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All commentary herein is intended as satire; there is no intent to imply sexual orientation or association of persons and or organizations mentioned and none should be inferred; errors and or omissions of factual information are unintentional; contains coarse language, you must be over the age of 18 to view site. |
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New
York City Gay Men's Chorus Diva
Queens, Opera Queens, Drama This was a total camp faaaabulous extravaganza which began with a big mama being carried onstage on a royal litter by six bare-chested men in full ancient Egyptian regalia complete with huge feather plumes. And it went on like that for two hours of one Rula Lenska Diva after another, with dancing entourages, doing divine diva camp impersonations. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed this themed variety show. But, everyone also wondered when the full chorus, which stood like an army on the stage throughout, was going to sing. Except for a few quite wonderful numbers near the beginning, they almost never did. What the chorus did was to croon doo-wap backup for the female divas, singing, "ooooo-ahhhh" and echoing the tunes of the cavalcade of 'special guest celebrities' while swaying and waiving their hands this way and that, and not in unison either. It was as if someone had decided that straight gay-chorus singing would be too boring for a sophisticated NYC gay audience. I dunno, a full house of ticket paying patrons came to hear them sing. There were scads of fashionable fourtyish couples, young 20-something queers and fag-hags, elderly couples (oh those sweet men!), bearded gentlemen with discreet diamond ear studs, businesswomen, and those artsy-fartsy fiftyish types with graying pony tales and black turtleneck shirts, as well as androgynous ingénues currently called 'questioning.' All had paid good money because they expected to hear the grandest gay chorus of all doing its thing; ah well, as I said, it was really enjoyable anyway. I laughed my slutty little butt off. The chorus wore the traditional tuxes with red lapel ribbons, while purple and silver glitter-lame prevailed amongst the divas. What went on was a progression of diva dialogues for every persuasion from opera to Hairspray. There was the de rigueur paean to JUDY; devoutly voiced homage's to Puccini and Verdi, with chorus and opera singer Indra Thomas who also sang a song by Richard Rogers (ohh wait, nostalgia queens, there's more); Jimmy James did a medley ('You Made Me Love You') with the nuances of Eartha Kitt, Billy Holiday (my fav), Bette Davis, May West, and more. There was a hysterical country-music camp schtick on Patsy Cline, in drag, with a Mr. Beck pulling and tossing vinyl records, a huge framed photo, skies, a crutch and heaven knows what else from his tits, finally pulling out a huge pole-mounted Rainbow flag; we were rolling in the aisles! And least anything be left out, my dears, there was the ultimate in Gay-Schmaltz: 'Don't Cry for Me Argentina' belted out fortissimo by Debby Lennon; there wasn't a queer soul in Avery Fisher Hall that didn't get goose-bumps from that! Its practically a queer anthem. My absolute favorite 'guest diva' of the evening was Jenifer Lewis singing, 'You Can't Stop the Beat.' The Ambassador Chorus camped Drama Queens with 'La Rigina Dramatica'; a hysterically funny number which, however, left some of us in stony silence (I'm calling my lawyer!). There were dancers and tap dancers in spats, all done by dance-trained members of the chorus. Gilbert and Sullivan's 'Then One of Us will Be a Queen' was sung (en costume, mind you, with a bit of ballet thrown in), of course (pursed lips); and 'Come Boys, let's All Be Gay' from the Student Prince, sung by Debby Lennon but my mind shouted: Jeanette McDonald! A lot of practice went into this gala show, even if it wasn't in Carnegie Hall. Two thumbs up; five stars, big bravo, buy the video! I just wish the chorus had sung more. |
