Drag Season - I could do the Little Show That Could

 Hello, loyal reader!  Remember that time I went to see the documentary about The BEST IN DRAG SHOW and I lamented about how I felt like Lucy Ricardo trying to force her way into the Ricky's show?  It was in that post that I realized that it was best for me to let go, because I understood more about the show and its origin and the just how involved the people involved are.  Well, it seems that once you let something go, if it likes you, it will come back!  Out of the blue, I was asked if I would like to return to the show to do color commentary with Kay Sedia!  I must admit that I'm a little ashamed that I didn't even pretend to think about it, I just yelled, "YES"!

So, now that I was in the show, I had to prepare.  That included getting a new wig and a new dress, something the kids at BIDS had never seen.  I want to stay fresh in their memories!  Things started off a little wonky when I ordered a wig from Outfitters Wigs in Hollywood and ended up with a blonde, instead of red wig.  That was (could have been) a costly mistake on my part, but I was able to fix it at a minimal cost.  You see, I ordered in person by pointing to a brown wig saying, "I want that, 

but this color." and showed her this picture.

This isn't actually the pic I showed her.  You have to click HERE that image

She said something like, "Oh, that's Honey Bladdy Blah..."  and I said, "Okay" and left it at that.  I was mortified when I arrived after receiving my "It's ready!" call and finding myself face to Styrofoam face with this gorgeous BLONDE wig.  

Then I realized that I should actually have been more specific about the color and made sure we agreed before leaving the store that fateful night. I didn't even mention the wig color before leaving the store, because I was so embarrassed.  After needlessly fretting for a time, I popped over to Ulta and bought some root cover spray and sprayed it all a color close to nearly almost what I wanted.  BUT, before that, I had to pull something together for the official BIDS photoshoot, that takes place a few months before the show in October.  I went with my original Miss Texas dress and wig and had my make-up done by trusty Glen Alen, who is very generous with his time & talent for BIDS.

I was pleased to have fun reuniting with the BIDS kids and goofing with Kay between shots.

Patrick Rush (Co-Host) captures the moment

The lovely Salina Estitties

Me & Kay Sedia

Oh, look! A contestant got caught in the background!

That's Miss Wisconsin, BAILEY BARNUM

Lotta Slots (Jeffrey Drew) enjoys a little outdoor break.

Photographer, John Paschal, took our pics and the rest is PR history.

Here is the final product used to promote the show... with a little editing by me

The next step was the rehearsals.  Those were fun to watch because of the fab dancers...

It was nice to sit back, load up on coffee & donuts and observe the goings on to get material for the show.

The dancers had a good time, too, as they followed director, Jeffrey Drew's (Lotta Slots) pointed direction.

All that was left, was for me to contact my favorite quinceanera-dress-maker-lady, Carol and have her whip up a lovely Reba Areba style dress! With all that done, we were ready for the show.  ...Which I'll tell you all about TOMORROW.
Stay tuned!

Drag Season - Back in Chains

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

Angels' entrance

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!)

Tickets available at kaysedia.com

It's the same cast, except for our hunk, whom we lost to a tragic employment opportunity!
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!

Gay of a Certain Age - WeHo Pride 2025 Day 2: Part 1

So, here we are on day 2 of WeHo Pride.  Didn't I?  Okay, in case I didn't tell you why LA Pride (or Christopher Street West) is no longer in West Hollywood, it is because The City has opted to go with another event contractor.  Community feedback indicated that each year the festival and events were feeling more and more exclusive and more like a music festival than Gay Pride.  There was also mention of the feeling that corporate America was taking over the parade with more big-name brand floats than local and community representation.  I will say, it's been a few years since I paid the extra fee to step off of the main street and go into the park where the big festival was going on.  Part of it is because of the ticket price, but since I haven't been in there for a while, I don't know what current rates are.  Also, I have yet to make it to the new LA Pride Parade that goes down Hollywood Blvd, just a mile or so away from where I am, so I can't say whether or not there's a big difference between the two events.  

Anyway, I just enjoy WeHo Pride when I can and this past year was quite enjoyable.  Now, as a Gay of a Certain Age, getting up a little early is nothing new to me, but it is a nice habit to have when you wanna get out and get pics of the colorful people & floats while they're prepping and not moving!  The bane of my pride parade going in recent years has been the people on the sidelines ruining shots by suddenly stepping in frame or waving HUGE flags right in front of me and blocking the subject, (usually the hot ones).  By getting there early, I can walk around and snap to my heart's content.

So, for your viewing delight, here are a few pics of the folks prepping for the parade.

I love the Micky's fire engine, don't you?

I ran into Brian supervising the BEST IN DRAG SHOW float.

BEST IN DRAG SHOW guys

A few Mutants

One of the delightful Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence

The lovely Glen Alen with The Secret Circus

A few leather dogs

A gay Star Wars group?

More Sisters!

The Abbey doesn't have a fire truck, but they gots nice flagbearers, don't ya think?

I started heading toward the middle of the parade route where I was to meet up with Muh DAB, Dudley and the gang.  Almost as fun as watching the prep is watching people arrive and stake their watching place!

Did he mean to match his surroundings so perfectly?
BONUS GAY POINTS!

I ran into muh DAB, Glen & Lissa as the parade was fixin' to start

Gorgeous!

Oh, look! The reverend Chris Montella stopped for a hello 

as we skidaddled in opposite directions.

No, YOU!

Dykes On Bikes are getting onto place!

Here's our yearly visit from Christians telling us how much God hates us

 and how we'll burn in Hell.

 I think this young lady was having none of it!

Here I am at the start.  You'll have join me on the next post for the parade fun!

Is the suspense killing you???  Do you want a sexy preview? Then don't wait, 

See the more "sensitive" pics after the JUMP