The Sound of Music Drag Show
When Karen Koren invited us to the Gilded Balloon for the Edinburg Fringe Festival it was decision time for our cast.
The commitment of a month of nightly shows, 3000 miles away, in a totally new environment and mindset was a challenge to us all. We all had careers and day jobs and a month’s absence from our daily lives was a juggling act.
Roxy, our ‘Baroness’ was at the start of a promising career in fashion and so reluctantly but understandably, Roxy declined to put all that on hold to take a gamble and tour a drag show to a foreign country with next to no safety net. So with a bit of re-editing and costuming Jackie Stephens became our ‘Baroness’ and our troupe was:
- Jessica James as Maria.
- Kris Del Vayze as The Captain, one of the children, a Nazi and Mother Superior.
- Amanda Monroe as Liesl, a Nazi and a Nun.
- Jillette Jones as the youngest child, Adolf Hitler and a nun.
- Jackie Stephens as the gender confused child, the Baroness, a Nazi and a nun.
- Miss Bunny as Rolf, an ADD child, a Nazi and a nun.
We were lucky that Christina Andrews was able to join us as Understudy/Backup. Christina had the talent to fill in for any role, but our main concern was Jillette. She had collapsed near the finale with a pinched back nerve at a show in Daylesford and she had to crawl off stage. We were concerned that Jill’s back problem might interrupt our run in Edinburgh. Christina Andrews kindly agreed to Understudy so that our run would go smoothly. Christina was exemplary and showed such talent that she became Rizzo in our Grease Lightnin’ show for our second year in Edinburgh.
The role of Dresser was essential. Keeping track of costumes and making sure changes were quick. The soundtrack was pre-recorded and ‘turntables wait for no drag queen’. With practice you learn to hit your mark, but if you’re late on stage it’s a cardinal sin. Our dresser was Alan Benedetti who took a vacation with us, and filled in for dresser for the run. We had intended to hire a local dresser, but Alan joining us was a stroke of good fortune.
