Gay of A Certain Age - Everybody's Talking About Danny

I just wartched the 

EVERYBODY'S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE

on the Amazon Prime.

It's a movie version of the West End hit stage musical

of the same name.

First, I enjoyed it very much.

It was interesting to me that,

when I was growing up 

the gay movies were all about the torture of being gay

and finally coming out.

...that and everygay dying of the AIDS.

Now, the kids these days get to see

the gay kids openly gay, but still dealing with the same stuff

or a slightly different version  of it.

In this story,

the openly gay kid

must deal with the trauma of wanting to be a drag queen.

I'm pleased that there is mention of the generations of previous gays

whose struggles make it easier for today's young gays

to be open and out.

As a matter of fact, 

Richard E. Grant, 

was my favorite actor/character in the movie.

Anywho, 

while the main character, 

I think his name is, Jaime,

is having the familiar struggles with his father,

it's refreshing to see him have a very loving and supportive mother,

who accepts her son for who he is 

and encourages him to be who he wants to be.

She even buys him a pair of  glittery red heels to do it in!

This is realistic, 

because it is totally based on a real mother and son.

Lovely!

It's also realistic because I have my own very own

loving and supportive mother.

I'll call her "Patty",

because her name is Patricia.

Of course, because it is a theatrical story 

and there needs to be crisis to overcome,

Jamie has a moment when he gets very angry with his mother

and says some very awful things to her.

...Even though she bought him some lovely shoes!

I think back to my time with my Ma,

and while I'm sure there were many times that 
I took her for granted,

was snotty to her,

or just didn't appreciate

how difficult it must have been to raise four kids on her own,

sometimes working two jobs

and not having much time for herself,

I NEVER said anything intentionally hurtful to her!

It was at this point

that I decided I hated Jamie.

Of course, as they do,

things worked out and Jamie

finally appreciated how lucky he was to have the mother that he does

and they share a wonderful moment

when he finally gets to be a drag queen,

The End!

This reminded me of my mom and me.
Even though it wasn't my life long dream to be a drag queen,

I have always known I wanted to be a performer

and be on stage.

I am fortunate to have performed

on stage

in front of an audience

every year, since I was in high school.

(For 18 years, it's happen to be mostly in drag)

There are many times when my mother could not make it to my performances

in high school & college.

I am happy to say that she has been to L.A.

and seen me in CHICO'S ANGELS

a few times,

but the moment the Jamie movie reminded me of most

was at the 

Best In Drag Show 2018!

It was a fundraiser for

Alliance For Housing and Healing, as well as for Aid for AIDS.

It was a pageant

that we prepared for for 6 months

had very little rehearsal 

and went up in a huge theatre

(The gorgeous Orpheum)

full of over 2,000 people.

It was very exciting.

Here's a picture of me

for my talent portion 

with my talent partner Duke.

I chose this picture because it is colorful, fun

and Duke is shirtless.


Anyway,

the show went very well

and I had a lot of support from the audience,

so my Ma got to experience some applause and hooting for her son

throughout the night.

Luckily, I won!

It was a grand experience, 

to be sure,

but the best part was seeing how 

happy and proud my Ma was.

I'm pretty sure she wasn't so excited just because I was in drag,

it was because, 
while she was working so hard to support her kids

and I was spending my time in school plays

and drama tournaments,

then, majoring in theatre in college,

instead of something "more practical",

she got to experience the excitement and energy

of a huge theatre full of people

cheering her son on,

and enjoying the silly things he was doing on stage

in a dress
(6 dresses actually).

And to top it off,

her son helped to raise over half a million dollars

for worthy causes.

That's something to be proud of!

So, as if winning the pageant

wasn't enough of a spiritual boost,

seeing that smile on my Ma's face

showed me I hadn't wasted my time 

in high school & college.

(I'm taking this very moment to apologize to my Ma,

who for some reason, made it to see me in 

the worst production, high school or otherwise,

of  MAN OF LA MANCHA.  
It was just AWFUL and I cry when I think she spent all day at work,

then, probably skipped dinner,

to get to the high school auditorium in time.
I only hope she slept through it.)

So, congratulations to the real life Jamie!

As a Gay of A Certain Age, I know how important

and fortunate it is to have a wonderful,

loving and supportive mother!

My Ma came to visit recently,

and we shared a wonderful drag moment

by having a fabulous impromptu Kaftan fashion shoot

by the pool.

"It's Called Fashion Look It Up"

Apparently the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree!

If you want to know more about my 
BEST IN DRAG SHOW journey,

you can read about it
HERE

This Is Why I Am Single - No Fun at the Fun Home

Tonight I saw FUN HOME at Circle In The Square Theatre.
This show is a sweet memory play (musical) in which the main character,
a lesbian cartoonist, recounts her story of discovering her sexuality while
wrestling with the memories of her fragmented relationship with her father.

The cast was great, the younger cast members were remarkable, the music and story
all worked very well together.  The show was funny, sad, touching, moving, thought provoking
and inspirational.  I was moved to tears a few times throughout.  I teared up at the sadness, the beauty, the discoveries, the tragedies and the performances.  I might be an easy audience, but Cripes!  I haven't been moved like this in a long time.
This show shook me up in such a great way, that instead of going out and hitting the Eagle NY,
which I have yet to visit, I headed back to my room, grabbing some Prosecco, cheese & crackers and chocolate candy on the way.  Seriously...

So, instead of eyeing beardy men in leather jockstraps as I had planned, I am here, recounting this experience for you (getting a little wet eyed as I do).  I certainly brought my own issues to the theater,  but I was very aware of the audience around me, and I was not alone in my weepy response.
This show is performed in, what we in the Biz call, the round (where the stage is in the middle of the house and the audience is seated around it ), so I could see the entire audience, save for the five rows behind me.  Now, you might think this is a This Why I Am Single about me crying in shows and movies and tv and some dog parks, but no, this is just the opposite.

I could see the entire audience, especially the fuddy duddy in the front row.  This guy looked like the cliche older, white, privileged Republican stereotype that is in the news often, lately.
It seemed that he went out of his way to look so bored and suffering that I wanted to go over
and kick him in the face as tears crawled down my face.  He sat there, literally with his chin
resting in his palm as if he were Dr. VanPelt in her fifth hour listening to Charlie Brown.  Charles Schulz might as well have drawn him there!  During the most funny/lovely song about changing a college major, I glanced over at him- still VanPelting, as the audience laughed and cooed.  During an amazingly on target rendition of a song about a very young lesbian experiencing her first silent crush, the audience beamed and he was still that stick in the mud figure- uninvolved, unfazed and unmoved.
Maybe undead!  The show takes place in a funeral home, maybe he's that surprise character that pops up at the end of the show, to show that despite our different orientations, we are ALL humans, with human emotions that confuse us and we are all looking for some kind of connection.
No, he was just a tired old fuck who didn't even clap at the end of amazingly performed numbers.

So, we get to it.  This why I am single, because if I thought, for one second that the man I call my
husband, or partner, or boyfriend could be such an unfeeling, impenetrable block of shit, I would dump him in an instant.  This ass was so boorish, that he couldn't even muster polite applause, or wipe off that fucking condescending, "why is everyone standing up and clapping?", look from his face.  It made me sadder for his wife than I felt for any of the characters I had just gone on an amazing journey with.  It's weird to see and love a show so much, knowing it's based on someone's actual life, then seeing someone else live it out right in front of you.  I won't live that life.  I won't live with that person. I'd rather die alone.