You may not remember “The Puppy Episode,” but you know who Ellen DeGeneres is. You’re familiar with Michelangelo’s sculpture of perfect human form, David. You probably know playwright Oscar Wilde was sentenced to hard labor for sodomy. But who is Sylvia Rivera?

As with many icons, the stories about Rivera have a mythic quality. According to Stonewall legend, the 17-year-old Puerto Rican drag queen sparked the gay revolution in 1969 at that infamous New York bar by throwing a high-heeled shoe. Or was it a beer bottle? It might’ve been a Molotov cocktail.

Gay Latino entertainer Jade Esteban Estrada may not set the record straight on what precisely Rivera hurled at cops that night, but he will shed light on the critical role she played in queer activism, in Icons: The Lesbian and Gay History of the World, Vol. 1. Estrada, no stranger to the city – he was a headline performer at San Diego Pride 2003 and has family here – will perform his one-man, six-character show at The Real Theater on Adams, Feb. 16-20.

The 29-year-old Texas native will channel gay and lesbian icons Rivera, DeGeneres, Michelangelo and Wilde along with classical poet Sappho and feminist writer Gertrude Stein in a show that is part history lesson, part entertainment and part politics.

“I first wanted to do something Latino and gay,” Estrada said in a recent phone interview from Texas, “but after a while, I started to realize that the larger story had not been told yet – particularly not in this way. And that’s how [Icons] came to be.”

Estrada’s own story encompasses a wide range of performing arts, including, in the early days, a stint as go-go boy. He studied at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York on a scholarship, and paid the bills as a choreographer while performing standup comedy, singing, dancing, acting and writing. He spent some time as choreographer and lead dancer for “cuchi-cuchi” girl Charo. In 1997 Estrada debuted his one-man show, It’s Too Late... It’s Already in Me, and a year later he released the hit single, “Reggae Twist.” In 2000 he released his debut album, Angel, on his own Vicarious Records label. He has performed on the global beauty pageant circuit as well as Pride festivals worldwide, and he regularly appears on Comedy Central’s “The Graham Norton Effect.”

For Icons, the multifaceted performer showcases all his talents. Michelangelo sings. Oscar Wilde does vaudeville. Sappho sings pop music like Britney Spears, while Gertrude Stein is more operatic. Ellen is, well, Ellen. In addition to writing and performing the piece, Estrada composed the music and wrote the lyrics.

“I believe nothing you do in life is ever wasted,” said Estrada. “This show is a good example of that. I’m glad that I did standup. I’ve been a serious actor. I’ve been a comedic actor. I’m glad that I won a couple of crowns as a drag queen back in the day, that I’ve played women on stage. I’m glad that I’ve done Pride, because I understand a gay sensibility within entertainment – they’re a tough crowd. Everything I’ve ever done, I can tell you how I use it in the show.”

Estrada has also long been a history buff. If he hadn’t become an entertainer, he said he probably would have become a history professor. “I love history, I love the study of man, and I love para conociendo – recognizing the same kind of mistakes that have been made throughout generations,” he said.

Estrada stresses the importance of history in understanding and taking pride in one’s identity. Once embarrassed to speak Spanish, Estrada said he’s just now beginning to understand his own Spanish and indigenous Latin American heritage. “I’m learning about how I fit into the melting pot of the United States and as a citizen of the world, because I’m learning to appreciate where I come from,” he said.

He has the same perspective on the GLBT community. To understand its identity and map out a future, he said, its members must understand the history of the community’s struggles and triumphs.

Still, Estrada said Icons isn’t so much about gay identity as it is about humanity, diversity and finding balance in our lives. Without personal and social balance, he said, we’re left with disharmonious pieces – power struggles, war, poverty. Each character in the show has his or her own way of expressing equality. Gertrude Stein delivers the line: “Don’t get caught up in this gay activism; we’re all in this together. It’s not a gay thing, it’s a human thing.”

That’s also pretty much Estrada’s thematic take on the show. “Gertrude Stein was a lesbian,” he said, “but she did not write for this particular demographic. She wrote for everyone. She said, ‘Everyone experiences love, and I wrote about that. Everyone experiences pain and isolation. I wrote about that. Everyone can smell rose and get the same pleasure.’ I think I love playing Gertrude partly because she and I think alike.”

“My show is for everyone,” he continued. “Gay, straight, old, young, black, white. It’s a reaffirmation that the more you look at people’s differences, the more you realize that we’re all the same.”

Estrada whittled a list of potential icons from 17 down to six, and then realized queer history was too expansive for just one show. Estrada will be back in San Diego in 2006 with volume 2 of Icons, covering Alexander the Great, Queen Christina of Sweden, Susan B. Anthony, Billy Jean King, Harvey Milk and Sept. 11, 2001, hero Mark Bingham. And he’s already got volume 3 in the works, though he wouldn’t reveal which icons might be featured in it.

Estrada has performed volume 1 across the country, and will take it international in the summer. The show will also be adapted for film later this year. In the meantime, Estrada said he’s incapable of getting bored with the interactive show. Each night he gets to meet a host of diverse people, venturing into the crowd to chat with audience members about their own heroes and icons.

“One thing I have learned in my travels is that Republicans are not always wrong, and Democrats are not always right. The initial theme of the show – one thing I will stand by – it’s about balance,” said Estrada. “We can live together. We don’t always have to agree, but we can live together with a wee bit of understanding.”

The Real Theater on Adams is located at 2804 Adams Ave. Showtimes are Wednesday and Thursday at 8:00 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8:00 and 10:30 p.m., and Sunday at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $15. For more information call (619) 584-3593 or visit www.gaylesbiantimes.com for a link to their website.