Kiki & Herb

I'd never been a big fan of drag queen acts. They never struck me as entertaining, especially the ones that lipsynch entire songs. I'd gone to my first drag show in Provincetown at the pre-fire Crown and Anchor around 1995. Lavish costumes, exaggerated theatrics and over-emoting, it was fun to watch. However, the allure eluded me. My sense of humor at the time, was probably more in tune with college grade humor. Not to mention, I was more than likely still uncomfortable with being gay and unable to laugh at myself.

Fast forward to last friday.

The BF and I were going to see Kiki and Herb, Alive on Broadway…



…with our friends, S and R. We'd stopped by GYM bar for pre-show cocktails. The Robos were in attendance. From RoboPapi, I got my fabulous birthday. (more on that later) C and P, R, D and A, along with plenty of other letters to protect to the names of the not-so-innocent, were also at the bar. Needless to say, it was good to see everyone before we headed off to the Helen Hayes Theatre.

We were joined at the theater by A and F.
Not surprising, the audience was três gay.
We sat in the second row, unnervingly close to the stage, pretty much dead center.

Long short, I had a blast, thoroughly enjoying the show. The nuanced performance from both Kiki and Herb, the high camp. Loved it. It was a first for me. The BF whooped and hollered next to me on my left, never containing his laughter. Lots of knee slapping, I'd never seen the like.

On my right however, I could hear crickets.

A couple, man and woman sat mostly quiet, thunderstruck, unable to make anything of the show. When intermission came, upon returning to my seat, I predicted that the couple would not be coming back for the second act. Not so surprising, they didn't. Shrug.

I don't want to give away too much of the show, but you can click on the picture to link to a NYT write up of the show. If Kiki and Herb is your sort of thing, I'd say, get out and see them before they fake dying again.