It was June of 2025 when Drag Season hit really hard. After a long break, the Chico's Angels cast got together and put on a show! The break came mostly because one of our main Angels, Ray Garcia, moved to Bay City and opened his own dance academy, like he was Debbie Allen, or something! Also, there was this pandemic thing that shut down all theater for a while. As you can see, I was ready to be more gay and jump into rehearsal for the show we hadn't done in over 10 years. After a few rehearsals, the lines and blocking were starting to come back to me. What wasn't coming back to me as quickly was my ability to run & dance around in high heeled shoes!
Gosh darn it! I'm a pro, so I just kept going until it ALL came back to me. I couldn't just decide to play Frieda Laye in flats! Especially not this episode, where she has a scene as a sexy street walker with a full-on number. So, to get that back, I was sure to, at the very least, rehearse all my song & dance stuff with the shoes on, then wore the heels throughout for the final rehearsals. Meanwhile, I wore flats for the regular scenes, like the office, the prison and the classroom, where I get to sit on the new hunk's lap.
This run of this episode features many of the original cast members, or a few mainstays, but we usually have to get an entirely new hunk, because they age out or get busy being hunky elsewhere. This run's hunk was Joe Piccuirro.He was a sweetheart and it was a pleasure to sit on his lap!
Speaking of new & mainstays, the actress we had playing the lead girl suffered a mishap that left her unable to be in the show at the very last minute. What to do? We reached out to someone who had played the role before, Natalie Lander. She said she could do it, except for the opening week! We were in such a bind. Who could we ask that could learn the role in 3 days? Enter Beth Leckbee-Makler, who has played the role before... YEARS before, but had since moved to Texas, as well. One phone call and she was on a plane and ready to re-learn the show in 2 rehearsals!
Beth, with no signs of jet lag
Beth as Roxy
Kay Sedia and Beth as Warden Cox
She did it! She slipped back into the roles of Roxy & Warden Cox with expertise and style. The opening weekend went off without a hitch! Immediately after the opening night show ended, I saw this in my mind!
With the scariness of the first weekend allayed, we said farewell to Beth and prepared for Natalie to take over the role. We had another card up our sleeves, too! Her name is, Claire Riffle. She was an understudy, of sorts. She couldn't commit to the role because she was performing in another show, but she knew the role well enough to go on while we waited for Natalie.
Hayes Dunlap as Stanley, Claire Riffle as Roxy
Claire did a great job considering she was very new to the role and had limited rehearsal.
Soon, Natalie was free from her previous show and could join us full time, (with Claire getting a few more performances here & there).Natalie is a living doll and I feel honored to perform with her! With Natalie in place the show ran very well for everyone. ...Except for my shoes
Here I was worried that I wouldn't be able to do the show in these shoes and it turns out the shoes couldn't handle me! In truth, I lost 4 pairs of shoes to this show!
It really is a grueling show, what with dancing, fighting, running backwards... I surprised myself, but I was very forgiving of the shoes. I will admit that the replacement shoes I bought had my current age in mind and weren't quite as high heeled. Sidenote: There aren't nearly as many places selling these racy high heeled shoes as there used to be, especially before the pandemic. It's difficult to find appropriately slutty shoes at Marshall's & TJ Max these days!
Also, we had a back-up Bossman, Daniel Mora, who donned the bandana a couple of times
Daniel Mora as Bossman undercover
So, here's the show in pictures, just for a taste...
The Angels: Frieda Laye: Me, Kay Sedia: Oscar Quintero and Chita Parol: Ray Garcia
Frieda with Director/Co-Writer, Kurt Koehler
Frieda with Natalie Lander as Roxy
Bossman, Alejandro Patino, explains the case
Angels undercover at South Oaks Prep
Lennon Hobson as Kelly, Cher Ferrerya as Becky
School Hunk, Peter, with Kelly & Becky
Stanley, Hayes Dunlap, has enough for Roxy, Natalie Lander
Frieda undercover as the prostitute substitute teacher
Kay thinks Peter might like her
Frieda teaches prostitutes, Gloria (Cher) & Sonya (Lennon)
The Angels end up in towels, in jail!
The Angels have time for a number with Spice, Lennon Hobson
Rhonda, Cher Ferrerya, and the Warden, Natalie Lander, run a loose ship!
Roxy isn't sure how, but the show ends.
...But not before Kay can sing a song for Peter!
The final cast (left to right): Joe Piccuirro,
Oscar Quintero, Me, Ray Garcia,
Cher Ferrerya, Alejandro Patino, Hayes Dunlap, Lennon Hobson, Natalie Lander
This was an amazing experience, doing so many shows over 3 weeks at a Broadway schedule. It was exhausting, but rewarding. And it was a blast! The audience seemed to enjoy it as well! We even got a few gifts! One very notable one is this candle made especially for each member of the cast!
Thank you, Dennis Hensley!
If you're reading this post and regret missing this show, fret not!!
We're back to do 2 more weeks of this FINAL RUN of Chico's Angels 3: Chicas in Chains!
We're running March 4-15 (The 15th is Oscar Night so, plan accordingly!)
Who will be our new hunk? I guess you'll just have to come see the show to find out!!
Thank you, Mike Pingel for the photos of the actual production!
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