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!

S'up, Muh DAB? - Muh DABs Are Numbered!

 

Well, along with the story of Brett’s wedding comes the unavoidable realization;

Muh DABs are numbered!

 I used to have a good deal of DABs, now, they’re dropping like flies.

It all started with my first and best Die Alone Buddy, Ted.

 

We’ve been friends since early high school years and are still thick as molasses in caramel!

When I moved out of my home town, I certainly didn’t expect Ted to stop going out and enjoying the single life.  As a matter of fact, when he came to visit me, he opened a few of the Single Life in LA doors for me.  I can easily say, nobody enjoyed being single more than Ted in those days.

Whenever we got together and hit whichever town we were in,

We always had a great time and left a few handsome admirers smiling in our wake.
Paris is still smiling.

What with us living single lives in different cities for years, I guess it was only a matter of time before one of us would fall into some marriage.

So, on Valentine’s Day 2014, bye-bye Single Ted.

Not long after, muh DAB Oscar fell prey to some guy and he got hitched in April 2014.

Oscar and I started acting together in Chico’s Angels in 2003

Not long after, we were hanging out and doing a bunch of stuff together, including traveling and enjoying international guy ogling.

But, no more.

 June 2017, Jerry marries Greg.

                                       

I met Jerry through Brett. 
Many were the evenings of friend events that included much laughter, drinks & man hunting.

I’ll never forget our Miami trip in 2003,

 but I can forget about Dying Alone with Jerry.

 Brett marries Andrew in 2019…

Somewhere along the way Avery has married Koppany.

 Lastly, Ray marries Daran in December 2021.

I didn’t hang out with Ray nearly as much as I did with Oscar during the Chico’s Angels days, but we did share some great times out, and may have gone after the same guy on more than one occasion…

 

Of course, I am happy for all of them and I still get to enjoy the company of most of them, still, along with their husbands,

But, now that they have someone to grow old with, where does that leave me?

 Where does it leave the ever shrinking group of DABs I fantasized would all live in a converted Mid-Century Motel, where each has his own room, with the office/lobby converted into the best den/living room/dining room where we could hang out and plan our next scandalous trip to Miami or Puerto Vallarta?

Speaking of which, who are the DABs I still have left?

There’s the ever reliable Dennis.

We met over 20 years ago and Dennis was the original hub through which I met many of my current friends. We hang and it’s good.

There’s Glenn.  

I met him through Dennis, of course, and he lives very near me, so we share meals often and see each other so much that we bicker like an old married couple and I am always right.

Most of my out & about time is spent with Dennis and Glenn.  There isn’t as much man chasing as there was a few years ago and the pandemic sure put a damper on dating, so we participate in various DAB activities.

My Long Distance DAB is Rich.

I met him through Brett decades ago and I usually see him when I visit New York and on our fabulous DAB Travel Adventures, like the one in Puerto Vallarta.

I will say the Rich is quite the inspirational Man Hunter, from whom I’m still learning.

Also on the Roster is Dudley.

We’ve known each other for years and, for me, Dudley has taken on the mantle of The Hub and is very socially active.

I admire his energy, creativity and ability to get shit done!  I also admire his fearless movements in the social environs of Gay.

I feel like we could stand to be closer.  That has all to do with me shying away from invitations, or keeping myself too busy for love or even forming new DABs.
We’re growing.

Same goes for Steven

We’re relatively new and I sense new and exciting adventures ahead for us.

I even have an Honorary DAB, Geoffy.
I’ve known him the longest of all muh DABS, past & present.

He’s honorary because he’s of the straight persuasion.  We probably don’t seem like the most likely of friends… (“What could they possibly have in common?” I’ve heard someone ask.)
We have plenty enough in common to carry the history of our friendship going on over 20 years. We have a sense of kinship, loyalty, with maybe, a touch of duty behind our relationship.

Geoffy exists mostly separately from my other DABs.  That is mainly because of the gay element within the confines of the DAB definition concocted only for this Blog and entertainment purposes.
I’ll just say, that in the end, Geoff is perfectly welcome to stay in my fantasy converted motel; hetero & all.

There’s a few more, but I shan’t list them, for fear I may scare them away.

So, while my long standing DABs are falling away from singledom and evolving into dear, loving Married Folk, I won’t distress too much because I still have a handful of DABs with whom I can enjoy singledom as we age.  Also, I'm going to need some time to get the money to find and buy that motel I'm fantasizing about!