Dress, Voice, Style, Movement...

Does anyone do drag better than RuPaul? I mean, just at her. Gorgeous, no? And Ru is not only fabulous, but hilarious. From her appearances in The Brady Bunch movies to "RuPaul's Drag Race" on Logo, Ru never lets us forget that she's in on the joke. America's most visible Gender Illusionist, Ru is without doubt the most famous drag performer in the world.

My challenge this summer is to turn a straight actor into Ru. Or a 1967 White version of Ru.

My 'Leading Lady' and I went to our costumer's warehouse last night to find pieces for him to wear in the photos for the Prologue to Die Mommie Die!, which call for him to appear in various period shots as Peter Pan, Eliza Doolittle, Marie Antoinette and various incarnations of Angela Arden, the murderous vixen he's playing in the show. The two hours or so we spent there were both productive and hilarious, especially after he donned the onesie that gave him "breasts" which helped fill out the costumes he was trying on.

Of course, the broad-shouldered actor had size issues with many of the costumes we would have liked to use, but we managed to put together quite a few pieces that work for both the photo shoot and the actual production. And our brilliant costumer has assured me that she can alter existing pieces and/or build new pieces that will work for him. She's never let me down before, so I have full confidence in her abilities to turn this into this.

Tickets for the JTMF production of Charles Busch's comic thriller Die Mommie Die! are on sale now at www.kelseytheatre.net or by calling the Kelsey box office at 609-570-3333. 100% of our ticket sales go to The Open Arms Foundation, The James Tolin Memorial Scholarship and The Trevor Project. Proceeds from our Silent Auction - this year featuring items autographed by Cher; Elton John; Art Carney; Charles Shulz and Tim Burton - go towards the production costs of next year's benefit. If you can't attend, then please consider making a secure donation via PayPal at our website, www.jtmf.org.

Here are some excerpts from the original production starring author Charles Busch as Angela:

Die Mommie Die! runs for three performances only, June 24th, 25th & 26th at the Kelsey Theatre on the campus of Mercer County Community College in West Windsor, NJ. We hope to see you there. It's not only the funniest show you'll see this season, but an opportunity to make a difference and help people in need.

More, anon.

Prospero

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