Pix - Leather & Lace Night @ CUBE, Canberra. (22/06/07)

Charisma (Platinum hair), Ru (Short Blonde) and I (middle of course!) wore black leather for mingling..


We then wore lace for the shows which, strangely, happened to all be in red/pink colours!



Eerily, we did not mention to each other what we were wearing prior to arrival in Canberra..

It could have been a coincidence..

But we agree that the most likely explanation, is that we all are on the same menstrual cycle..

How Gay!

Leather & Lace Night @ CUBE, Canberra

I have been to Canberra once before, about 7 years ago, so I had a rough idea of the city layout. But 7 years on, things were a bit fuzzy in my mind - partly because of all the hairspray fumes I have breathed in since then...

My boyfriend was to drive us down to Canberra for our Friday night gig in a Tarago-styled car, but had work come in over the weekend at the last minute, so we three drag queens decided to jump a bus for the A.C.T!

(Yes, yes - very Priscilla of us I know! Well, Priscilla minus the bus breaking down and the hot heat of the outback - but 3 drags on a bus to a interstate gig nonetheless..)

We did have a ball on the coach though, giggling as Ru fell asleep (dribbling onto her chest! LOL), sharing so many sugar-filled lollies,Tim-Tams and drinks. It was our own little party on the bus! We did have some quiet time at one stage within our sugar-filled high - Charisma reading her gossip mags, Nanna-Ru sleeping and me reading my book "The God Delusion" (Yes I know I have had that book since Xmas! What can I say? I'm not much of a reader!).

Before heading down for our gig at Cube Nightclub, I refreshed my memory of our nation's capital on Google Earth. It's an amazingly designed city - you should jump online and check it out (or go in person!).

The bus trip (only 3 hours) went so quickly for us - a fast bus trip is always a good thing! Before we knew it we were right in the heart of Canberra, delivered right from the heart of Sydney!

The PR/Events manager at the club, Candice, picked us up at the terminal and took us straight to the nightclub to drop off the show costumes and props and to show us the stage, backstage area and club in general.

Cube is such a great venue! It has a sunken dancefloor with different levels to dance on , which is something I always love. A hot addition to the dancefloor was the poles - obviously installed for those who need to test out how sexy your trade can move before you take him/her home! There are some lounge/beds with personal stylish lockers for your valuables on the sides - and an amazing floor near the toilets that reflects rainbow colours! Very cool! In fact there are so many little things in the club's setup that's sensible and stylish - the kind of things that makes a place and give it it's own character.

Now the VIP room, which was our exclusive dressing room for the evening, had comfy couches and a big long aquarium along one wall - gorgeous! It was so secure, we needed swipe passes to come in and out the door, of which of course all three of us were issued with. (We don't get that security in Sydney!)

Candice did an amazing job with our poster, blowing it up to an enormous size and putting it up on prominent display. I even got my name scrolled on an electric billboard in the club! It was all incredibly humbling, but at the same time quite camp! Big pictures/advertisements of us.. my name finally in lights! LOL

After meeting the owner/manager of the club, Morris, and some more of the staff setting up the club for the night, we headed off to the hotel suite we were booked in to. It was nice and close, just 2-3 blocks away..

Candice dropped us of in a gorgeous and spacious 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom suite with a large balcony.. What I couldn't believe was it was all ours! We were being looked after so well!

We ducked out for a quick bite to eat back at Petrie Plaza, then headed home to have a short rehearsal and to take our time getting ready for our 10:30pm arrival at the club.

Morris collected us personally at 10:15pm, taking us straight to the VIP room in the club. We went out to mingle right away, and were met by a friendly crowd who were eager to see our show. Shortly we went back to the VIP room to find 3 large cocktails waiting for us on the glass table! We were certainly being spoilt!

We performed our 3 spot numbers to a very responsive crowd! Charisma performed "Boogie 2nite", Ru sung live "Dancing in the Street", and I closed with "I Will Survive". (I accidentally wrote "I Will Survice" on the CD after I burnt it on my laptop at the hotel - damn Ru Bella was asking about room service at the time! LOL)

After another quick mingle, we were backstage getting ready for the main show, my award winning production, Rough Trade Hers. With Candice's girlfriend Lucy helping us change cossies, we performed the show without any hitches. The crowd loved the show. We took our bows (I sprayed water on the crowd when I did! *giggle*) and headed backstage to quickly pack our show up into our bags.

With the packing done, Charisma and I changed back into our boy clothes while Ru stayed as a girl. We settled in to a fun night chatting and dancing with the patrons and staff of Cube.. That went on til the not-so-wee hours of the morning! We made it back to our hotel suite by about 7/7:30am where the girls decided to stay up until the bus trip home at 10:30am. Needless to say, mindless chatter filled the suite.

After a shower and a fresh change of clothes, I walked the girls to the Terminal just up the road and sent them on their way back to Sydney. From there, I stayed in Canberra and met one of my dear friends Nik, who took me back to his place to do a photo shoot. In the end we didn't do the shoot though, as we got chatting about old times and playing dress-ups in some costumes that we ran out of time. It was good to catch up with him and to meet his sweet boyfriend though! (He later so very generously gave me the costumes to take home - thanks so much Nik!).

Now time in Canberra must be about 5 times as fast as it runs in Sydney, cos every time I looked at the clock throughout the trip, hours had gone by in what I felt was minutes! Before we knew it, we only had a short time to get me to the Bus Terminal for the trip home! So we sped back into the city to arrive just in time for me to board the bus for the 4 hour trip back to Sydney (The bus stopped at Liverpool and the Sydney Domestic & International Airports this time which took an hour longer! Yuk!)

It was an awesome trip to Canberra, and seriously one of the best gigs I have ever done.

My thanks to our Sydney contact, Penny, for asking us to head down to the club, to Morris - the best owner/manager of a nightclub ever! Thanks for treating us like celebrities!, to Candice - for your hard work advertising us at the club and for looking after us at all points in the day & night, to Lucy - for helping us with costume changes and for also looking after us, and of course to the other staff and patrons at Cube for a fun-filled night and a warm welcome to the VERY COLD city of Canberra!

A Week Reminded of "Respect"

The last week or so has all revolved around the word "Respect". It has entered my life in a number of ways...

Firstly, RESPECT to my former employer, Dawn O'Donnell who passed away on the Queen's Birthday long weekend . She was the owner of the Newtown Hotel back when I started my first ever weekly production show gig back in January 2001. I only met her a few times while working there, but she was always so supportive of me - she said many times that I was doing a fabulous job for her Hotel.. The memorial service was held at St Canice's Church in Elizabeth Bay on Friday. It was an emotional experience, as such events inherently are, but with the various key speakers from different parts in her life, there was a lot of crying, not-to-mention much laughter in the air as well! She lived a dynamic life, and took many people along for the ride - including our community here in Sydney. As Mitzi MacIntosh said in her speech - "When we wanted to come out of the closet, Dawn gave us somewhere to go".. Well said.

Secondly, RESPECT to the Dalai Lama who gave a wonderful talk to a small and wet gathering of people in the domain on Friday. Heading straight there after Dawn's memorial service was a strange experience, but we had other things to worry about once we got there - the rain! We managed a spot on the lawn relatively close to the stage, but when the Dalai Lama arrived were surrounded by people standing up. Needless to say this little drag queen didn't see anything at all, but I did hear much of his talk. It was interesting to hear him speak about the environment and war/peace, and on the way home, I informed the boyfriend we should go hear him speak in his 3-4 day conference (usually in Melbourne?) next time he visits Australia to get an even broader understanding of his considerable learning.

Thirdly, RESPECT for the environment. Whether global warming, or whether just freak storms or 30 year floods, the damage, loss of life and pain suffered by the wild weather of the last week on the NSW coast is a reminder we should be RESPECTING Mother Nature just that little bit more..

Lastly, RESPECT to my friends (and the general community) on the Central Coast and Hunter Valley. My thoughts were with my friends up on the Central Coast, who continued to experience wild weather again this weekend. I was asked to perform at Krave Friday night and was nervous about how the community would feel. Everyone had a story to tell, but what came across the most was the strong spirit and determination of the individuals and the community as a whole. My admiration to them all..

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Just a reminder that anyone in Canberra this coming Friday 22nd June, CUBE has their own "Leather & Lace Night"! Make sure you come dressed up! Charisma Belle, Ru Bella and I will be there performing our show "Rough Trade - Hers" there, not to mention checking out the punters and their costumes! Make sure you pop in and say "Hi" and support the Premier Canberra G&L Nightclub. See you there!

Birthday time..

Today is a short entry as it is my boyfriend's birthday.

As with all partners of performers such as myself, they are a massive support - in every way!

And with that in mind - I won't spend anymore time than I already have on this today, rather I'm leaving all my time for celebrating my man's birthday how he wants..

I hope you have/had a wonderful Queen's Birthday Long Weekend.. (bit sad we don't celebrate it on the old duck's actual birthday... but then I'm a Aussie Republican - so do I really care? No.)

Til next week..

Be safe..

Luv Shelley
xxx

On the road again!

Last Friday night, I had the pleasure of returning to Krave.

Krave recently has moved to Gosford on a Friday night and had asked me back again this last week. What I like about Krave is the gay and lesbian patrons mixing with gay-friendly straights to make a wonderful atmosphere. None of the Peel Hotel stuff from Melbourne up there!

Always responsive and friendly, it's great to catch up with friends I have made on the Central Coast over the years I have been working there.

The big thing I love about Krave is the the "Kravey Bunch". The Krave committee, is a small group of volunteers - yes volunteers! - who organise the night known as Krave, to run in a regular nightclub every 1st and 3rd Friday of the month. They have become my good friends, and that is certainly part of the reason I love performing there too!

They have a great security force, who are of course gay-friendly. And yes, I can prove it too! I have footage of me "integrating" the nice muscly security man on the side of stage into my show.. He was happy to oblige!

Since Krave's move from The Entrance to Gosford, there is even more reason to grab some friends and head northwards on the 1 hr trip to Gosford.. If for no other reason than the cute Central Coast boys and girls!

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On the topic of road-trips, Charisma Belle, Ru Bella and myself are heading down to Cube Nightclub in Canberra for their Leather and Lace night, Friday 22nd June. The three of us are looking forward to the patrons dressing up.. (yum!)

We are performing our award winning show "Rough Trade Hers" to the crowd and can't wait to check out our nation's capital over the weekend!

If only we were allowed to climb (in drag no less!) the grassy slopes of the New Parliament House.. How camp would that be! Well I'm sure there is other mischief to be had there, so no doubt there will be stories to tell when we get back! I will try to take pix the whole time for the blog! Nothing too incriminating of course - at least not of me!

Until next Sunday, stay safe..

Luv Shelley
xxx