So, my illustrious Facing East producing partner, Duane, and I flew to NYC last weekend to attend the opening night (show and after party) of Priscilla Queen of the Desert starring our, even more illustrious and wonderful, director Will Swenson.
We entered the theater, sat in our ridiculously amazing seats and attempted to take it all in. Who's who of Broadway, TV and film buzzed around us - and I waited.
I knew she would be there - she is one of the producer's. Held my breath. Tried not to explode with anticipation and suddenly... There She Was. 5 rows behind us. One of the single greatest influences on both my personality and my performing, an enormous connection to my father, my idol, my hero, my golden calf, my Venus, my fire, my inspirer of fantastically flowery formulations, my Superstar Supreme, my Deity Delicious...
The Divine Miss M
My dad and I had all her albums and listened to them ad-nauseam. The first time I smoked weed was with my dad and his boyfriend before her Christmas concert in San Francisco. My sweet father, when he was dying, stood for 2 hours in the rain to get her to sign her book The Saga of Baby Divine for me.
I hear her voice saying, "Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke!" in my head, like the best guardian angel ever, every single time I face the Hateful Cow Club.
Bette Midler, Meryl Streep and Barbara. The Holy Trinity to the daughter of a gay man.
We didn't meet. We didn't speak. She did accidentally grab Duane's arm during intermission - something I will forever be oozing envy over. She has no idea that I even exist. But, she exists. And for a couple of hours we breathed the same air and got swept up in the same Drag Show of Epic Proportions. That is enough for me. For now.
The show itself was as fabulous as expected. Just a giant barrel of good old fashioned drag queen monkey fun. Will was wonderful and brought a depth to the show, with his portrayal of a gay man who is a father and more than a one dimensional drag character, that I loved.
We also sat 2 rows in front of the oh-so-yummy Guy Pearce (who totally made my day by flirting with me at the after party) and next to the ever-lovely, Diva in her own right, adoring girlfriend of Will Audra McDonald.
Amazing weekend. Definitely one for the books. And the blogs.
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Related Links
Facing East
Facing East Website
Facing East Blog
Facing East Contribution Fund
3 comments:
too sappy and private for me to post on facebook but yeah, my funeral song will be bette's In This LIfe - a tribute to my hubby's lifelong unconditional love towards me.
another gf bonding moment with us Em. i've seen bette's vegas show The Showgirl Must Go On 3 times and her Kiss My Brass show once. FABULOUSLY DIVINE!! LOVE LOVE LOVE MY BETTE! to attend her show just ONCE was on my bucket list and i'm so thrilled i got to see 4 times before she retired.
so glad to find out she means so much to your world, too. doesn't surprise me your dad loved her. and glad to know he did! XXOO
oh yeah, one more thang. a biggie. i thought i was the only one that knew it's ad nauseAm not ad nauseUm like people (even the smart ones) spell it all the time ad nauseam. (root word - nausea not nauseu.) AND don't even get me started now on lose - loose, it's - its, their - there - they're, your - you're, ad nauseAm. you now are hallowed in thy name as a bette (yeah, i'm with you on meryl, too) lover as well as an awesome speller. XXOO
oh yeah, one more thang...final blood bond with you. i LOVE watching people fall down! i even got sent to the principal's office for laughing when someone tripped and fell in class. omg - still remember the look on their face on the way down! sigh....good times....
Wow!!! That is sooooo cool!! I used to listen to my mom's "The Divine Miss M" record when I was a little gay boy in Provo. (It's now on my ipod of course.)
I tried to get tickets to take my mom to see her show in Vegas a few years ago, but it didn't work out. Maybe someday.
Soooo cool you got to sit so close to her!
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