Malice in Wonderland

The Screaming Queens show is an important show in my history with Shaunna Rai. I met Shaunna Rai and company for the first time at a Screaming Queens show. And, although she was performing that night, it was technically my first date with Dan, as well. The show itself is a benefit, to raise money for the Down East AIDS Network, and it usually makes a good amount of money.

So when Shaunna said she would be participating again this year, it was kind of exciting. It would be almost like reliving our first date. Sort of. Although, a lot has changed since then.

A couple days before (or maybe the night before, because I don't remember exactly) we made a trip to go see Benni (Miss E,on) for last minute costume fittings. And, as usual I was amazed at what the end result was for each outfit. Even though there was no hair, so I kinda had to imagine what Shaunna would look like in them when Dan was trying them on.

The day of the show, we ran around a little bit. Shaunna was going to do what she did for the Drag Me to Hell show, and buy some shot glasses and have the bar make shots for everyone. (Unfortunately, with the glasses that we found, there weren't enough.)

Finally, it was time to go pick up E,on, and head to Waterville. I made sure to load the address into the GPS, for the drive. And, we were on our way. We made really good time getting into Waterville. So good, in fact, that we had time to go shopping.  We stopped at Mardens, and looked around. We also stopped at Kmart, and again found the shot glassss, but, still too few, since we hadn't bought the ones we had seen earlier.

Unfortunately, for me, the GPS believes that Champions (the venue) is a little dive place on Elm Street. And, in spite of putting in the exact address, I was accused of punching in the wrong address, and screwing up the afternoon. (Needless to say, after that, I was overly thrilled to have come. Note the sarcasm dripping from that statement.) E,on, fortunately got us there. It turned out that I had taken the wrong exit, and that messed everything up. But, in my defense, I was doing what the GPS told me to do.

Once we were finally there, it went pretty smoothly. I unloaded the car, and got the girls situated. We got there early, because Shaunna Rai doesn't do late. Just behind us was Miss JoAnn, in her new RV. Just as she was getting settled in to start painting, with the girls she remembered that she had forgotten her headdress. The Queen of Spades won't look much like she's supposed to if she doesn't have a spade headdress, right?

So, I got volunteered to go with her husband, to Arundel  (on the other side of the state) to go grab it, before the show started. Now, I have known Russ for a few years, because of Miss JoAnn, but, I don't recall ever having heard him speak, much less having had a conversation with him. So, it was going to make for a very long trip.

It was, much as I expected it to be...quiet. I was lost in my head. So, when Russ spoke up and showed me where he and Miss JoAnn had met, I was surprised. Also, by how they met, and the brief history of what it was like to be gay before I was anywhere near ready to come out. 

We got to Arundel, and I had time to shoot out an Instagram update, while he grabbed the headpiece, before we turned around, and I drove like a maniac to get back before the show started. On the ride back, I retreated into my head again, thinking, for most of thr return trip how, I'm sitting with my future in 30 years or so, right next to me. Russ was super sweet. He refilled what we had used for gas in Biddeford, and then had me top it off when we got back to Waterville.

We made it back with plenty of time before the show. I ran over to McDonald's to grab a burger, so I wouldn't be drinking on an empty stomach. (Since I had been warned that if I passed out, I was going to be left behind.) 

I went inside, and got a hug from Paul, one of the creators of the Screaming Queens show, and he told me that he was putting a drink on his tab for me, for making the trip to Arundel. (Being a lightweight drinker, I only paid for one drink for myself for the night.) 

When the doors opened, I led my parents to the VIP tables, that were literally on the edge of the stage. (Halfway through the show, I felt bad, because where they chose to sit, they got to see a lot of the backsides of the queens.) Meanwhile, I was off running around, trying to get great shots and fending off the professional photographers who had been asked to take pictures of the show.

Valerie Honeywell opened up the show, as hostess (and shared it off and on through the night with LaWanda). 

Shaunna Rai opened the show with a mix performance. It was Alice themed music, and very difficult to follow...which, is somewhat fitting, considering the source material. The dress and apron outfit was cute, and Shaunna's giant white bow just kinda made it work. And, Shaunna being the tear away queen, had a dance outfit on underneath. 

Miss JoAnn followed. If I remember correctly, she did a number from Cabaret...which didn't really go with the Alice theme. But, seeing the headpiece in action made it totally worth the drive to get it. The queen of Spades didn't really come across without it. 

The queen of hearts, herself was up next. LaWanda has so much energy on stage, that she exhausts me. Toward the end of her number, her wig fell off. (I'm not entirely sure that this was accidental, so much as it is a way to say, "just so you didn't forget, I'm a man in a dress.")

The Mad Hatter, Miss E,on, was up next. Her song was also a mix, that included "They're Coming to Take Me Away". Totally an E,on number, to be sure.

At this point, LaWanda took over the mic, to introduce Valerie. Valerie came out in a tear away, that I'm pretty sure belonged to Ariel Gibbs, a close friend of Shaunna's, who passed away over the summer. Valerie was the White Rabbit.

ClubKid MizzDiveena, the Cheshire Cat was up next. Her makeup was great. It was a little reminiscent of the skeleton makeup Shaunna had done a week or two earlier, but it worked for the character. 

Valerie came back out, and introduced a couple members of the Down East AIDS Network, to say a few words about what Screaming Queens is all about, and where the money goes, and all that.

LaWanda was back, I'm pretty sure that this number was Juice Newton's Queen of Hearts song. You would think that I would remember, because I was lip syncing to it along with her.

Shaunna was back for another mix, and another tear away, leaving her in a fringe dance outfit.

Miss JoAnn followed, with Somewhere Over the Rainbow. I was actually really happy with pictures I got of this number. Over the years, I haven't been able to get a lot of really good pictures of her, because lighting in most of the places I've seen her at, has been, well, sub par. 

Valerie was up, with her Bunny ears this time. Followed by E,on and Diveena. Diveena brought out the headpiece that she had worn for Dragapalooza last spring. 

LaWanda came out for her final number, which was made more interesting, by a shirtless Paul, with a leather harness and Bunny ear mask, following her around like a puppy dog. 

Shaunna's final number was Pink's The King Is Dead (But the Queen is Alive). Alice got the upper hand, and took off the Red Queen's head...or so we are left to imagine.

Valerie closed out the show, with a little Celine Dion. I was getting tired, and glad the show was almost over, because throughout the show, I had been running back to check on my parents, and then back out to get the best pictures I could. 

At one point during my running, I was stopped and asked if I was Steve Dixon. I thought it was odd, but, I have developed a small following,  so, not that odd. It turned out that the guy who asked was a guy I had gotten a picture of at the Halloween party at the Westin,  and he wanted to thank me for it. 

They opened the floor up for dancing, once the show was over. I started the back and forth of bringing drag bags back to the car. I definitely got a work out, because I didn't find out until the very last trip that I could have saved some energy by going an alternate route, instead of through the main dance floor area.

Finally we were ready to go. We said goodbye to my parents,  and headed to McDonald's,  so that Dan and Benni could get something to eat before we made the trek back home.

It was a crazy night. And I believe,  the final number for funds raised for the night was right around $4000. So, definitely worth it.

Styxx Presents: Remembering the Underground

Coming Soon to Portland, a one night only event, featuring Shaunna Rai, Miss JoAnn, Valerie Honeywell, Beulah Gale, special guests, and your hostess for the evening, Madame Sheena.  DJ ChrisO is coming out for a night of music from the 90's.  

If you're like me, and know nothing about The Underground, it would be a good night for a little history of the drag scene in Portland.  This was where Shaunna Rai got her start, and where she met a lot of people, who are important to her.  The queens will be remembering some of the good times, and some of the queens from back in the day, who either have passed away, or no longer perform.

It should be a fun night, either way.  I'll be there taking pictures, as usual.  You should be there too!

Covergirl Doesn't Cover Boy

Imagine walking into a room full of people you know, and realizing that you don't know them.

So, I've already written about the show on Saturday, at Hollywood Casino in Bangor.  And, I may be doing this a bit backwards, but, it's my blog, and I can write about what I want to, in whatever order I want to.  Really, I thought that the tribute to Topaz was a bit more important, than what it's like to watch a group of queens and kings paint for a show.

So, anyway, back to the hook.  Imagine that you've just walked into a room full of people that you know, only to realize that you don't know them.  It's a weird sensation.  Like, really, really weird.  You recognize the bodies before the faces, because normally the face that you're looking at, has a boatload of makeup on it. You hear the voice that you know, coming out of someone else's face.  It's jarring.  And, then, after a few minutes, of gathering yourself, you relax and just go with it.  Because, you know, that even though they look different, they're the same person.  I've lived with two queens for almost a year, so I know that there's always going to be a tiny bit of "WTF?" going on in my head.

The greetings start, and the catching up starts.  And, suddenly, it's all normal.  And then, the makeup makes its appearance.  If you've never seen the transformation from man to woman, I would recommend taking the opportunity if it ever presents itself.

You would think that living with two drag queens, I would have seen more than enough faces being painted.  Surprisingly, in the (almost) year and a half that I've been with Dan, I've only watched the full process four times.  Why have I only watched it a few times?  Part of it is that I tend to stare.  Which makes everyone uncomfortable.  And, part of it, is that I don't really want to know how it's done. It's more magical to just think that the queen goes into a room as a male, and comes out as a female.  You know, the whole caterpillar to a butterfly thing.  'Cause really, who wants to see what kind of scariness that transformation looks like?

It's interesting to see though, how each person "paints" differently.  For some, there's very little on the face, but, a ton of eye makeup.  For others, it's a lot all over the face.  And, for others, it's layer upon layer of makeup.  Foundation, highlights, shadows, contouring around the nose, cheek bones, and jawline, and then the eyes and lips.  Powder, powder, powder.  Contacts go in.  Mistakes get wiped off with baby wipes.

And, all the while, they're talking.  A lot of talk about the old times.  About back when this performer did this.  About how, "I remember back before you even started doing drag..." There's talk about which performers have sticky fingers, and, "How do they expect to get away with wearing that wig that they swiped, around here, knowing full well that everyone knows that they took it?"

Watching RuPaul's Drag Race, last season, with Alyssa Edwards and Coco Montrese, you kind of got the expectation that everyone was always at each other's throats.  Comments about how, "Gurl, look how orange you look!" are what you'd expect after watching the show.  As I sat and watched them all painting, there were certain people who I looked at like, "That color's way too dark for your skin." and things like that.  But, since nobody else was saying anything, I didn't figure it was my place.  Because, it's not. What do I know about makeup? I don't do drag. I just observe. I take it all in, and then write about it later.

And, just like that, the room goes from being a room with six men and a woman, to one king and six queens.  And, you're left wondering, how did super long drawn on eyelash lines, turn into a realistic looking eye? And, how did those sheet white highlights turn out to look natural?  And, how did that grease pencil turn into a beard full of stubble?

The truth of the matter, is that I don't really want to know all the tips and tricks that it takes to turn out a good face.  Once I know all of the pieces of putting it on, it'll lose it's magic for me.  Knowing all the secrets of drag, would take away from the experience for me.  It would be like taking in The Lord of The Rings series, and sitting through the entire 4 years of CGI creation, instead of the final 2 hour movie.  You don't need to know each step that it took over those 4 years to create that scene with 50,000 goblins, in a roller coaster of a cave. You just need to know that the 2 1/2 minutes of filming is amazing.  You don't need to know that it takes an hour and a half to put on a face, you just need to know that the face was put on for the 10 minutes or so that the performer's on stage, doing his or her thing.

I think what really surprised me the most, aside from how different they all look out of drag, was how close knit this little community is.  Everyone has known everyone for years.  They all know (more or less) everyone else's business.  And, they're like a family.  More like my actual family, than I ever would have expected.  They go long periods without seeing each other, but, thanks to Facebook, and other social media outlets, they keep up with what's going on.  And, they just pick up, and continue with conversations. And, they all say, "Oh, we should do this more often, instead of just when something bad happens."  In the moment, the sentiment is heartfelt, and everyone agrees.  But, with everyone's busy schedules, they know that it's pretty much just something that you say, because you can, not because it will actually change anything.

And, I really just need to thank all the queens who let me be a part of the process.  Being the odd one out, they could just as easily have sent me out to sit in the hallway the entire time, or sent me to the slot machines, to lose every penny that I have to my name.  But, they didn't.  And, they all know that I write the blog.  So, thank you to all of the queens and king who allowed me to be a part of the show that not many other people got to see.

When I Go, I'm Going Like Topaz

Lady Valerie

Miss Samantha

Saturday night, marked the 5th March Dragness, and it was a memorial of sorts, for a fallen queen, Topaz.  It was a hell of a show, and a night I'll never forget.  And, it's how I want to go out.  When I die, I'm going to beg for a drag show send off.  And, if I don't get one, I can always come back and haunt people until I get one...

Going into this show, I believed that every drag show was pretty much the same thing.  Queen A performs, Queen B performs, Queen C performs, and then the show is pretty much over.  I know that some queens put feeling into their lip syncs, and some perform their own songs.  And, in my head, this is just how shows go.  This show, showed me that you can't always just jump to conclusions that every show is going to be the same.  Because, they are decidedly not all the same.

Asia

Emma

The crowd in Bangor is different than that of Portland.  For one, the crowd in Portland, tends to be a gay crowd, and we're all packed into Blackstones or Styxx.  In Bangor, I would say, that the homos were the minority.  The crowd at Hollywood Casino was a decidedly mixed crowd.  To the left was an older (50-60 year old) straight couple, behind me was a group of girls (barely 21's) who could have used a mute button.  And, spattered throughout the crowd, were faces I recognized.  Some from "home" (read as Portland area), others, who I know from Facebook.

Miss Joanne

Paris Lynne

The show was on a tight schedule, and had to be over in exactly two hours.  None of the usual "We'll start when there's a good enough crowd to start," that plagues a lot of drag shows.  Once the show started, it was banged out act after act.  As usual, I got caught up in taking pictures, which is my MO, at shows.  I know that there's music, but rarely, can I tell you at the end of the night, which performer performed to what song.  But, there were a few acts that I don't know if I'll ever be able to forget.

Shaunna Rai

Candy Cayne

Shaunna Rai gets her usual shout outs, because I live with her, and I wouldn't hear the end of it if I didn't.  But, she's always amazing, so it's to be expected.  Her first performance was a mix of songs by Pink, that I've seen a few times.  She looked like Pink.  And, she surprised the audience.  The whispers at the beginning, of "What the..." quickly turned to whispers of "Oh my God, she actually looks like Pink," as the rip away came off.  When she did her second number, Tina Turner's Proud Mary, there were ripples again, through the audience of "She's not seriously going to..." By the end of the song, any doubt that she could pull it off was gone, and a good majority of the audience was actually singing along to the song.  (Something that I always do anyway, without thinking about it, but haven't seen happen before.)

Justin Case

Mikayla Loveheart

Asia Thavone, who I had met once before at Mama's Cabaret, last summer, was another standout performer.  If I remember correctly, she did a Whitney number for her first number.  But, the standout performance, was her second number.  She dedicated Bette Midler's Wind Beneath My Wings to Topaz.  And, I got a bit choked up.  The song itself, in combination with a memorial of any sort, is just enough to get the tears flowing.  Combine that with an amazing performance, which looked like it got to Asia herself (I couldn't tell for sure, as I was all the way in the back row, fighting to see over a woman whose head I swear was bigger than a watermelon).

Miss Samantha

Valerie

Paris Lynne, another queen who I met through Mama's Cabaret, last fall, performed Stacy Q's Two of Hearts, for her first number, and alternated co-hosting with Lady Valerie Honeywell.  But, her standout number, was Christina Perry's Human.  It was a song that I hadn't actually heard prior to the show, and one that I have added to my iPod, after seeing her perform to it.  She was one of the last numbers of the night, and you could tell at the beginning of the song, that the night was getting to her. By the end of the song, I really just wanted to go hug her, and tell her that it was going to be okay, and that Topaz would've been proud of her.  The amount of emotion that went into the performance again, choked me up.

Emma

Asia

And, then came the finale.  Valerie gathered all the queens on the stage.  Shaunna Rai, Candy Cayne, Asia, Justin, Emma, Paris, Samantha, Joanne, Mikayla, Paris and Valerie.  The dedication of the final number to both Topaz and Amanda Kelley, and their families, who were in the audience was touching.  When Valerie picked up one of Topaz's costumes, from the corner of the stage, and lay it on the stage, and sang to it, and then invited the family to pay their respects to the costume, it made it hard to not get emotional, whether you knew them or not.

Miss Joanne

As the show itself was a fund raiser, I'm curious to find out how much was actually made.  The show sold out of early tickets, and at the end of the night, it was standing room only.

Paris Lynne

Anyway, as I was driving (most of the way home) I told Dan, that's what I want, if I happen to die before he does.  I want to have a show in my honor.  Selfish? Maybe. But, in a way, it's for them.  A sentiment, that I generally hear more from my own family, that I heard last night was, "We really need to stop meeting this way." Because, in general, sickness and death are the two things that bring people together.  But, life goes on.  And, if it gives a group of performers a reason to perform, why not let it be known?  Because, as I'm coming to realize, life is too short to be unhappy.  I know I was smiling at the end of the night, and I'm sure that Topaz was as well, knowing that she brought together a group of her friends, who put on one hell of a show.

Shaunna Rai

Justin Case

Mikayla Loveheart

Candy Cayne

The Final Number, all the queens and half the audience