Location: First floor, 57a Victoria Street, Wellington View on Map
The Balcony was operated by Carmen Rupe. It was located on the first floor of the Stellin Building located on the corner of Victoria and Harris Street (now a corner of Wellington City Public Library). It ran from 1969-1977. The venue use to be home to the famous Roseland Cabaret - with its large ballroom floor. On the ground floor, there used to be the Mexicali and Powder Puff.
In: Events
Always Here
Kerryn Pollock, senior advisor at Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, the country's national historic heritage agency, talks about the Rainbow List Project. The project...
Published: August 2022
In: Carmen Rupe
Carmen (documentary)
A television documentary about Carmen, produced in 1989.
Published: 1989
In: Carmen Rupe
Carmen Rupe interview (1975)
Carmen Rupe is interviewed by 2ZM night host David Mahoney on 22 November 1975. The recording is part of the Radio New Zealand collection...
Published: November 1975
In: Carmen Rupe
Carmen Rupe interview (1991)
Jack Body interviews Carmen Rupe about her life. The recording was made at Carmen's apartment in Kings Cross, Sydney in 1991. A special...
Published: January 1991
In: Carmen Rupe
Carmen Rupe memorial, Auckland
Audio from the memorial to Carmen held at St Matthew-in-the-City, Auckland. A special thank you to the Mika Haka Foundation and the New...
Published: February 2012
In: Carmen Rupe
Carmen Rupe memorial, Wellington
Audio from the memorial to Carmen held at Scotty and Mal's Cocktail and Lounge Bar. 0:00:12 - Malcolm Kennedy-Vaughan
0:05:45 - Grant Robertson
0:10:40 - Georgina...
Published: January 2012
In: People
Dana de Milo
Dana talks about her early life. Dana also did another interview about working with Carmen. Dana passed away on 12 February 2018...
Published: December 2012
In: Carmen Rupe
Dana de Milo on Carmen Rupe
Dana talks about her friendship with Carmen, working at The Balcony and sex work in the 1970s. Dana has also done another interview about...
Published: December 2012
In: People
Denny Moran
Denny Moran talks about the gay scene in Wellington in the 1970s - including Carmen and various beats...
Published: November 2010
In: Relationships
Des Smith and John Jolliff
Des and John talk about their early lives, their relationship, homosexual law reform, the beginnings of HUG (Wellington), the Gay and Lesbian and Fair...
Published: February 2013
In: Georgina Beyer
Georgina Beyer
Georgina reflects on her childhood, various careers and time in public office. Georgina has also recorded interviews about
significant legislation (prostitution reform, civil unions and...
Published: January 2013
In: Georgina Beyer
Georgina Beyer - places and personalities
Georgina remembers some of the clubs, venues and personalities in Wellington from the mid-1970s and her time in Auckland in the 1980s. Georgina has...
Published: January 2013
In: Carmen Rupe
Jack Body - Carmen
Jack talks about writing Songs and Dances of Desire - a work inspired by Carmen Rupe and Georges Bizet's opera Carmen. The work...
Published: November 2012
In: People
Jacquie Grant ONZM
Jacquie Grant talks about teenage years in Sydney, her time in Wellington in the 1960s and 1970s and her friendships with Carmen Rupe and...
Published: September 2022
In: John Jakeman
John Jakeman profile
John Jakeman talks about growing up in Wellington in the 1950s, working at the Royal Oak tavern in the 1970s, police persecution, homosexual law...
Published: May 2017
In: People
Kevin
Kevin talks about growing up in the 1960s, friendship with Carmen Rupe and the LGBTI rainbow scene in Wellington in the 1970s and later...
Published: November 2021
In: Carmen Rupe
Launch of Carmens traffic light
Audio from the launch of Carmen's traffic light, which can be seen on the corner of Ghuznee and Cuba Streets, Wellington. A special...
Published: August 2016
In: Malcolm Vaughan
Malcolm Vaughan profile part 2
Malcolm Vaughan remembers people and venues relating to Wellington's rainbow communities over the last four decades. This is part two of a longer interview...
Published: January 2022
In: Poutokomanawa: The Carmen Rupe Generation
Poutokomanawa interviews
Interviews with people at the opening of the exhibition Poutokomanawa: The Carmen Rupe Generation. The exhibition runs from 20 September - 15 December...
Published: September 2019
In: Poutokomanawa: The Carmen Rupe Generation
Poutokomanawa storytelling
As part of the exhibition Poutokomanawa: The Carmen Rupe Generation, community members came together to recount stories of people, places and events in Wellington...
Published: October 2019
In: Carmen Rupe
Remembering Carmen Rupe
Audio from people remembering Carmen after the powhiri gifting of her taonga (cultural treasures) to Te Papa - Museum of New Zealand on 1...
Published: November 2013
In: Events
Remembering the Evergreen and Chrissy Witoko
The Evergreen Coffee House was a haven for the LGBTQIA+ community in the 1980s and 1990s in Wellington. Established by Chrissy Witoko, it still...
Published: July 2022
In: People
Sue Alexander - Lesbian clipping collection
Sue Alexander talks about her lesbian clippings collections that spans over forty years. The interview was recorded at LILAC, Wellington's lending library for...
Published: November 2024
In: Locations - Wellington waterfront walk tour
The Balcony
We begin the walk tour at Carmen Rupe's Le Balcon - a cabaret nightclub on the corner of Harris and Victoria Streets. Today The...
Published: January 2016
In: Georgina Beyer
The Life and Times of Georgina Beyer
Audio from the memorial event for Georgina Beyer (Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Mutunga, Ngāti Raukawa, and Ngāti Porou), held at the Embassy Theatre in...
Published: July 2023
In: Carmen Rupe
Trevor Morley - Wellington Vice Squad
Trevor Morley talks about working on the Vice Squad in Wellington in the 1970s; including cases involving Carmen Rupe, the movie Deep Throat and...
Published: April 2012