Dakota

Tonight, Matt and I went to Connextions (I think I'm spelling that correctly; it's a nightmare of a word) to support Jamie in a costume contest. He went as a dark angel with some pretty awesome facepaint. Initially, Matt and I were going to dress as Rocky and Frank, but considering that the venue seemed to be a close-knit group of regulars, we would've seemed out of place and if we had won (and considering the competition we either would've and seemed like intruders, or lost because the regulars had fans/friends), it would've been weird, and I'm glad we didn't, in the end despite my disappointment at first.

The performers were all quite great. The combination of popular songs and inventive costumes/theme was exactly what I adore and try to incorporate in Rocky Horror preshows. One of them was clearly Samara from The Ring and she began with a dirge-like lullaby I think is from Corpse Bride (gotta get that soundtrack now) and went into "Dive Into the Pool" by Pepper Mashay. Considering Samara died from drowning, I found that very clever.

Another was a sexed-up Freddy Kreuger-type with rhinestone claws and red-and-green striped mini shirt and skirt. Her song was appropriately "Sweet Dreams Are Made of These." She came back for a Poison Ivy medley of Madonna's "Bad Girl" and Britney Spears' "Boys."

Visa D'Kline was the hostess, and she was great. She did a Quasimodo "My Humps" (the Black Eyed Peas) and a babydoll "Hanky Panky" (Madonna).

There was also an Elphaba who did "No Good Deed" and later did "Defying Gravity" with Visa and Glinda. Considering they had no props or effects or anything except costumes, they did an excellent job at being entertaining. This may've been due to the intimacy of the place; I always thought lip-synced preshows went over best at the Screening Zone. The Elphaba was named Cherry Bomb, and I thought she was great and made a point to tell her; she was very gracious.

There was an Elvira who then went goth-trash for Rob Zombie's "Living Dead Girl" (a song that I really hate to admit that I completely adore and have since around last Halloween when I got to play before the show based on Jamie's suggestion). She was great, too.

There was a "classic," as well, which is probably the nicest way to describe her. She was the oldest of the group, and Matt said he met her like 10 years ago. She didn't play with the theme much; her two selections (the club version of "I Am Woman" from Trick and "Simply the Best") seemed like such standards, it was almost nostalgia that I don't even have.

They all ended (with the exception with the last one I mentioned) with a spirited finale "Spice Up Your Life."

I adored it so much; it made me incredibly jealous and inspired. It enforced my wish that we really did have a bit more "live" with Rocky Horror. And made me once again say, "Yeah. I'd be a drag queen if I could." Could being the word especially 'cause I am simply not tough enough, nor do I have the energy to do it on a regular basis. But I've got my set-list and ready for bar mitzvahs if anyone's hiring.