"Oh lord, sweet Jesus," she started as she fell to her knees. "Please pray for these sinners to see the error in their ways. I love them all, but cannot forgive them for their sins. Help set them on the path of righteousness so that they can be saved from the eternal damnation of the pits of hell where Beelzebub will torture them to the end of eternity.”
"Is she serious?" Miss Gigi asked.
"Unfortunately she is," Marjorie interjected. "Mrs. Tuttle, come on. Get off your knees and come into the kitchen for a glass of tea."
And with that Marjorie whisked my momma into the kitchen. It was a small apartment, so I could hear her praying all the way to the kitchen and in the kitchen. I could also hear Marjorie trying to calm her down.
This was not a good time for drama, as if any time really was, but it was making me perspire, and I didn't want to ruin my make up or get an embarrassing pit stain. I've got to be up in front of people shortly, laying my soul bare.
"Miss Gigi, I'm so sorry you have to get caught up in my family drama."
"Honey, every family has drama. Don't think that any family is perfect. She should be thankful you aren't a serial killer. Try explaining that at the Sunday social. Speaking of serial killers, did I ever tell you I met one once?”
"Really?"
"Yes. I used to belong to a social group, which was wonderful because the group always had these great functions. One day, I met a lovely gentleman by the name of Tim Spencer at one of the potlucks. He was a nurse and absolutely swept me off my feet."
"Go on."
"One day, I am just walking back into my apartment when my cell phone rings, and it was my good friend Rufus. He asks if I was watching the news, which of course, I wasn't. He says turn on Channel 2, so I did, and there was this driver's license on the news. He asks if that was Tim Spencer, and I said it sure looks like him. So we come to find out that Tim was injecting patients in the hospital to cause them to have a heart attack so he could be the hero by bringing them back. Unfortunately, several of them didn't come back."
"What has this to do with me?"
"Honey, what I'm saying is that there are a lot worse things in this world that you could be besides gay and a drag queen. Also, did I ever tell you that I once had a roommate who was a prostitute and had a pet skunk?”
I looked at Miss Gigi exasperated.
"I'll save that story for another day. Look, you are a good kid with a great heart. If your mother doesn't realize that, then she is missing out on so much."
I hugged Miss Gigi for giving me the reassurance I needed. I tried to be a good person, and even though I was not a church-goer, I believed with all my heart that if you lived a good life and treated everyone how you wanted to be treated, then there is no reason why I shouldn't be entitled to whatever comes after we pass on. Let's face the reality that we all have an expiration date.
"Do you think I should try talking to momma?" I asked.
"Let's see what Marjorie thinks? Oh Marjorie, can you come out here for a minute?" Miss Gigi called.
I could hear Marjorie say to momma to stay there and that she would be right back, and she headed out to chat with us.
"Ladies, I suggest you head over to the club. I'm finally getting her calmed down and her friend should be by shortly to pick her up. I will meet you as soon as she is out the door," she said.
"Do I risk another scolding if I stick my head into the kitchen to say goodbye?"
"Yes. Just head on out. I'll keep her busy in the kitchen for a bit while you finish packing up."
"Will you be okay Marjorie?" I asked.
"This isn't the first time I've had to calm your momma down. Remember the first time you went on a date with a boy? I think he name was Steven, wasn't it?"
"Yes, Steven. He was very nice, but a little dull," I said.
"Go. I'll catch up with you shortly."
"Okay." I yelled towards the kitchen, "Momma have a safe drive back to Clayton."
There was dead silence from the kitchen so I yelled again, "I love you momma, and I'll see you soon." Dead silence again.
"Come on sweetie. We've got to get going. I'm sure your adoring fans are waiting for you.
CHAPTER 43
We got to the club later than I wanted because of the drama. I grabbed a program as I entered the Cabaret Room. There my name was in bold letters just below the "Bombshell" title. I was in print, so I guess that made it official that I had to go through with it.
I was surprised by how many people were in the club room. There were only ten tickets presold, but there were about fifty people in the room, so most of them had to have purchased their tickets at the door. This was more than I could have hoped for. I know we really worked hard on getting this together and promoting it, so I hoped everyone would be happy with what we were about to present. I didn't take rejection well. I guess I shouldn't call it rejection, but instead criticism. Rejection is when your date gives you VD and you make the commitment then and there never to have sex with him again. That is rejection.
All the cast was there backstage and almost totally ready. Germaine had stepped up to make sure everyone was in costume before we even got there. He really was a good friend.
I could feel the excitement among everyone in the cast. This was a great bonding experience for all of us, especially those of us who had not done live theater before. All my cast mates were so complimentary and gave me words of encouragement. This was so different than what I was used to when it came to the drag shows. I was getting a little hyper backstage. My knees started shaking a little, so I had to pull my shit together. This was not a time for a screwdriver, as I had to keep my wits about me so that I could remember my lines, my words, and the choreography. I wished Marjorie would get here. She always knew what to do to calm me down.
"Darling, go and mingle with the crowd," Germaine said as he squeezed my hands. "Remember, they are here to see you tonight and everything is under control. Our once ugly duckling is ready for her swan moment." He hugged me and pushed me into the crowd.
I had never sung live before a large crowd. I didn’t count rehearsals because there were only a handful of people around when I hit the stage and belted out my numbers. Since we were on a shoestring budget, the cast was singing to tracks from the show with the vocals taken out. Heaven help us if any of the tracks started skipping. Singing gave me great joy because I could really feel these songs from my heart, which I hoped would translate live. It was funny to think at this moment that most of the queens on Ru Paul's drag race all do music to extend their brand. Maybe this was Desiree's way of extending her brand.
For this show, I had one of the theatre groups positioned at the dressing room door so that none of the shenanigans would happen that happened to me during the drag shows. This was a night to make sure everything went like clockwork. Barry was our door security man. He was just so cute I could have eaten up all his bearness with a spoon. Unfortunately I would probably be picking out the pubic hair from my teeth for a week.
Several of the other contestants I would have expected to come to the show came by to wish me well. "Sweetie, I just wanted to let you know how proud I am of how far you have come. Remember to relax and you will have a great show," Miss Mary Jane Bazooka said. I loved Mary Jane because she had always been the most supportive of me.
"Thank you so much for coming. I hope you enjoy the show.”
Precious Oil was also very kind. "Gurl, kill it out there. I know you got it in you."
And of course, Athena showed up, but she didn't stop to say anything to me. I didn't know she was there until Barry called me over. He had prevented her from going into the dressing room. I could see her arms flailing in the air at poor Barry. He was too nice to have to put up with someone like her.
"May I help you, Athena?" I asked as I strolled up to the mayhem.
"Look, bitch, I have every right to go into the dressing room, and you can't stop me," she yelled.
"Why, yes I can. For tonight, Marni gave me pe
rmission to bar anyone not involved with the production from going in. Since you have nothing to do with the show, you are not welcome backstage. I don't want anything to go missing or get damaged."
"Are you calling me a thief, you cunt? You better not be. Marni is going to hear about this."
"Marni is going to hear about what?" Marni said as he stood behind Athena.
"This bitch," Athena started and was cut short.
"No names tonight, Athena. Desiree, go ahead and do what you need to. I will take care of it from here." Marni waved me off, but continued to scold Athena. "You are more than welcome to watch the show, but you and all the other contestants are barred from the dressing room tonight," he said.
"I have stuff at my dressing table I need to get," she insisted.
"No you do not," Marni responded. "I did a walk-through of the dressing room earlier today to make sure everything was clear for the show tonight. There is nothing on any of the dressing tables. So, as I said, you are more than welcome to watch the show, but you are not getting in the dressing room."
"I have never been treated so poorly. Mr. Winston is going to hear about this."
"Hear about what?" Mr. Winston asked.
"I give up." Athena finally slunk back to her table where her ruffled feathers were soothed by her band of cronies.
All of a sudden, I felt two meaty arms grab my waist from behind. I turned around and it was Paul and Chas. "Break a leg," Paul said.
"You will be fabulous," Chas said.
"Is Albert coming?" I asked.
"I'm sorry Desiree, but he just couldn't get his heart clear to come out tonight," Paul said, trying to let me down gently.
"I tried talking to him today, but all he said was as long as that crazy bitch was in the room, he would rather have his rectum rammed by a lesbian team of Lacrosse players who were all on their period at the same time with their pointy sticks,” Chas said.
"Ouch. I understand. I will try talking to him again. Thanks for coming and grab your seats. We will be starting shortly." We air kissed and they both went to the bar to grab a drink.
Marjorie had still not arrived and we were fifteen minutes from show time. There was no drag time when you were putting on a live show. The latest we were going to start was five minutes after eight, which Germaine said was the proper start time to let people get to their seats.
Sandra got me into my opening number, and of course Miss Gigi and Germaine checked to make sure that everything was in place. We looked over the rest of my costumes, which were lined up on the rolling dress rack. I had five costume changes, so they had to be perfectly timed so that I could get off, strip, get re-outfitted, and get back on stage.
Miss Gigi took her place backstage with the headset on so that she could communicate with Scott the DJ, who agreed to do sound for the show as well. Kandi took her place at the spotlight, so we were all in place
The house lights flashed at the ten minute warning, letting people know it was time to get to their seats. Luckily, Marjorie came running in.
"God loves your mother because I don't think anybody else will put up with her. That woman can drive you guano crazy," were the first words out of her mouth. "I think I got her calmed down, and her friend came and got her. You might want to give her a couple of days before you give her a call," was her only advice.
"I am so glad you made it," I said I gave her a big hug. "Thanks for helping me not become a hot mess."
"You're welcome, boo," she said.
"Time to gather around, everybody," Miss Gigi said as she got the cast and crew into a circle backstage and made everyone hold hands. "We can't thank ya'll enough for donating your time to come out and help us raise money for Atlanta Street Rescue. Please bow your heads." She started a prayer. "Dear God, bless these humble, creative players as we attempt something to bring joy into the lives of everyone who has come out to support us tonight. We do this in your name. Amen."
"Amen," the cast responded.
And with that, everyone got into their opening positions.
The clock struck 8:05.
The room went black.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the debut performance of ‘Bombshell.’”
The music for the opening song, "Let Me Be Your Star," started and the curtain opened. The spotlight blinded me for a second.
I was standing center stage as blonde Marilyn surrounded by several other Marilyns in various poses. The music continued and the words flowed out of my mouth. I think I hit all the right notes, even the high note on the word repertoire. Once I did that, I felt like nothing was going to stop me tonight. We all moved naturally to Marjorie's choreography and everyone hit their mark. The song finished and the crowd clapped very loudly. My heart raced. This was a different feeling than doing a drag number, but I didn't have time to dwell on that.
More words kept coming out of my mouth as the scenes changed and I interacted with the other characters. I even made it though the first two costume changes without any issues.
Miss Gigi and I took some liberty from the original show since they didn't put much dialogue into the actual Broadway show they were putting on, and we eliminated the scene where Marilyn went naked. I don't think a naked drag queen would work for this show.
The story of Marilyn's life has been told so many times, and we wanted to make it a little more light with some more comedy elements since she was a comic genius. The crowd laughed at all the jokes. The final first half number, "Let's Be Bad," was over, and before I knew it we were at intermission. I was flabbergasted that it went by so quickly.
The stage went dark, the curtain closed and the house lights came up. I immediately heard a buzz in the room.
"Oh my God, darlings, that was incredible," Germaine said as he came running in from the wing. He brought me a towel so I could pat down the sweat on my forehead. "Remember to blot," he said. "Blot only."
"Thank you," I said. But I needed to see what Marjorie thought. She had never pulled punches when it came to giving me the truth, and I could see her still in the stage wing.
I came face to face with her, but she didn't want to look me in the eye. The show was a disaster, and she just couldn’t say it.
"Boo, you know I love you," she said.
Here it comes. She is getting ready to drop the hammer.
"It was fucking awesome, baby!" Her face lit up brighter than a tree on Christmas. "You are fabulous! Now let's get you changed into your next outfit."
Relief washed over me as I could see the joy on her face. She grabbed my hand and took me over to the rolling dress rack. "We need to add a few more dance moves in here and there for the next show, but it looks wonderful. Also, we might want to play around a little more with the lighting to create more texture," she finished.
"You think it is good enough for another show?"
"Honey, didn't you hear those people laughing? They got the jokes. They are laughing with you, not at you. Have a little confidence. Wait till they see you in ‘Twentieth Century Fox Mambo.’”
This was the opening number for the second act, and it was the biggest dance number of the show. Heels don't fail me now. I got on the next costume and had a chance to have some me quiet time. "Dear God, please let things keep going well, and please help momma to understand that I am just on the path that you have set me on. Amen."
"Sweetie, it's time," Germaine said as he tapped me on the shoulder. The house lights were blinking, which meant get your butts back into your seats.
The second act ran as smoothly as the first half, but now it was time for the most serious part of the show where Marilyn took the pills and died. We decided to use "Beautiful," the Christina Aguilera song that was used in the TV show, but not sung by Marilyn in the show. We felt it would have been appropriate for Marilyn to be singing this as she started popping her pills and tried to reassure herself that she is, indeed, beautiful. I had to practice singing while popping in Tic Tacs so that I didn't choke myself to death on stage wh
ile trying to sing the song. No one really knew her mind frame at the time of her death, but we hoped our ending did her justice.
The lights faded and music faded as I lay sprawled out on the bed in a state of repose. The curtain closed. All I could think of was to jump off the bed and get into the wings to get ready for the curtain call. The curtain opened and the rest of the cast came back on stage one by one to the cheers of the crowd. They formed a line with an opening in the middle for me to walk through. When I walked, on stage the volume of the cheering increased dramatically as the crowd jumped to their feet. I curtsied in the middle and then took my fellow cast mates’ hands and we bowed in unison. The curtain closed and we all cheered and hugged backstage. The only thing was the crowd didn't stop clapping even when the curtain closed this time. I've been to shows where once the curtain came down, the crowd was out of there as fast as they could be to make sure they didn't get stuck in traffic. I know this was a small show, but I didn't expect this. The rest of the cast pushed me to the middle of the stage and they all exited. The curtain opened again and the crowd was still standing there and clapping for me. I curtsied again, and when I came up, I was presented with two bouquets of flowers. I was overwhelmed and humbled at the same time. Someone gave me a microphone.
"Please, you are all too kind. Thank you for coming out and supporting Atlanta Street Rescue. I want to thank the people who put so much effort into this show. Germaine on costumes, Scott on sound, the entire cast who have donated their time and especially Miss Gigi, without whose inspiration I couldn’t have done this. Have a great evening."
The curtain closed and I walked to the wing. The first person I saw was Marjorie, whom I forgot to thank. I felt so bad.
The Crown Is Mine Page 16