Dakota

I never wrote about Gay Pride '06. There was just so much. It spanned like 4 days. Well, actually, first off, there was a special show on last Friday. The Cinema East/Nyack cast reunion for eLiz and Matt went off pretty well. I got to speak to matt'sJoe a little more. He's a really nice guy. I also got to meet Carol, who pretty proudly declared that when I was helping her practice for Magenta, that I was the only Riff Raff she'd never had/have sex with.

I obviously didn't perform for the show, although we had some HOH Transies involved. I taped it, and really hope it came out ok. The show itself was a fun, spastic mess, and that was ok, too. Since many of these performers hadn't gotten into costume and on a stage in almost 10 years, it managed pretty well.

Saturday was spent gearing up for HOH's Gay Pride Night. What I loved most about it was that Matt announced it sort of off the cuff, with no intention for it to really become a "theme show" and by the end of it, he and I hijacked the hell out of it, and effectively screwed with casting and costumes, and by the end of it people were saying things like "when we do this next year..." That was fulfilling, really.

But Saturday day was less fun. It all worked out, but it was largely spent fixing up Matt's Crim book. It was very rainbow. And that took some effort. I was able to find all of my stuff I needed in advance, and to great relief. I was playing Eddie and Dr. Scott. About six people that night said "I'd never seen you as Eddie or Dr. Scott!" Yeah, me either!

For Eddie, I ended up wearing the pink Corona t-shirt that I tore the hell up for last year's beach night (Frank, whipping scene). I put on my Broadway Rocky Horror dog tag and the one with Matt's and my names on it. My gay pride chainmail (which has actually stayed on since), my torn-up and marker/paint/make-up'd jeans. This was actually what I was going to wear for Eddie if I got it on Hat Pick Night.

After all the preparation I did for him, though, geez, shortest scene ever. It went by so quickly. I also could barely see anything; I didn't have a lot of time to really adapt to being on stage in a new role--'cause I all of a sudden I had to die.

Richy was Columbia, and that was great. The dance worked out pretty well, and I got a huge audience pop for it, which was invigorating. Just from 0 to 10 to dead is an awful transition I don't wish on anyone; I don't know how Angelo, Genevieve, or Paul does it.

I fortunately had Dr. Scott to look forward to, for which I had a red headdress, red feathers, a white top with sparkly shingles, and red fishnets. I was a drag queen. I also had no idea how to play it. I muddled through Dr. Scott well enough, but I had no idea what characterization to give him in the present attire. Danielle told me that during dinner scene I went from Dame Edna to Maya Angelou. I became a ghetto drag queen with the hand gestures, and I had a lot of fun through "Eddie's Teddy," but I did not get a distinctive read from the crowd _at all_ and I'm not sure if anyone liked it at all.

The rest of the cast was: Sarah as Frank, Liz as Rocky, Danielle as Magenta, Genevieve as Riff Raff, Willow as Brad, and eLiz as Janet.

The night was a lot of fun, though. I wasn't really tired afterwards, but we had to go to sleep because Gay Pride in NYC was going on that following Sunday, and we had to be up by 10. Blecch.

The March was cool, though. I enjoy it every year, but miss being in it. I remembered fondly being on the float some years back and all of a sudden a rush of our walkers appearing when our float finally hit the beginning of the route. That was an amazing, beautiful experience

Matt, Matt's mom, Jamie, jamie'sKristen, and I went for food after the March. Jamie, Matt, and I parted ways with the ladies, and headed for the Pier Dance. As is the rule of the Pier Dance, it was filled to the brim with late 30's-to-late-40's muscley men. The club music wasn't really pumping hard, and it was daylight. The last two years we went, it got progressively lamer. Year 3 was obviously not worth it, either--we left after maybe an hour. Before we did, I managed to see an older man sniff coke. It was very odd to witness. Not really my thing. But I did get 2 Clementine Svedka Vodka drinks.

We headed to xl instead (where I saw Jill Sobule). It's this ultra-hip gay lounge and bar. We didn't get carded and didn't have to pay a cover. Although, y'know, they never carded me for the pier dance either. All of us are of age, but for reason, I just always expect to be made a big deal about because I don't think I look 21 and my state ID has my head turned to the side, an automatic under-age qualifier.

xl was great fun, too. But by the time we were all pretty drunk, Matt wasn't really much in a driving state, and I was in an energetic stage of drunk--I wanted to dance. xl isn't a club, so I was able to persuade (really without any effort) the trio to head to Splash.

Sure enough, Splash was jumpin'-jumpin' and had a $15 cover (which was ok since we didn't drink anything, and xl hadn't charged us entry). I ended up making out with a stranger downstairs, but it was all for fun. We came home around 1, and we did not go to sleep. At about 4 (woohoo!), we all passed out.

I woke up at quarter to 8 .am. or so, head reeling. I popped some Ibuprofen, and slept until 4 p.m., and then headed to gaming relatively back to normal.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was Gay Pride '06.

Matt and I went to Bryant Park for the Gay Pride Rally. We were there for the last 2 hours, and the energy was way down. Not the big to-do that last year or the year before that was. The comedian Ant hosted, and the crowd (hopefully) dwindled by the time we arrived. Otherwise, yikes, small crowd.

It was ok, though. What was the height of productivity was Matt and I going from sex shop to gay shop to gay-sex-shop for pieces of decoration, prop, and costume for Gay Pride Night this Saturday at Rocky Horror. Lots of stuff gotten, and I am very glad about my purchases.

In other, very random news. I received a Threepenny Opera bootleg zip file through an anonymous yousendit e-mail. The file names aren't very useful for someone unfamiliar with the show, as I think it's the entire show, and use numbers like 03 for both the 3rd song of both acts. So, I got all the songs (thanks to a useful website for the new site... there's like six different translations for the script) but I have to actually listen to it to know where the dialogue goes before I make an actual master folder to rename everything and know where things go. I have no idea who this mysterious gift giver is, but it is appreciated. An actual studio recording may never show up, and it's closing on June 25th, so I'm very certain I won't be seeing it.

Gay Pride Weekend is over. Everyone can go back to being ashamed...

I was in New York City (Bryant Park; next to the library) with Matt, Matt's mom, eLiz, Richy, Mark, and Jamie (and then later Jordana, [Walter's girlfriend] Katie, and [Jordana's friend] Ann[e]) watching the festivities.

It wasn't boring, and while it was going on, it was pretty fun. I enjoyed exchanging comments with Richy and Mark throughout, but while I only saw a few of the floats last year, there seemed to be a distinct... lack about it all. Every year there's a contest to see what group was "best," and Matt said that if the Home of Happiness/RockyCon float was on this year, we totally would've won. There were also a complete lack of famous people. The Grand Marshalls (who, I think are supposed to be the "face" of the parade, and part of the "Oh, look it's...") were all political, and the only people I recognized were Mayor Bloomberg, some senators, and some KTU "divas."

I actually really missed performing/being on a float.

We also saw Rivka/Rickie, Nogga, Jeremy/Sparklechild, and RockyMom. Seeing RockyMom was the highlight for me. She was walking with the PFLAG folk, and waving to everyone, and we were shouting "RockyMom!" She suddenly realized, Hey! That's me! and turned to us, and did a triple check, "My kids! It's my kids!" She ran over and hugged us all. That was great. She even hugged some random stranger that happened to be standing near us. "Are you one of my kids? No, well, you're one now!"

After the parade (which was a trailing 4 hours+), we got expensive food at TGIFridays.

Jamie, Matt, and I then went a roundabout (and fucking irritating) route to the Pier Dance. Now, the dance was BETTER this year due to the music being better, but I do not remember so many 35+ beefcakes last year. And, don't get me wrong; that's ok for what it is... but it was really like walking into the Stepford Fags... Everyone looked the same, and mutated. I like some muscle, but not when it looks like if you bump into me, I will liquify.

Janet Jackson appeared at the Pier Dance last year and sang "Don't Stop" and "Together Again" (which she forgot all the words to). This year, we got the Pussycat Dolls singing "Don't Cha." It was less than thrilling. Somewhere in the middle of the dance, though, Dr. Draw from the Bryant Park festivities of last Sunday appeared. He's the techno-violinist. He did a ten minute set... without stopping. He must've done like three songs (the first being "I Feel Love") but he didn't stop to change songs at all... He just transitioned over... It was quite amazing.

So, while not as thrilling (or even as exhausting) as last year, it was good stuff.

Afterward, we all very tired, so it was straight home and sex/food/bed for Matt and I. Fortunately, gay pride is an legit excuse to miss work the next day, so the office is closed this afternoon. I'll be able to spend some time with Matt tonight, as well, and catching up on the last two weeks of Queer As Folk as well, perhaps.

It was a really great show tonight, despite so many absences. Just a nice, intimate cast with a larger audience than we've been getting (yay summer). Everyone was spot-on, particularly Sarah as Frank and Matt as Rocky. Genevieve seemed perfectly at ease as Dr. Scott; appropriately brash for Eddie... Walter and Katie were well-matched for Riff Raff and Magenta, and Willow was adorable as Columbia. Danielle and I had a lot of fun as Janet and Brad, and we don't get to perform off each other very often, so that was a sincere bonus.

Tomorrow is Gay Pride in New York City... Matt, myself, eLiz, Matt's mom, Jamie, Richy, and Richy's [ex-boy]friend Mark are going. We should be seeing Jordana and some other cast-related friends/acquaintances as well. Looking forward to it; plus the pier party is sometime after the parade, which should be hot.

...I love gay people.

Today was good. Matt and I went into New York City to the Gay Pride Rally at Bryant Park. We also got our tickets for the pier dance post-gay-pride parade. We're not marching/on a float this year.

Bryant Park was fun, if random. Karen Williams hosted, and while entertaining, was not as good as Kate Clinton. I had e-mailed Josh Zuckerman to see if he was going to be there, but he said he wasn't invited; they like to mix their acts up apparently. Disappointing, that.

We saw some interesting talent, though, including the lesbian rap duo God-Des that did two tracks, one of which reminded me of Eminem ("Can't Stand"), and the second which reminded me of Bitch and Animal. The second song, which I don't know the name of, was a wonderful ode to cunnilingus which was blunt, offensive, and hysterical.

Also saw a Russian violinist named Dr. Draw, who combines dance beats and violin. He did a violin version of Donna Summer's "I Feel Love." That was fucking awesome! I got his CD; very nifty. "I Feel Love" isn't on it, though, sadly. And he doesn't seem to have a website; but if I ever find out that he released the "I Feel Love" version on a later CD, I'll have to get it.

Also there was dance artist Brian Kent (sucked), some dance/pop group that did a version of When in Rome's "The Promise," some other dance-"diva"s, comedians, and an ok-house band Cellardoor. Taborah (who we saw at the Gay Life Expo) and Rachael Sage were also there, but we didn't see them. It was a pretty decent smattering.

Afterwards, we got really great food. So, successful adventure, indeed.

Additionally, the Show on Saturday was good, too. Somewhat draining, but good. I also got my ankle smashed into (of all things) a unicycle. Ah, well. It'll heal.