finally falling victim to cabaret laws now being strictly enforced by the
young, ambitious councilman, Ed Koch.
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