Articles tagged with: Mad Myrna’s
The ICP Ball: End of a Reign
Princess April Rains and Regent-Prince Joseph Williams will step down on Saturday night at the annual Imperial Crown Prince and Princess Ball, at Mad Myrna’s in Anchorage. They were elected to the ICP positions at last year’s Ball.
“The ball is ‘Crowns and Gowns’ and was planned by Mimi of Seattle as a traditional formal ball,” writes April. “We’re also doing a Valley Trash masquarade theme, so I’ll bring my Iditarod gear, construction tools, hay and saddle to represent the Valley and myself.”
The 2009 ICP Ball will include performances by Mary Bess Bohall, Yeager Bill, Cookie Cannon, Ms. Alaska Teen, and the drag queens from Fairbanks as a group, plus the Emperors and Empresses. Jake and Kristara will emcee. Four candidates are running, two for prince and two for princess. Imperial Court members will vote for the new titleholders, and crown them at the end of the ball.
April Rains reflected on how this one year journey as Imperial Crown Princess was the culmination of a several year process of self-discovery:
In a week, I will step down as the Imperial Crown Princess of All Alaska, and someone else will step up and begin anew. For a while now I have been regretting this event. It will signify an end to what has been evolving for me in this role, and has exploded into an incredible experience I don’t want to end. A lot of what has unfolded had something, but not everything, to do with being Princess.For the past several weeks, I’ve been working like a dog Monday morning through about noon on Friday, then slipping into a skirt and lipstick until the new work week begins. In some ways, it’s an escape from my reality as a male, while in other ways it’s just a pure expression of myself as a multifaceted and talented person. As the years have evolved, what was once a rare Friday night outing in a skirt by myself, has become a fully intergrated part of who I am. The days of changing last minute in some out of the way bathroom are over. Now I’ll leave the house mid-day for the whole world to see and I won’t care. Where I was once paranoid that someone would find out where I lived or who I was ‘out of face’, now it seems the whole world knows. Where I was just another confused cross-dresser, now The Diva April Rains is becoming as prominent as her male counterpart.I’ve walked through stores and people have complimented me, stood in front of several hundred neighbors, associates and friends as they cheered at the end of “April’s Follies”, spoke with folks who say awesome things about performing in the Friday Night Diva’s show, and stood there humbly as Sherry Vine and Joey Arias acknowledged me during their show. These are all circumstances I never knew I’d get to experience.For months now, emails have come in from men in circumstances similar to mine years before, where fear, disgust, self-hatred and confusion rule their lives. They want to get out of their bedrooms and experience the real world. How do they do that? How do they talk with their wives, kids, and friends about their “secret”. They are relieved to know they are not alone, but realize that it’s a journey of self discovery to find who they are at the core of their being. This has little to do with being gay, straight, bi or any need to have sexual re-assignment surgery or take hormones. They have simpler questions, like what bathroom to use at a club, how to cover a beard, where to find shoes and hair, and so much more.If anything, being the ICP presented a unique route for me to be more open and visible about who I am as a person. It took a role I thought was a “fantasy” and interjected it into dead center of reality. A role where I attended meetings for the corporation of the Court recognized as a female, but blended it with my male experiences to help make real world business decisions. A role where my male community recognition as a builder, fire fighter, dog musher, dad, and partner allowed me to meet with other local business owners and associates as a female, to garner support for a first-ever Valley fundraiser.As the big weekend draws closer, what I felt was an end is in fact a new beginning. The end of the 16th ICP Reign will occur, as the 17th reign steps up and another very unqiuely talented and creative person hopes to make some positive changes during her reign. While my title as Her Most “Not So Sweet, 16th, Valley Trash, Imperial Crown Princess of All Alaska” will be entered into the lineage of the Court, my title as “The Valley Trash Baroness of Big Lake” will remain … and that’s a title I have yet to develop.
This Week in LGBT Alaska 4/17/09
This week’s events from Alaska GLBT News:
Juneau
SEAGLA Social Fridays (6-8 p.m.) for GLBT people and our friends over 21, at The Imperial Bar, downtown.
Bac’untry Brothers dRagtime Revue 4/17 the Red Dawg Saloon, 8 p.m. 4/18 Hanger on the Warf, 8 p.m. 4/19 the Folk Fest, 8 p.m.
Fairbanks
Day of Silence at UAF 4/17, “The Times of Harvey Milk” showing at 6:30 p.m. in Schaible Auditorium.
Mat-Su Valley
Mat-Su LGBT Community Center in Palmer is open M-F 5-8 p.m. (except 6-8 on Wed.) The social group meets Wednesdays, 5-6 p.m. at Vagabond Blues.
The Harmony Community Choir is forming at the Center, rehearsals on Thursdays 6-7 p.m.
Anchorage
Pride Prom for ages 14-19, at the Chalet 4/17, 7-10:30 p.m.
Semi-Annual Womyn’s Dance at the Snow Goose 4/17, 7:30 p.m.
SINsation drag Cabaret with Joey Arias & Sherry Vine from NYC, at ‘Koots, thru 4/18, 8 p.m.
No Foolin’: A Mardi Gras Fiesta fundraiser for Four A’s 4/18, 7 p.m. at Mad Myrna’s.
Scott Turner’s Annual Bake Sale and Bake-Off for charity 4/19, 4 p.m. at Mad Myrna’s.
Sunday worship at MCC Anchorage, 4/19, 2 p.m.
Tansgender Support Group, Sundays 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the GLCCA.
Scott Turner’s Annual Bake Sale
Update: The 2010 Community Bake Sale for Four A’s is on Sunday, May 16 from 4-6:30 p.m. at Mad Myrna’s, and includes a dessert competition.
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Sunday, April 19, 2009 at 4 p.m.
Mad Myrna’s
Join Scott Turner for his annual bake sale and BAKE OFF on Sunday. Bring your best baked goods to raise funds for the Alaskan AIDS Assistance Association. Bake off categories for Professional Bakers, Best Cakes/Pies, Best Cookies/Bars, Best Other (Trifles, Breads, etc.) Prizes awarded to the Winners. This event is a lot of fun, with delicious food baked by your friends and neighbors, food that will tempt you to buy and share for a good cause.
Until the end of April, all gifts to the Four A’s food bank (cash or in-kind) will count toward a matching grant from the Feinstein Foundation.
A No Foolin’ FUNdraiser for Four A’s
Saturday, April 18 at 7 p.m.
Join us for a Mardi Gras themed fiesta with a carnival of food, cash bar, silent auction and entertainment. Tickets are $15 in advance/$20 at the door and can be purchased at Mad Myrna’s or Four A’s.
Until the end of April, all gifts to the Four A’s food bank (cash or in-kind) will count toward a matching grant from the Feinstein Foundation.
"Double drag" with Mad Myrna’s Divas
by April Rains
My friend Larry didn’t know what to expect at April’s Follies. He, like so many others, was under the impression that it was some type of adult sex-based show and was really hesitant to go. But after it was all said and done, he was totally surprised that it was just another form of comedy. That’s what drag shows are – a unique and bizzarre blend of comedy that challenges the norms of sex, gender, and how we perceive our world and others in it.
At the Mad Myrna’s Divas Show on Friday, I tried, for the very first time, what is referred to as a “double drag.” Basically it’s a guy, dressed as a girl, dressed as a guy… or vice versa. I painted my face, did my hair, jewelry, perky 38 B’s, and still had my manicure from last weekend, but wore my typical guy t-shirt, jeans, cowboy boots and a dirty baseballl hat. The song I used was Toby Keith’s “I luv this bar,” with his deep male voice similar to mine.
At first the mic was ‘hot’ so I could talk with the audience. As the song began, I shut it off, sync’d it, then turned it on afterwards. The mix of live voice and sync creates the illusion that I can actually “sing” like Toby, with a voice identical to his, when in fact it’s just my lips moving. The attire gives a strongly mixed visual signal of gender identity, by enhancing my muscular male build with my female accessories, and heightens the words behind the song by reinforcing the theme that “anyone is welcome in this bar.” That’s what makes Mad Myrna’s such an incredible place: anyone is welcome at anytime without any judgement or prejuidice about who they are.
It was a huge stretch for me to try this, and the idea came basically at the last minute as I trounced around WalMart in drag looking for the CD, and of course, twisting people’s views of the world once again. I wanted to do something completely different, on the edge of what I’ve done in the past, and push the boundaries out a little further, as with everything I do. Diva’s is a really great show, and variety is a must if you expect folks to keep coming back. Now we have all types of folks showing up, and if for some reason I only do one song vs two, that is a good thing. We have more for folks to see. Not that doing one song is all I want to do every night…
My friend Felisha does double female drag a lot by dressing as a queen but she is actually a real female. She gives an illusion that makes one think about who and what she is. Loren [not her real name], who I thought for weeks was a real girl like Felisha, is actually an incredibly gorgeous guy, although few people could tell based on her size, hair, and other very feminine features, including her typical day attire which is very “fishy” (close to or what one would expect for the typical gender role).
One of the shows emcee’s, Daphne Do All, is very obvious when she dresses. She is very “campy” (exaggerated) in that she presents as your great aunt going to church or your Sunday School teacher in her big blonde hair, tailored business suits and mega-dollar heels. She and her counterpart Paige (a real girl or GG “genetic girl”) could rival Amelda Marcos with shoes. Ashley, Jovy, Maraquita, Raina, Sasha and others are what one would expect for drag queens: male performers accenting their female strengths like energetic dancing, killer legs, and really skimpy costumes that leave one wondering where they put it. When Kristara performs, she is in a class by herself. A vixen-ous mix of sexual energy, beauty, and an extensive wardrobe that encompasses all the great designers and more. Whether you’re male or female, straight, gay or bi, she can weave a spell around you that would leave even the most conservative leader of the Christian right following her home, despite the surpise he might get later.
Each of us is unique in our own views on life, gender, sex, and how we blend and present in the Friday night show, but yet are united in that we don’t see the world as many in the “mainstream” do. That’s the incredible thing about a drag show – it twists reality and leaves one thinking that “life” is not what we have been taught it “should be” but way more. Luckily we have that venue here in Alaska and can share it with anyone who cares to watch and listen.
Bowling, Ballroom and Easter Madness
Alaska’s LGBT communities are holding events all over the state this week: Cosmic Bowling in Juneau, Gay Ballroom Dance classes in Fairbanks, a choir forming at the Mat-Su Center, and two Easter events in Anchorage – “Millinery Madness” at Myrna’s, and Easter Sunday at MCC.
SEAGLA Cosmic Bowling Night at the Juneau Bowling Center, April 11, 8-10 p.m.
Cosmic Bowling for community members and their friends. Both men and women are invited to join us at the Juneau Bowling Center, 608 W. Willoughby Ave. Come early for a meet-n-greet in the bar area. Bowling starts at 8 pm and is timed for two hours, so don’t be late. Four lanes have been reserved. SEAGLA
Gay Ballroom Dance Classes in Fairbanks, Tuesdays April 14-May 5, 7:15-9 p.m
Ballroom dance classes for lesbians and gays. The Fox Trot, Swing and Waltz classes will be taught by Kurt Byers and Terri Babers. Each class is two 45 minute sessions of instruction. The cost is $60 per person for the set, or $50 for UAF students, paid at the first session.
“We suspect there is a big unmet desire among the Fairbanks gay community for solid training in ballroom and swing dancing,” wrote Kurt. “That’s a desire we intend to fulfill in a fun and congenial atmosphere.”
The dance classes will be held April 14, 21, 28 and May 5 from 7:15-9 p.m. at the Artisan’s Courtyard, 1755 Westwood Way, off College Road next to Toy Quest. RSVP to Kurt
Harmony Choir at the Mat-Su LGBT Community Center, Mondays 6 – 7 p.m.
Harmony Community Choir is a new a capella group rehearsing at the Center on Monday evenings. “We need singers,” said Talyne. “Must be able to take direction and at least be able to carry a tune.”
The Center is open M-F 5-8 p.m., except Wed. 6-8, at 415 South Bailey, in the Church of the Covenant, in Palmer. The Wednesday social meets at 5 p.m. in the Vagabond Blues coffee shop. Mat-Su Center
Millinery Madness in Anchorage, April 11, dinner at 6 p.m, show at 8 p.m.
Emperor 36 Michael and Empress 36 Paula extend a warm invitation to The Imperial Court’s Easter show “Millinery Madness.” Join us for dinner, a 50/50 raffle, an egg hunt, an Easter bonnet contest and a wonderful drag show. Come out and help raise money for charity. Mad Myrna’s and ICOAA
Easter Sunday with MCC Anchorage, April 12, 2 p.m.
Metropolitan Community Church of Anchorage is hosting a special Easter Worship Service, a time of rejoicing, celebration and worship, followed by a potluck. The service will be interpreted for the deaf and hard of hearing.
“Our new place of worship is proving to be very exciting,” said Rev. Norman Van Manen. “The colorful glass windows allow light to enter. The seating causes us to sit a little closer together making the music swell. The warm welcome of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church is greatly appreciated. There are exciting things happening at MCC Anchorage.”
Sunday services begin at 2 p.m. and are held in the A-Frame Chapel located at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, 2222 East Tudor Road. MCC Anchorage
Straight audiences enjoy drag show at Anchorage gay bar
The Divas Drag Show at Mad Myrna’s is featured in the Sunday Anchorage Daily News, with a headline and photo displayed on the front page.
“Gay bars change acts to appeal to straight customers”, written by Julia O’Malley, focuses on the performers, the show, the bar and how the audience is now more straight than gay.
Myrna’s has been home to a drag show for a decade, and straight people have long been part of the audience. But on some Friday nights lately, gay patrons have thinned dramatically, replaced by military couples, bachelorette parties and curious young professionals. It’s part of a national trend.
Read about the drag queens, gay go-go boys and straight girl co-host who perform the weekly drag variety show.
Thanks to Julia and the ADN for this article about the gay citizens of Anchorage and the straight people who enjoy our company.
