The Great Australian Drag Show – GADS – was a ‘best of’ from our Drags Aloud shows. A ‘Greatest Hits’ sort of collection. We had 8 weeks to assemble the show and opened at the Leicester Theatre in London’s West End, followed by an extended season at The Theatres, Bleecker Street.
We first met Calvin Wynter at a preview midnight show in Edinburgh and he and Karen Koren decided on a season in New York. So with wide open eyes we flew out with our dreams of New York. The Theatres on Bleecker were official ‘Off-Broadway’ theatres which was an added cherry on top; a prestigious venue also which had hosted comics like Eddie Izzard and Mike Birbiglia.
Fate seemed to be roaring as we watched the lights of New York drawing closer from our illegal limousine ride. Then the landmarks appeared, and then our theatre, which to our surprise was also our living quaters! That didn’t work out and so after a few days of air mattresses on the stage floor, our accommodation was a house in Queens.
In a town swollen with publicity, we were pretty much emaciated. We had a publicist , Chip, who did what he could on a very limited budget. That’s how we ended up selling cupcakes with Joan Rivers on Celebrity Apprentice.. We handed out flyers at Radio City Hall, and did a promotional guest appearance at one of the comedy clubs and other than that, word of mouth worked again for us.
I would count New York as a successful experience, rather than a successful show.. It prepared us for challenge of White Magic in Edinbugh, it was at one of the clubs that Joan Rivers asked us backstage and invited us to open her show in Australia, If things had worked out well, Chip the publicist had outlined a draft program for Drags Aloud to appear at New York Fringe. Green Cards here we come! But show business is a zoo but there are a lot of predators and not many bars to hide behind.
At the level we were working at, we were hoping for ‘the big break’ which means being seen by the right people and at the right time, and so you climb the ladder until someone says “yes, I’m your Agent”. We had Calvin and Chip, both connected in the ways we needed. I think our ‘Australiana’ worked well and if we’d returned I think we would have had a good chance of travelling across America.
But wrong time, wrong place and fate took us back to Einburgh and our Christmas season at the Spiegletent called “White Magic”
