Frank's First Drag Show

For years I’ve always wanted to see a drag show, but I’ve never quite gotten up the nerve to go see one. Really, I don’t know why I was so nervous about it. Could it be that I just didn’t want to go by myself to one?

I find that this is my issue a lot of times.

I don’t want to do something new, because I have to do it by myself.

This is silly. But I guess at times I am a silly person.

I was contacted several weeks ago about going to a drag show in Baltimore, Maryland with a group of my friends. I wanted Brokeback to go with me, but he would be out of town on business. So, if I went, it would have to be all by myself. So, I decided to go.

Yesterday I focused on it and was shocked to find out that the show did not begin until 10:00 p.m. That would mean a long night.

A very long night…

I met a friend for dinner at a restaurant in the heart of Gay Baltimore. We then got to the Hippo Discothèque and met another friend outside the front door. It was the first time I had ever been there. It was ultra modern with a slight art deco feel to it. The bar was filling with patrons of all persuasions. I saw the usual gay men – singles and couples. Then the elderly straight couples came in who were joined by young straights and a slight sprinkling of lesbians. What a crowd.

Around 9:45 we went into the nightclub portion of the place. If it had had scantily clad go-go boys, it would have looked very similar to Babylon in Queer As Folk. The music was thumping. The lights were flashing. The atmosphere was charged.

People were laughing and talking. I felt oddly comfortable….and I am not a bar/discotheque person.

The lights dimmed….and the star, Christopher Peterson, appeared as Marilyn Monroe. He performed a song that Marilyn might have performed, had she lived, that Diana Ross made famous, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” It was a hoot. He then talked between ladies and did Reba McEntire, Bette Davis, Barbra Streisand, Tina Turner, Liza Minnelli and to end the set, he did the showstopper by Oscar Winner Jennifer Hudson, from Dream Girls.

His show, “Eyecons,” is currently playing in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware on the weekends. I highly recommend him.

What an interesting evening…. I left smiling. His Christmas Show is at the Hippo come December.