Rally the Troupes 2009
Rally the Troupes 5
Rally the Troupes 5: A night of savvy political and sexy queer performance!
Bay Area favorites are back for their 5th year of Rally the Troupes!! Drew Montana, former Transformer and founder of CHUBB has rounded up an eclectic mix of drag kings, queens, and burlesque artists from the Bay Area and beyond. These performers have a knack for nailing each song with innovative moves and messages. From the powerful presence of The Bromantics to the hysterical stylings of Lil Miss Hot Mess to the always brilliant stagings of Thatway, Rally the Troupes 5 is an event you won’t want to miss!
Featuring original performances by: CHUBB, Thisway/Thatway, Lil Miss Hot Mess, Brush Arbor Girls, ButchTap, Jay Walker, Delicio Del Toro, The Bromantics, House of Glitter, Twilight Vixen Revue, The Lovesax Sisters, from Portland the fabulous Sahara Dunes, and from Seattle Miz Ginger Snapz. Plus your MC, Kentucky Fried Woman!
Biographies
Photo by Jen Gilomen
Drew Montana (Producer)
Drew Montana was a founding member of the Transformers, producers of Rally the Troupes for the last three years. This year he is excited to be producing with KFW for the 4th year. His main focus these days is working with CHUBB, Hogwarts Express: The Musical and with other bay area performers to design shows and numbers that involve great dancing, glitter, and responsible performances! www.myspace.com/popking
Photo by Amelia Mae Paradise
Kentucky Fried Woman (MC)
Kentucky Fried Woman (KFW) is a drag, burlesque and cabaret performer and producer currently based in Oakland, CA. She entered the queer performance world in 2000 as a member of the Santa Barbara drag group the Disposable Boy Toys before moving to Seattle and founding the Queen Bees in 2002. In 2005 she said goodbye to the Queen Bees and moved to Oakland where she founded ButchBallet, ButchTap & Titland and performed as Hermoine Granger in Hogwarts Express: The Musical. She also performs and produces as a solo artist and with other local, national and international gender performance artists. KFW’s non-performance activism includes producing panels and workshops on the intersections of identities and bodies. KFW’s alter ego, Krista Smith, served as the Performance co-Chair for Femme2006 and was the Program Coordinator for Femme 2008. You can find KFW every first friday of the month at Velvet in the Kentucky Fried Woman Show.
Photo by Victor Douglas
Thatway
The consummate candy-fag, Thisway/Thatway (aka Stephanie Cooper) is an intermedia performance artist who enjoys the messy collision of glitter and theory. They launched into performance with the finest of Washington, DC’s drag king/burlesque scene before wandering to the Bay area. The child of Black-Panamanian immigrants, their work explores the perils and possibilities of interstitial spaces through voice, video, and movement. Check out Thisway/Thatway in the show fashion extravaganza Laye(red) Friday, June 5th in this year’s NQAF.
Jay Walker & Delicio Del Toro by Selena Fong
Jay Walker & Delicio Del Toro
A life-long connoisseur of faggoty fun, Jay Walker enjoys dirty glam, choreography, and tear-away pants. He is best known as a flamboyant, genderfucking faggot with an edgy, sexy stage presence and an insatiable lust for working bedazzled man-thongs.
Delicio Del Toro is a tall, dark, and handsome café con leche heartthrob who was kicked out of Catholic School for one too many pelvic provocations. He has a weakness for cupcakes, uniforms and gay-ass music. Bonded by their love for ass-shaking and bending each other over, this pair can be found shooting their gaywads in the Trans Francisco Gay Area.
Photo by Ms. V.
CHUBB
These chunky hunks are ready to punch your clocks and work it overtime with flabulously sexy king-sized faggotry. They made their debut two years ago at Rally the Troupes and are back! Drawn together by their fetish for accessories, lust for lunch breaks, and urge to undulate they dare to live large and dream big. Featuring Drew Montana, Jake Danger, Beary Craves, Delicio Del Toro and the new Chubbs – Lyric Styles & Gabe Oi. CHUBB, because size . . . does matter!
Photo by Justin Beck
ButchTap
Brought to you by the creative forces behind ButchBallet, ButchTap is a loose collective of Oakland based queer performance artists who have a passion for tap dancing, fabulous costumes and dance-offs. ButchTap includes current and former members of Queen Bees, Disposable Boy Toys, Titland, Nappy Grooves, Chicago Kings, Cuntry Kings, Citizen Kings, the Saucy Knickers, Dancing with the Star(Trekkie)s, Bromantics, Freeplay Dance Crew & Hogwarts Express: The Musical. So, prepare yourself for a treat as these performance veterans explode into your hearts with the footloose and fancy-free percussion sounds so unique to tap dancing! ButchTap Performers: Kentucky Fried Woman, Jake Danger, Billy “The Poof” Elliot, Tyrone Peaches, Maverick McD, Dirty D, Richter Scale, Ricky T. Smiles, Lance Armstar, Thisway/Thatway & Charleston Chu.
Photo by Hilary Grove.
Brush Arbor Gurlz
This trio is made of Landa Lakes, Samantha Richards and Miso Hornay. Landa is a former Ms Gay Indian Nations, Ms Osage Hills and Ms Trannyshack Starsearch. Landa (Chickasaw) introduces audiences to Native American politics through humor and provides Native American visibility to the larger LGBT community. Samantha (Navajo) is an expert costume designer and builder, as well as a mask maker, actor and singer, in 2007 she and Landa received a Fresh Fruit Award for best performance. Miso (Vietnamese) has been performing and traveling with the troupe since 2005 as well as performing in Trannyshack Hawaii in 2007.
Photo by Robert Q Risher
House of Glitter
Holotta Tymes, Landa Lakes, Terra Cotta, Samantha Richards and Miso Hornay make up this collection of fabulous drag queens. Holotta, of Finocchios fame, has been delighting audiences at the Starlight Room with her out of this world style. Landa has been enjoying her Sunday’s at Mecca’s Brunch with a Punch since 2007. Terra, a recent transplant from Ohio, has been living it up even making an appearance in the drag version of the Golden Girls. Samantha has been busy keeping up with her work at the American Musical Theatre and Miso has been busy making various appearance around San Francisco and abroad.
Photo by Amelia Mae Paradise
The Bromantics
One fine day in Oakland, three flaming queens fought mercilessly over the same glittery ascot fabric. Through the smoke, tears, and smeared mascara, a Bromance was born. Thisway, better known as Thatway, Drew Montana, and Charleston Chu united forces and became The Bromantics, a trio dedicated to bringing you fabulousness, synchronized dance moves, glitter, and fierce political commentary! Turn the lights down, It’s time to get Bromantic!!!
Photo by Brian Buck
Miz Ginger Snapz
Full of sass, class, and a whole lotta ass, Miz Ginger Snapz is still Seattle’s Premier Black Burlesque Starlet. As a titty-twirlin’, paper-writin’, theory-readin’, foot-stompin’, fist shakin’, high-femme, queer of color, Ginger has been bringing her special brand of spice to Seattle stages for over three years; surprising and entertaining audiences weary of the mundane.
Ginger has performed at various venues up and down the West Coast In addition to local performances, Ginger has appeared in the Vancouver International Burlesque Festival, Tease-o-rama 2007 and 2008, Kaleidoscope 2007 and 2008: A People of Color Cabaret, and FemmeCon 2008. She is also the newest member of the nationally recognized, Tempest Burlesque. Ginger Snapz is dedicated to sharing the radical potential of burlesque with marginalized communities, and stressing diversity and body size positivity on the burlesque stage. In her spare time, she is a doctorial candidate, professional educator, and women of color in burlesque scholar. Look for Ginger’s upcoming appearances at www.myspace.com/mizgingersnapz
Photo by Harris Kornstein
Lil Miss Hot Mess
Since her official debut in 2008, Lil Miss Hot Mess has been bedazzling San Francisco audiences with a unique blend of camp, choreography, and politics. Sometimes thinking of herself as a faux fauxqueen, she was an original cast member of the National Queer Arts Festival favorite Hogwarts Express: The Musical! (Neville Longbottom), delved into the Twinkified psyche of Dan White at Charlie Horse’s Assassins night, and has repeatedly revealed what a hot mess Hillary Clinton really is. Always a bridesmaid but never a bride, she placed second in both Trannyshack’s Star Search 2008 (on figure skates) and in Theatre Rhino’s Carol Channing Impersonation contest. www.myspace.com/lilmisshotmess
Photo by Daniel Martinez
Twilight Vixen Revue
The Twilight Vixen Revue is San Francisco’s Sensational Sextet, a dazzling troupe of queer showgirls taking audiences back to a Golden Age with a repertoire of classic Broadway favorites, jazz standards and contemporary favorites delivered with stylized allure. Voted “Best Burlesque of the Bay” (SF Bay Guardian) in 2007 and 2008, they have donated over $65,000 in performances to local causes. www.twilightvixen.com
Photo by Emily Lebsack
The Lovesax Sisters
E & E are Wild West-bred and bound to the Bay by threads of community. Their sassy sense of style and silliness will scintillate your synapses.
Keshet Crew
Keshet Crew is a group of Jewish queers coming together to explore Jewish culture and politics through performance. Performers include former members of Hogwarts Express the Musical, The Tranformers, Burlesque-Esque, The Citizen Kings, and ButchTap as well as novices to the Bay Area stage. L’chaim!
Photo by Kina Williams
Sahara Dunes
Sahara hails from the sultry island of St. Vincent, West Indies and presently resides in Portland, Oregon. She’s powerful and provocative, alluring and passionate. Captivating you with seduction and style, this femme fatale causes hearts to melt. With the wisdom of her mothers, the knowledge of Kama Sutra and tantric rituals, and her goddess born gift, Sahara has been mesmerizing the masses for several years. With class, grace, sensuality, and charm, Sahara Dunes entertains the masses of many…..One submissive soul at a time.
www.saharadunes.net
Trekking With The Stars
Space…the final frontier…Or is it? Be prepared to be catapulted into new dimensions, because these are the all-star voyagers of the Starship Enterprise! They’re here to bring you the most heated of reality TV dance-offs. Hold on to your seats, because their moves are out of this world!
Original Cast team: Drew Montana, Billy “The Poof” Elliot, Charleston Chu, Thisway/Thatway, Dirty D, Corky St. Flair.
The Next Generation team: Damian Danger, Kentucky Fried Woman, Lance ArmStar, Markus Stone, Ricky Smiles, Henry Fondle, Sugarbush Lane.
