Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
TONY MONA
OMG! Halloween at Feathers!! It was like the coming of the pope. We would clean the bar and come up with the most outrageous costumes. I am not sure if it was the first Halloween or the second, But, I was determined to be the “sexy” bride of Frankenstein. Copying Marlena from “Days Of Our Lives” I had wanted to have silver sequin lightning bolts on both my hair and breast and a white skin tight dress. I could not find it in any store.
One night during Alton and my “cry fest” after a night of drinking a voice said, “I can help you find a dress for free.” I turned to see a 7 foot Brooke Shields, who turned out to be Tony Mona. “How?” I asked, still unsure of what I was looking at. He went on to explain that he had a secret way of getting dresses to wear.
Mind you this was my first introduction to Tony. He was in love with this guy named Frank and would drive around the parking lot smoking cigarettes and pot crying that Frank didn’t love him. Tony was 17 years old and couldn’t get into the bar. Frank would run into the bar to get away from Tony. Every time the front door opened you would hear “Frank Frank I love you” slam- the door would shut…. “Frank Frank I love you” slam- the door would shut…“Frank Frank I love you” slam- the door would shut…Little Sal, the Italian bouncer, got a kick out of how sad Tony was and would open the door just to hear it.
Tony didn’t have a car, but had a friend named Barbara who drove a Subaru and lived to make Tony happy. Tony, on the other hand, was determined not to be happy. All he did was moan about how horrible his life was- at 17. That is how he got his neck-name Tony Moaner….Tony Mona.
So Alton and I asked Tony about this free dress thing. Tony said he would take us there. We got into Alton’s car and drove up to Upper Saddle River and into a supermarket parking lot. Tony tells Alton to drive towards the Goodwill Dumpster and shine his lights and Beep! Alton does what he says and these two cars take off and these shadows jump out of the dumpsters and take off. “What the F…?” I thought- “Where the hell are you taking us? “I asked Tony… “Dumpster Diving…Had to get rid of the competition.” “What?” Alton giggled as he waited for a reply.
“Dumpster Diving. You dive into the Goodwill Dumpsters and search for dresses and whatever you are looking for.” Alton parked the car and Tony continued to explain as we got out of the car. “Really what poor person is going to wear a sequin butterfly mid drift?” “He has a point.” Alton tried to rationalize. “He wants us to dive into goodwill dumpsters and go clothes shopping.”
Tony, remember he is dressed in drag, hopped up onto the Goodwill bin and as he faded into the dark dumpster we heard- “Last one in gets the skid mark underwear.” “At what point did my life take this turn?” I said to Alton as we watched in amazement.
All we heard was “Ouuu Mama…Beautiful!”, “Too tight”, “Fab-boo”. “I’m going to throw some stuff out at you…put them in the car. I’ll see if anything is in your size.” Oh My God! He was right these hundred and thousand dollar dresses were being thrown at us. Prom dresses, mother of the bride dresses, evening wear, day wear. I was amazed.
Tony got himself out of the dumpster and started to size things up. He gave Alton a great prom dress that was just up Alton’s alley. ”Here I think this will fit you.” He said as he handed a white dress to me. It was my Sexy Bride of Frankenstein dress! Tony said he would teach me how to make sequin thunderbolts.
As we drove back to the bar, Tony went on to explain how he only jumps into dumpsters in good neighborhoods and not to waste your time in poor neighborhoods. “Not worth getting in trouble- Besides, some people live in them I jumped into one and a homeless man was in there! Hey, it’s warm and out of the cold.” He had a point.
On the way home Alton and I could not stop laughing. Feathers was giving us an education and life experiences that no one could prepare us for… I just kept picturing Tony Mona dressed as a 7 foot Brooke Shields jumping into a Dumpster and landing on a homeless person. Is it any surprise that Tony Mona would become my "gay Daughter"
Till Tomorrow, be kind
One night during Alton and my “cry fest” after a night of drinking a voice said, “I can help you find a dress for free.” I turned to see a 7 foot Brooke Shields, who turned out to be Tony Mona. “How?” I asked, still unsure of what I was looking at. He went on to explain that he had a secret way of getting dresses to wear.
Mind you this was my first introduction to Tony. He was in love with this guy named Frank and would drive around the parking lot smoking cigarettes and pot crying that Frank didn’t love him. Tony was 17 years old and couldn’t get into the bar. Frank would run into the bar to get away from Tony. Every time the front door opened you would hear “Frank Frank I love you” slam- the door would shut…. “Frank Frank I love you” slam- the door would shut…“Frank Frank I love you” slam- the door would shut…Little Sal, the Italian bouncer, got a kick out of how sad Tony was and would open the door just to hear it.
Tony didn’t have a car, but had a friend named Barbara who drove a Subaru and lived to make Tony happy. Tony, on the other hand, was determined not to be happy. All he did was moan about how horrible his life was- at 17. That is how he got his neck-name Tony Moaner….Tony Mona.
So Alton and I asked Tony about this free dress thing. Tony said he would take us there. We got into Alton’s car and drove up to Upper Saddle River and into a supermarket parking lot. Tony tells Alton to drive towards the Goodwill Dumpster and shine his lights and Beep! Alton does what he says and these two cars take off and these shadows jump out of the dumpsters and take off. “What the F…?” I thought- “Where the hell are you taking us? “I asked Tony… “Dumpster Diving…Had to get rid of the competition.” “What?” Alton giggled as he waited for a reply.
“Dumpster Diving. You dive into the Goodwill Dumpsters and search for dresses and whatever you are looking for.” Alton parked the car and Tony continued to explain as we got out of the car. “Really what poor person is going to wear a sequin butterfly mid drift?” “He has a point.” Alton tried to rationalize. “He wants us to dive into goodwill dumpsters and go clothes shopping.”
Tony, remember he is dressed in drag, hopped up onto the Goodwill bin and as he faded into the dark dumpster we heard- “Last one in gets the skid mark underwear.” “At what point did my life take this turn?” I said to Alton as we watched in amazement.
All we heard was “Ouuu Mama…Beautiful!”, “Too tight”, “Fab-boo”. “I’m going to throw some stuff out at you…put them in the car. I’ll see if anything is in your size.” Oh My God! He was right these hundred and thousand dollar dresses were being thrown at us. Prom dresses, mother of the bride dresses, evening wear, day wear. I was amazed.
Tony got himself out of the dumpster and started to size things up. He gave Alton a great prom dress that was just up Alton’s alley. ”Here I think this will fit you.” He said as he handed a white dress to me. It was my Sexy Bride of Frankenstein dress! Tony said he would teach me how to make sequin thunderbolts.
As we drove back to the bar, Tony went on to explain how he only jumps into dumpsters in good neighborhoods and not to waste your time in poor neighborhoods. “Not worth getting in trouble- Besides, some people live in them I jumped into one and a homeless man was in there! Hey, it’s warm and out of the cold.” He had a point.
On the way home Alton and I could not stop laughing. Feathers was giving us an education and life experiences that no one could prepare us for… I just kept picturing Tony Mona dressed as a 7 foot Brooke Shields jumping into a Dumpster and landing on a homeless person. Is it any surprise that Tony Mona would become my "gay Daughter"
Till Tomorrow, be kind
Friday, February 26, 2010
MARTY
The success of my roller skating number was like daggers into Terry’s empty void where a heart would lie. No matter how many shots of liquor he threw back the sound of MY applause echoed in his head. He was determine to rid the bar of me and the more he tried the more I succeeded.
Mind you I knew none of this and only found out years later. At the time, I was just doing what I was told. All I wanted was for Rodger to have his shows and I was hoping John would just whisk me off my feet and take me away from all this craziness. John was still a shadow in my life. I wanted him to be the star of my life, but he was shy or not interested. The more I tried to get to know him the further away he went. His signs confused me. I would go to the opposite side of the bar as to not bother him and he would find a reason to come over by me. Then I would say hi to him and he would brush me off and walk away. I was a mess.
One of the people responsible for my success on stage was the bar sound and light designer, Joel. Joel worked for a recording studio and would examine and give me notes on my performances. “You’re prepping your jokes” “The audience expected that move” “Great job!” I always looked forward to his notes. He really knew when I was walking through a number and when I was really working it. He would prepare songs for me on record albums and place skips in songs and mix numbers. My week started with Hank and Joel discussing my number and how to make it funny, a fitting with MARTY DE GAYBAR because Hank wanted me to wear only his dresses. Hank wanted Terry to do my make-up- I put my foot down on that one…Terry had told me how the jealous queens would grind glass into eye shadow and make eyes bleed. I still went to Rodgers and he did my make-up. We laughed and had dinner. I could see it was hurting him making me up and then me saying good-bye. Hank was not budging and Rodger refused to apologize. I eventually had Casper do my make-up at the bar. It was so uncomfortable and such a pain. I hated people touching my face with make-up and made no secrets.
Alton kept his distance from the shows. He was down to waitering two nights a week and trying to get out of that. Everyone wanted to work at the bar, but once you did and saw the ugliness of people you just wanted to run! Mind you I was still a hand stamper on week-ends, I really didn’t have a bar job yet.
We were coming into my first bar Halloween! OMG! What a trip that was. Every guy was dressed as a girl. It was so funny. I was the guest judge and I thought everyone deserved to win. This was before Hank got involved with Halloween. Eventually Hank had decided he wanted a theme night Halloween for the staff. The first theme Halloween was the Wizard of OZ. I was Glinda, the good witch. Marty amazed me with the outfit. He started wrapping me in white netting-10 yards! And had a crown made out of a bleach bottle. I was not impressed. Glinda was wide dress and bubbly. Well, Marty took 10 helium balloons and put them under the netting. The balloons lifted the netting and gave me the “Glinda lift”. Marty never ceased to amaze me.Granted I was walking around with balloons up my ass. but I looked good in the pics.
Marty was about to have his time at the bar be put to an end…Peter, Oe’s boyfriend had moved in with him and was jealous that Marty was getting attention, or was it Oe that didn’t like the fact that Peter noticed Marty-either way Hank was planning a trip to Florida and Oe had a shit eating grin on his face.He knew someone was getting fired, but who and why. Terry shared a few shots with Oe in the corner. Marty had refused to make dresses for Terry being Terry never had any money...
Till tomorrow, be kind.
Mind you I knew none of this and only found out years later. At the time, I was just doing what I was told. All I wanted was for Rodger to have his shows and I was hoping John would just whisk me off my feet and take me away from all this craziness. John was still a shadow in my life. I wanted him to be the star of my life, but he was shy or not interested. The more I tried to get to know him the further away he went. His signs confused me. I would go to the opposite side of the bar as to not bother him and he would find a reason to come over by me. Then I would say hi to him and he would brush me off and walk away. I was a mess.
One of the people responsible for my success on stage was the bar sound and light designer, Joel. Joel worked for a recording studio and would examine and give me notes on my performances. “You’re prepping your jokes” “The audience expected that move” “Great job!” I always looked forward to his notes. He really knew when I was walking through a number and when I was really working it. He would prepare songs for me on record albums and place skips in songs and mix numbers. My week started with Hank and Joel discussing my number and how to make it funny, a fitting with MARTY DE GAYBAR because Hank wanted me to wear only his dresses. Hank wanted Terry to do my make-up- I put my foot down on that one…Terry had told me how the jealous queens would grind glass into eye shadow and make eyes bleed. I still went to Rodgers and he did my make-up. We laughed and had dinner. I could see it was hurting him making me up and then me saying good-bye. Hank was not budging and Rodger refused to apologize. I eventually had Casper do my make-up at the bar. It was so uncomfortable and such a pain. I hated people touching my face with make-up and made no secrets.
Alton kept his distance from the shows. He was down to waitering two nights a week and trying to get out of that. Everyone wanted to work at the bar, but once you did and saw the ugliness of people you just wanted to run! Mind you I was still a hand stamper on week-ends, I really didn’t have a bar job yet.
We were coming into my first bar Halloween! OMG! What a trip that was. Every guy was dressed as a girl. It was so funny. I was the guest judge and I thought everyone deserved to win. This was before Hank got involved with Halloween. Eventually Hank had decided he wanted a theme night Halloween for the staff. The first theme Halloween was the Wizard of OZ. I was Glinda, the good witch. Marty amazed me with the outfit. He started wrapping me in white netting-10 yards! And had a crown made out of a bleach bottle. I was not impressed. Glinda was wide dress and bubbly. Well, Marty took 10 helium balloons and put them under the netting. The balloons lifted the netting and gave me the “Glinda lift”. Marty never ceased to amaze me.Granted I was walking around with balloons up my ass. but I looked good in the pics.
Marty was about to have his time at the bar be put to an end…Peter, Oe’s boyfriend had moved in with him and was jealous that Marty was getting attention, or was it Oe that didn’t like the fact that Peter noticed Marty-either way Hank was planning a trip to Florida and Oe had a shit eating grin on his face.He knew someone was getting fired, but who and why. Terry shared a few shots with Oe in the corner. Marty had refused to make dresses for Terry being Terry never had any money...
Till tomorrow, be kind.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
I'd Rather Be Blue
The show may have not been one of our best, but the customers loved seeing hot bartenders in drag. Being that show was impromptu Hank was determined to make the next one bigger and better. Paul, Dominick and Peter were rehearsing choreography that Sammy was putting together. Sammy had been on tour with those color guard/ band shows and had picked up a thing or two about dance steps and Hank didn’t have to pay him.
Hank’s idea was to have the feather men meet the La Plumes- a modern version of the Featherette’s. They were to perform disco girl trio group numbers. The La Plumes consisted of JC (a very good hearted heavy set African American customer), Casper and Terry. Terry didn’t mind doing group numbers in a group he was in charge of. They were dressed in Terry originals- I can still heard Casper bitching about wearing a dress made from Miss Shit material (Miss Shit was what Casper called Lorax material- it was a fake sequin effect) To top the it off Terry stuffed the on shoulder with newspaper. “I have ink stains on my shoulders!” Casper continued bitching.
Update on the bar appearance, by this time Hank had the employee’s come in twice a year for cleaning. He would buy pizza and the employee’s would wash the place down and scrub behind the bar. We would fix any small things that needed it- touch up any small paint jobs. On the corner of the big bar upstairs was Tiffany hanging lights, the bars were tile tops. The downstairs and around the upstairs bar on the floor was rug. The waiters had to vacuum before and after the bar closed. Smoking was allowed in the bar and everyone used the floor as an ashtray. When the vacuum broke Hank had us sweep the rug- my arms used to burn. Then Hank decided instead of paying the waiter the extra twenty dollars to sweep the rug, he would do it. The man made managers pay, owned the coatroom and took the tips and was sweeping the floors for twenty dollars. Karma
Marty DE GAYBAR was making the Feather men’s outfits and the guys wanted a real girl look so they hired Rodger to do their make-up. We couldn’t tell Hank.
I was told I had to do an intermission number so that the audience wasn’t seeing the one group on top of the other. Lucky me.
Hank asked me to meet him at the bar early one night to choose a song. I was kind of flattered that he invited me to pick my own song, and scared to meet with him alone. When I entered the bar and heard Barbra Striesand singing “Hello Dolly” my fears subsided-who can get it on listening to show tunes. We had settled on a number from “Funny Girl” “I’d Rather Be Blue”. Streisand did the number on roller skates and I had never roller skated. Hank thought it would be funny to have me do it on skates and have someone following me with a pillow for when I fell.
I chose to learn how to shake. Marty was to teach me, on top of make my dress to look like the one she wore in the movie. God Bless Marty! After an hour of trying he gave up and I was black and blue. “You have had me in more positions than my lovers!” He snapped as he left the dance floor rubbing his bruises. The next day I went to the roller rink in Bergenfield and paid a kid twenty dollar to teach me. I learned to skate in circles and actually do a kick.
The night of the show came and I made history performing the number. I was flawless and adlibbed the number to fit the club dimensions. I started it off nervous and acting like I was going to fall- the crowd gasped and felt relieved. I did small circles and then the kicks across the dance floor. The number was going terrific until the end when I realized that I never learned how to stop on the skates. There I was traveling into the crowd and they were backing up as they saw my fear. Then a cute customer came to tip me and I grabbed his sweater and stopped. Everyone went wild and I met my hero! Karl.
Everyone was amazed the first time I did the number that they stamped for five minutes for an encore and they got it, but this time all they did was tip me. I never moved-people just kept putting money in me. It was a high. Hank was supposed to have taped the show, but didn’t remember what he did with it. That was fine with me I lived it and I can remember the moment like it was yesterday.
Sometimes I think taping things takes away from the memory. I think human nature allows us to remember event’s the way we need to remember them. It helps us in the future when looking back. Film shows the unromantic, color reality. Think of the first time someone said “I love you” to you. Now imagine if it was taped. You would be more interested in the surroundings than the moment.
Till tomorrow, be kind
Hank’s idea was to have the feather men meet the La Plumes- a modern version of the Featherette’s. They were to perform disco girl trio group numbers. The La Plumes consisted of JC (a very good hearted heavy set African American customer), Casper and Terry. Terry didn’t mind doing group numbers in a group he was in charge of. They were dressed in Terry originals- I can still heard Casper bitching about wearing a dress made from Miss Shit material (Miss Shit was what Casper called Lorax material- it was a fake sequin effect) To top the it off Terry stuffed the on shoulder with newspaper. “I have ink stains on my shoulders!” Casper continued bitching.
Update on the bar appearance, by this time Hank had the employee’s come in twice a year for cleaning. He would buy pizza and the employee’s would wash the place down and scrub behind the bar. We would fix any small things that needed it- touch up any small paint jobs. On the corner of the big bar upstairs was Tiffany hanging lights, the bars were tile tops. The downstairs and around the upstairs bar on the floor was rug. The waiters had to vacuum before and after the bar closed. Smoking was allowed in the bar and everyone used the floor as an ashtray. When the vacuum broke Hank had us sweep the rug- my arms used to burn. Then Hank decided instead of paying the waiter the extra twenty dollars to sweep the rug, he would do it. The man made managers pay, owned the coatroom and took the tips and was sweeping the floors for twenty dollars. Karma
Marty DE GAYBAR was making the Feather men’s outfits and the guys wanted a real girl look so they hired Rodger to do their make-up. We couldn’t tell Hank.
I was told I had to do an intermission number so that the audience wasn’t seeing the one group on top of the other. Lucky me.
Hank asked me to meet him at the bar early one night to choose a song. I was kind of flattered that he invited me to pick my own song, and scared to meet with him alone. When I entered the bar and heard Barbra Striesand singing “Hello Dolly” my fears subsided-who can get it on listening to show tunes. We had settled on a number from “Funny Girl” “I’d Rather Be Blue”. Streisand did the number on roller skates and I had never roller skated. Hank thought it would be funny to have me do it on skates and have someone following me with a pillow for when I fell.
I chose to learn how to shake. Marty was to teach me, on top of make my dress to look like the one she wore in the movie. God Bless Marty! After an hour of trying he gave up and I was black and blue. “You have had me in more positions than my lovers!” He snapped as he left the dance floor rubbing his bruises. The next day I went to the roller rink in Bergenfield and paid a kid twenty dollar to teach me. I learned to skate in circles and actually do a kick.
The night of the show came and I made history performing the number. I was flawless and adlibbed the number to fit the club dimensions. I started it off nervous and acting like I was going to fall- the crowd gasped and felt relieved. I did small circles and then the kicks across the dance floor. The number was going terrific until the end when I realized that I never learned how to stop on the skates. There I was traveling into the crowd and they were backing up as they saw my fear. Then a cute customer came to tip me and I grabbed his sweater and stopped. Everyone went wild and I met my hero! Karl.
Everyone was amazed the first time I did the number that they stamped for five minutes for an encore and they got it, but this time all they did was tip me. I never moved-people just kept putting money in me. It was a high. Hank was supposed to have taped the show, but didn’t remember what he did with it. That was fine with me I lived it and I can remember the moment like it was yesterday.
Sometimes I think taping things takes away from the memory. I think human nature allows us to remember event’s the way we need to remember them. It helps us in the future when looking back. Film shows the unromantic, color reality. Think of the first time someone said “I love you” to you. Now imagine if it was taped. You would be more interested in the surroundings than the moment.
Till tomorrow, be kind
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
The Dull Return
Returning from Fire Island to River Edge New Jersey was such a let down, but it was the famous Feathers Monday Dollar night and we had a Fab tan! (This was before the sun caused skin cancer and we could bake in the sun. They actually sold foil sun mat! It looked like a roll of aluminum foil and you would unroll it and lay in the sun. You would bake, but you would get a date-gay men loved tanned guys.)
Of course we relayed how we were island stars, it’s not like anyone was there to see us. But Sammy somehow found out! “So I heard you bombed on the Island and they’re not letting you back!” “Give me a drink and shut up. I missed your drinks.” Casper ordered. “Not everyone can make a drink like me.” Sammy basked in the compliment until Casper added, as he took the drink…”Mary anyone can make a vodka cranberry, but you don’t charge me.”
We may have bombed on the Island, but we had our home bar. Terry came out to promote his solo show that Tuesday. Alton and I were happy that the pressure of the shows was off our shoulders. Hank had lost interest in us and that was fine. Customers still came up to us and told us how much they missed us. We thanked them and tried to change the subject. I assume they said the same thing to Hank because off of a sudden he came up with a turnabout night. “Turnabout night?” “The guys portray you girls and you girls pretend to be guys.” Hank rambled on…”But we are guys.” I had to remind Hank.
Terry was drafted to replace Rodger, “I don’t do group numbers Hank Darling” Terry reminded Hank. “You will if you want to do shows here.”
The Feather Men were the new Featherette’s doing our old songs. Because Terry was in charge of the music he conveniently lost our group songs. Hank had old 45’s for us to chose from to perform that night. I think I did “Venus” or some other silly like that. Alton refused to do the show “I don’t know any of these songs and I don’t want to look foolish.”
“Now you’re concerned about what you look like on stage? You are a weak link.” Hank turned his back on Alton.
The damage was done and once Alton stood up to Hank, Hank was out for him. I had to throw myself between the two of them. I had one thing that not even Terry had, I had talent, not the talent I wanted, but the talent to get my friends what they wanted. Rodger wanted to be back at the club and Alton wanted him as much as I did so I had a mission. The return of the original Featherette’s.
Of course we relayed how we were island stars, it’s not like anyone was there to see us. But Sammy somehow found out! “So I heard you bombed on the Island and they’re not letting you back!” “Give me a drink and shut up. I missed your drinks.” Casper ordered. “Not everyone can make a drink like me.” Sammy basked in the compliment until Casper added, as he took the drink…”Mary anyone can make a vodka cranberry, but you don’t charge me.”
We may have bombed on the Island, but we had our home bar. Terry came out to promote his solo show that Tuesday. Alton and I were happy that the pressure of the shows was off our shoulders. Hank had lost interest in us and that was fine. Customers still came up to us and told us how much they missed us. We thanked them and tried to change the subject. I assume they said the same thing to Hank because off of a sudden he came up with a turnabout night. “Turnabout night?” “The guys portray you girls and you girls pretend to be guys.” Hank rambled on…”But we are guys.” I had to remind Hank.
Terry was drafted to replace Rodger, “I don’t do group numbers Hank Darling” Terry reminded Hank. “You will if you want to do shows here.”
The Feather Men were the new Featherette’s doing our old songs. Because Terry was in charge of the music he conveniently lost our group songs. Hank had old 45’s for us to chose from to perform that night. I think I did “Venus” or some other silly like that. Alton refused to do the show “I don’t know any of these songs and I don’t want to look foolish.”
“Now you’re concerned about what you look like on stage? You are a weak link.” Hank turned his back on Alton.
The damage was done and once Alton stood up to Hank, Hank was out for him. I had to throw myself between the two of them. I had one thing that not even Terry had, I had talent, not the talent I wanted, but the talent to get my friends what they wanted. Rodger wanted to be back at the club and Alton wanted him as much as I did so I had a mission. The return of the original Featherette’s.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Fire Island 2
Casper, Alton and I left for Fire Island at 8am on a Saturday morning. We were to perform at 8 that night. Being we were performing in the amateur show we were given a room and we were three friends out to party! Imagine a free Saturday night on Fire Island AND to be able to tell people you were “guest” of management. Alton was going to perform Sheena Easton’s “For your Eyes Only”, Casper was doing “High Energy” and I was performing my dream song “Quiet Please there’s a Lady on Stage” by Gloria Loring the star of “Days Of Our Lives”. I died that I was able to perform my idol! While the others went to Mandee’s and bought girlie outfits, I went to the fabric shop and decided I would make my own dress. Black skin tight outfit with sequins on the shoulder, I was going to knock them dead!
The black satin was twenty dollars a yard, similar looking material (Coat lining) one dollar a yard-who would know. I bought 25 bags of sequins and started to sew on Thursday and continued Saturday morning in the car. We laughed, but I knew I was going to be breathless. The whole shoulder was going to blind the audience, or me. I was going batty looking at the gold shining in my eyes.
I remember how fabulous I felt as we loaded our stuff onto the boat that took us to the Island. Smelling the salt, fresh air and watching the lovers hug as they went on their exciting escape. I continued to sew my sequins. The boat landed and there were guys on top of guys, shirtless and laughing holding drinks. Casper and Alton were like dogs in heat, I sewed my sequins. We checked into the room and met up with Chris-he encouraged us to dress in drag and mingle. Casper and Alton mingled, I sewed sequins. It was time to get ready for the show I finally tried on the dress. They were dressed in their Mandee sales outfit and I was in my homemade-lop-sided dress with sequins on the back! When I sewed it pulled the material up and one side was four inches higher than the other. I sequins were very heavy and pulled the shoulder behind my neck-in fact it was choking me. The announced me and I went out to my tape recorded number of Gloria singing on “Days” as Liz which on a nightclub speaker does not sound that great. I tried to sell the number , but spend most of the time trying not to gag from the dress choking my neck. I almost fell off the stage straining to hear my number, never mind lip-syncing. Casper got his high heel stuck in the floor and fell flat on his face. Alton went out to his song and they played the instrumental side, he just pulled a Rodger and walked back and forth waving. He laughed as we ate the pizza we bought with the winnings-Alton pulled it off and got lucky along the way. Casper got a proposal and a man offered to take him away if he lived in drag. We had a great time that night dancing on the decks and walking on the beach with a guy who swore to love me forever and I am not sure he even exchanged phone numbers, but had a great two days.
The three of us met at our hotel room the next afternoon. It was Sunday and the big tea dance began at 1:00 pm. We cleaned ourselves up and laughed at our adventure. We had all went to different house parties and had stories upon stories of unique people and insane situations. When we went to Tea we were the stars of the Island. Between the three of us we had met three quarters of the Island and was about to meet the rest. I laughed with Alton because Casper had returned to the room and got in drag for his millionaire. Chris had secured a room for us if we wanted to stay an extra night-We wanted to stay all summer!
Sunday night found the Island quite quiet and serene. We laid on lounges at the pool with our beach drinks. We laughed into the night at what an adventurous week-end and the stories we would tell our grandchildren…We laughed ourselves to sleep and woke up in the early morning island fresh air. Well, left the island and smiled at the thought of returning…What a life we had!
Till Tomorrow, Be kind
The black satin was twenty dollars a yard, similar looking material (Coat lining) one dollar a yard-who would know. I bought 25 bags of sequins and started to sew on Thursday and continued Saturday morning in the car. We laughed, but I knew I was going to be breathless. The whole shoulder was going to blind the audience, or me. I was going batty looking at the gold shining in my eyes.
I remember how fabulous I felt as we loaded our stuff onto the boat that took us to the Island. Smelling the salt, fresh air and watching the lovers hug as they went on their exciting escape. I continued to sew my sequins. The boat landed and there were guys on top of guys, shirtless and laughing holding drinks. Casper and Alton were like dogs in heat, I sewed my sequins. We checked into the room and met up with Chris-he encouraged us to dress in drag and mingle. Casper and Alton mingled, I sewed sequins. It was time to get ready for the show I finally tried on the dress. They were dressed in their Mandee sales outfit and I was in my homemade-lop-sided dress with sequins on the back! When I sewed it pulled the material up and one side was four inches higher than the other. I sequins were very heavy and pulled the shoulder behind my neck-in fact it was choking me. The announced me and I went out to my tape recorded number of Gloria singing on “Days” as Liz which on a nightclub speaker does not sound that great. I tried to sell the number , but spend most of the time trying not to gag from the dress choking my neck. I almost fell off the stage straining to hear my number, never mind lip-syncing. Casper got his high heel stuck in the floor and fell flat on his face. Alton went out to his song and they played the instrumental side, he just pulled a Rodger and walked back and forth waving. He laughed as we ate the pizza we bought with the winnings-Alton pulled it off and got lucky along the way. Casper got a proposal and a man offered to take him away if he lived in drag. We had a great time that night dancing on the decks and walking on the beach with a guy who swore to love me forever and I am not sure he even exchanged phone numbers, but had a great two days.
The three of us met at our hotel room the next afternoon. It was Sunday and the big tea dance began at 1:00 pm. We cleaned ourselves up and laughed at our adventure. We had all went to different house parties and had stories upon stories of unique people and insane situations. When we went to Tea we were the stars of the Island. Between the three of us we had met three quarters of the Island and was about to meet the rest. I laughed with Alton because Casper had returned to the room and got in drag for his millionaire. Chris had secured a room for us if we wanted to stay an extra night-We wanted to stay all summer!
Sunday night found the Island quite quiet and serene. We laid on lounges at the pool with our beach drinks. We laughed into the night at what an adventurous week-end and the stories we would tell our grandchildren…We laughed ourselves to sleep and woke up in the early morning island fresh air. Well, left the island and smiled at the thought of returning…What a life we had!
Till Tomorrow, Be kind
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