So, lets face it, it's a holiday weekend and you're looking for something a little different to do. Why not head down to the Mission and find a little eye candy? No, we're not talking about the drag queens at Esta Noche. Travel just a couple blocks further to 19th Street, and climb the stairs to one of SF's best-kept secrets, Shotwell Studios. This hole-in-the-wall studio has been a Mission arts staple for over 17 years, and on any given day you might find a cool salsa class (Sundays), a clown workshop, or this weekend, a performance with cute boys wearing little more than a smile.
Welcome to the land of SF Boylesque, Cory McDaniel's vaudeville odyssey that exiles the usual feminine allure in exchange for a little testosterone and a lot of tongue-in-cheek. "This show is my desire to perform in a burlesque show. I'm way too shy to try and break into the women's field, so I set out to create my own burlesque world, one in which male dancers are the norm, and women are the oddity or the specialty act," says McDaniel.
McDaniel scoured the Bay Area, auditioning performers and selecting an eclectic group of artists that include musicians, contortionists, ballet dancers, tumblers, capoeristas and clowns. Collaborator Larry Baumiller assisted in direction and lyrics, helping direct musicians Joey Plaster on violin and Jasper Patterson on percussion and accordion. This is McDaniel and Baumiller's fifth collaboration since they debuted Trailerpark Princess in 2002.
The show leads with the only woman in the production, Kristen Jones as the Countess Castrata, performing a mixture of European cabaret, American pop hits from the 80s and original songs by Baumiller. In short time, there is quick succession of obscure specialty numbers, including fashion model Charles Kusuma, hip hop dancers AJ Arias and Ron Esquejo, wrestler Patrick Myers, ballet dancer Thomas Wiley, tap-dancer Brian Sterling and contortionist Elliott Gittelsohn.
Producer Mary Alice Fry says, "The dance scene takes itself way too seriously. Even the risk-takers are flattening out. In the vacuum of what's fun and fresh, without spending big bucks, comes this whole new breed of burlesque. Talented and beautiful performers are showing up, and audiences are following." Fry has a long history of producing female performers in the Bay Area with the Women on the Way Festival and the former Venue 9, and she has begun to focus her efforts on the emerging community of cabaret and burlesque performers.
McDaniel started out as a writer, and eventually began directing his own work five years ago. "I got started the way most people get started. I was frustrated because no theatre company would read my writings, so I just decided to stage them myself." Boylesque is homage to quintessential queer shows like Lesbian Vampires of Sodom and Die Mommie Die! Part sketch comedy, part cabaret, McDaniel's work blends genres fearlessly with a zeal that's endearing. Like every queer boy's dress-up fantasy, he has directed an evening that includes a boy-on-boy pillow fight, a drunken game of truth-and-dare, and a Charles Busch-inspired sketch called Hercules Vs. the Ice Printz of Zanzibar, featuring costumes designed by Sarah Styles. Pageantry is an important part of the show, with over 40 costume changes and a collection of characters that sound like they are straight out of Beach Blanket Babylon on Ecstasy.
"Since I was a child, I've been drawn to both the hyper-feminine and the hyper-masculine." says McDaniel. "This is prevalent in the show. The guys get the freedom to explore their masculinity and femininity in a gender-neutral environment. We strive to break down gender expectations. All are allowed to embrace their feminine parts, and all are allowed to embrace their masculine parts."
After its Shotwell debut, SF Boylesque moves to Duane Calizo's new space at the Jon Sims Center for the Performing Arts (Mama Calizo's Voice Factory) and will be running for a good portion of Gay Pride Month. Might be the perfect show to bring friends from out of town.
SF Boylesque at Shotwell Studios, 3252 A 19th St., SF, Fri.-Sat., May 25-26. Tickets ($10-$15): (415) 289-2000, ticketweb.com, or TIX on Union Square. Info: www.ftloose.org