Pink Street: Live & Gay (Opening Night)

Well it was an eventful night for me last night, as I opened my new SINGING and dancing drag show - Pink Street: Live & Gay, at the Stonewall Hotel.

Yes that's right, I sang - and not too badly if I say so myself! Phew! I was very nervous though, so there were a few wrong notes, but I think I was, at very least, decent as a singing drag queen!

Adding the live singing element really made a difference to what the punters expect from a drag show. With a few of my shows now I have slowly added live elements, or pre-recorded vocals, sometimes with alternate lyrics (ie A Dummer Shade of Blonde & Murder She Mimed - The Musical) into the traditional mimed drag show format. For years now I have wanted to do a live show, but previously I have always chickened out of it... I'm very glad I stuck it out this time!

Even though we did do a tech. run earlier in the week, we started off with some technical difficulties - that being major feedback from the microphones, but we persisted through and the gremlins buggered off.

For the show, we have rewritten some of the lyrics to the songs "Keep It Gay" (The Producers - Musical), "I'm Super!" (South Park - Movie) and mixed together the songs "We Are Family" with "Express Yourself".

But even though it's obviously a VERY GAY show, with sets of completely pink costumes and a gay soundtrack, there is also a serious message behind it...

Oxford Street has, as we all know, been a vital part of our community. Lately there has been violence/abuse escalating from the mainly, drunk straight male crowds. This show has been my response to it.

As you can appreciate, it's a hard issue to tackle on the stage, let alone in a drag show, but judging from the feedback we have already received from last night, we managed to create a show that provokes some thought and was more than just a compilation of songs with some fab cossies. We have all created "compilation" shows before, but I like to have a storyline or some linear path to my shows - I think it's more satisfying for me and the people watching.

In any case, I like to challenge myself when creating and performing shows, and I'm lucky enough to be able to be the boss of all of the shows I perform in currently. It means I can create a team of performers, tailored to the show and the venue, plus surround myself with talented entertainers who I know like to extend themselves to do the best show possible.

I like to create a show that keeps the audience and the performers interested and I believe this show does just that!

I hope you get the chance to come along to Stonewall Hotel to watch our show. Shows are at 11pm and 12am, with Pink Street: Live and Gay at 1am. You can also click here for more details on any of my shows!

Now as always, there are people who helped me to make this show possible.. My thanks go out to...

Kirsten Damned - Your fabulous costumes really made an impact! You are incredible. Thank You! We look forward to our Xmas show cossies too!
Cleo Coupe - Your help creating the soundtrack has been absolutely invaluable. It was great to be able to work with you again. I love you heaps babe!
Vida Las Vegas - Even on the other side of the world, you still managed to be able to help me! Thank you again for sending me the "Keep It Gay" backing track all the way from jolly-old London! Mwah!
Mark - Thank you for helping with the script for the show. Your help was a God-send, as I don't see myself as a writer at all! Mwah!
Stonewall - All of the staff - especially Glen, Penny & Ken for their help and advice.
AVP/ACON - For your advice and support.
My partner - For your love and support. For what has been a long-time dream of mine, you have encouraged me all along the way... I love you deeply!!
Ru Bella & Morgan - Thank you for being the fabulous performers that you both are and for trusting me on creating a show from such a difficult concept. This show means so much to me and I thank you for helping to realize my dream.

My Brothers Wedding

Matthew and Jessie

My brother was wed to his high school sweetheart, Jessie, on Rememberance Day (11/11/06) this year.

My partner and pet dog (Icypole), made the trip to Perth, Western Australia for the ceremony in a beautiful Catholic church.


Of course I cried during the ceremony, seeing these two people that I have been together almost 10 years, finally getting married. Jessie has long been considered part of our family, and I guess the wedding is the offical welcome to our family. It was very special to see them both so happy..

I was asked to read the "Prayer of the Faithful", which I did with only one stumble. It was a wonderful honour to be asked to do so.

However, I am a little annoyed with myself.. A cuff-link was accidentally dropped on the floor just before "the kiss" and I leant over to tell my newphew to keep an eye on it... My bloody watch-out-for-the-earring-on-the-floor show instict kicked in and then I realised a moment later that I had missed "the kiss"! Damn it! I'll have to wait for the Wedding Video I guess..

Then it was off to the 3-4 hours of wedding photos planned.. It was a great day for a photo shoot outdoors.

In a white limo, we moved from from the church to the Supreme Court Gardens, then to a small Japanese park near Burswood (below) and another park in Guildford, before heading out to the Swan Valley wine region for the reception.


The brides and her maids were beautiful. Of course my neice, Paige (in pink) as the flower girl, was gorgeous! (Doesn't Jennifer (the blonde) look so much like Jennifer Hawkins???)

The reception on the whole was drama-free. As you can imagine, it's hard when you have family together, and drinking lots! I worked hard at trying to shield my brother Matt, and my now sister-in-law, Jessie, from any dramas - as of course the day was all about them and I wanted them to be as care-free and happy as possible!

It was a wonderful day and an amazing experience to be part of the official wedding party.

Doesn't my little dog Icypole look so adorable as part of the wedding party photo shoot!

It would be nice to see the day where gay people can also celebrate their relationships in a similar way.. I wait with anticipation..

Congratulations again to my brother and his bride. May you spend your lives in happiness together. After so many years going strong, I look forward to spending some of those important wedding anniversaries with you both!

Two films you should see...

I haven't talked about the enviroment for a while now, but considering all the discussions about climate change, water crisis' and droughts recently, it seems quite opportune to speak about it again now.

It has also been timely the release of two documentries, "The Inconvienient Truth" and "Who Killed The Electric Car?", and I've been to see them both.

As my partner says, these films would mainly be "preaching to the converted". Nonetheless, I think it is at least a reminder to we "converted" on how we should maintain a more enviromentally friendly lifestyle, and encourage others to do so too.

If you get some free time to watch a movie, why not go to the cinemas and watch these two films.

They will turn you green!

COMING SOON - New Stonewall Show..

It's been a long time coming (for me at least - 3 months off is too long!).. The return to Stonewall Hotel on Saturday nights!

We open a new show on Saturday 18th November, and there are going to be some big surprises - to say the very least!

The show is based on the current issues of anti-gay violence on Oxford St, and rather than concentrating on the negative part of this problem, we look at it from another angle, encouraging each other to watch out for one another, and to feel free to express ourselves how we like on our strip.

And express ourselves we certainly do! Come and see our celebration of gay-ness, in the publicly voted "Most Popular Venue" of 2006 (DIVA), the Stonewall Hotel.

I'm proud to introduce our new cast member, Morgan-David, as part of my group "The Bomshelles". With Morgan's background in Musical Theatre, he is a very talented male performer and will be bringing a touch of masculinity to our show - although some might say that Ru Bella or myself would be the most masculine!

Come along from the 18th November and decide for yourself!

Bust Op

Over the weekend the Sydney showgirl community lost one of our own..

I'm sure many you remember a fantastic performer, Bust Op. Even though I was not a close friend, it is of course sad to hear that such a unique and talented person left us so early in life.

He passed away on Friday evening at St Vincents Hospital after a long battle with cancer.

My thoughts are with his friends and family who are deeply grieving at this time.

Rest In Peace sweetheart..

My Humble Thanks...

26/10/2006 Sydney Star Observer


POCKET ROCKET

When Mr Mary's in Redfern opened a few months ago, the stage area seemed large and difficult to fill for the three performers I saw there.

Shelley Legs Diamond and her troupe have changed that. I saw their show last Saturday and have to commend them on their excellent choreography and precision performance.

They utilised all the space available and showed there's a huge difference between lip-synching to a show tune in a confined space and putting your years of dance training and practice through its paces.

Congratulations to Mr Mary's for providing a larger space for our drag stars to strut their stuff, and to Shelley Legs Diamond, the pocket rocket, for raising the bar in drag entertainment standards.

Nicholas C from Sydney

My thanks to Nicholas C for his humbling comments in this weeks Sydney Star Observer. You're such a sweetie!

I have received much positive feedback regarding my new production show "Masquerade: A Dirty Masked Affair", and appreciate Nicholas' time he took to publicly praise our efforts.

My thanks to you again Nicholas! Come in and say "Hi" and I'll shout you a drink or two at the bar..

Now, speaking of the Mr Mary shows on Saturday nights, the show times have been altered slightly to now be 10:30pm, 11:30pm and 12:30am.

This means people have more time for those yummy meals before the show in the bistro, and then to dance the night away to one of my favourite DJs ever, Justin Scott.

I hope to see you at Mr Mary's soon!

Pussy Problems

One of the two cats that my partner has, Scooter, was quite sick on the weekend. Waking up to loud howling, to our horror we found a cat laying on the floor, clutching to the carpet for his dear life, and not seeming to respond to anything visually.

We soon discovered be had gone suddenly blind - his pupils were completely dilated and he could not even see anything in front of his face. He had even been so distressed he had even wet himself.

It scared the hell out of me to see him in such a state, and of course we made an urgent dash to the Vet in the middle of the night.

On our way there, he started to calm down as I patted and talked to him in his travel case. He even got some of his vision back.. Thank Goodness! It seems like his body must have shut down while it was going through some sort of fit.. We hoped the Vet could find out more..

While at the Vet, his condition started to improve, but after describing his symptoms (and with some prods and pokes - like a thermometer up the bum!), we were told that we could be looking at a cat with severe diabetes and kidney problems.

We had to leave our poor little boy at the Vets, pending some blood tests.

Come Monday, we had confirmation that he in fact did have diabetes and would need to have 2 injections of Insulin a day for the rest of his life.

He was transferred to the Paddington Cat Hospital during Monday for further tests and the commencement of his treatment.

He stayed overnight, and come Tuesday afternoon I was in tears at work thinking he might be on his last legs. Finally my partner sent me an SMS saying that Scooter was allowed to come home.. My heart was relieved, to say the very least!

We went to pick him up at the hospital and were taught how to inject his Insulin, and on what his new diet will consist of.

Soon I was very happy to have him lazing about the house again.

His grumpy meows were sorely missed - the apartment was so quiet with him gone.

Scooter will be back at the Cat Hospital on Friday for more tests and to find out what is happening with his kidneys. Until then, I hope that everything is going to improve, as he has become one of my little boys that I adopted from my "marriage" and I love him so much..