Surviving the pandemic with some help from talented friends

24 Apr2020

How I miss going to the theatre! There is something about live that is electric and emotionally satisfying. It's not that I don't have a stack of books to be read and a multitude of Netflix left to binge, but there is an engagement problem brought on by the pandemic's affliction of simultaneous boredom and terror. Even the comfort food of the small screen is wearing out its welcome - when 90 Day Fiance has become destination television, times are bad.

And the networks, the casts and crews also in self-isolation, are running out of product. Daytime soap operas will run out of new episodes in a few short weeks (except for Days of Our Lives who were just about to shoot their Halloween episode when the quarantines began). Talk shows, the news and even commercials are now a sea of badly lit and fuzzy zoomheads. The prurient appeal of seeing into celebrity homes wears thin very quickly. Until one reaches Patti Lupone's basement tour or Leslie Jordan's Instagram videos. Theatre, social media, camp and art combine into near perfection.

Social media, so long blamed for isolating us, may just be the semi-cure for isolation. Twitter has been alive with authors sharing tips, experiences and witty bitchery. Even Facebook offered up a connection of sorts to those we cannot, at the moment, enjoy in person. And social media, combined with a bit of googling, helped me to find artists I admire interacting and wrestling with our new reality rather than, as I admit I have been, succumbing to despair and PTSD.

Just before the pandemic hit, I interviewed the charming Zachary Colangelo about his upcoming role in Toronto Musical Concerts' production of The House of Martin Guerre. That production has now been pushed to, hopefully, October. But the Toronto Musical Concerts' mastermind, Christopher Wilson (Andy Warhol Musical, Clitoria) and his associate producer Ryan Kelly (The Normal Heart, Gash!, The Trouble with Henry) who have produced and starred in Parade, Merrily We Roll Along, Company, Assassins and Into the Woods, have created BIG GIRL & Friends to fill the gap. Carried live on YouTube Monday to Saturday at 7pm but then fortunately archived on the same platform, BIG GIRL & Friends is an infectious blend of talk show, musical theatre performer showcase, vanity project and fundraiser.

BIG GIRL & Friends raises money for the Actors' Fund of Canada (AFC) who can certainly use cash now with all theatres closed and film production halted. Having all those performers out of work means that BIG GIRL & Friends is getting A-list talent eager to strut their stuff and do their part. A partial list of guests so far includes Thom Allison (Mary Poppins, Elegies), Jewelle Blackman (Mary Poppins, Andy Warhol Musical, Once on This Island), Adam Brazier (Marry Me a Little), AJ Bridel (Lil' Red Robin Hood, A Christmas Carol, Kinky Boots), Alana Bridgewater (Rose, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom), Mark Cassius (Lilies), Michael De Rose (Lil' Red Robin Hood, Reprint, The Wizard of Oz, Grease), Bruce Dow (Dr Silver, James and the Giant Peach, Sextet, Pig, Of a Monstrous Child), Sara Farb (Fun Home), Donna Garner (Dr Silver), Arinea Hermans (Pinocchio), Sara-Jeanne Hosie (Lil' Red Robin Hood, The Wizard of Oz, Falsettos), Chilina Kennedy (Beautiful, The Little Mermaid), Jeigh Madjus (La Cage aux Folles), Robert Markus (Lil' Red Robin Hood, James and the Giant Peach), George Masswohl (London Road), Charlotte Moore (Sunday in the Park with George, Spend Your Kids' Inheritance), Tracy Michailidis (Sunday in the Park with George, Mr Burns: A Post-Electric Play), Vanessa Sears (Caroline or Change, Mary Poppins, The Wizard of Oz) and Astrid Van Wieren (The Way Back to Thursday, Sucker).

BIG GIRL & Friends has raised over $10,000 so far, thanks to the contributions of a priceless array of spectacular guest stars, and Wilson and Kelly's limitless enthusiasm. All of these people can ignite a stage and incinerate an audience, but until they can get back to what they do so well, seeing and hearing them sing their hearts out their homes is a treat it will be hard to give up once the pandemic ends. Kelly also demonstrates what a hyperactive hyper-talented performer does when trapped in isolation: he creates demented versions of Broadway musicals using Lego, Star Wars and Sesame Street figurines, Happy Meal toys and other childhood collectibles. The "Quarantine Musicals" "How to Get to West Side Story"and "Little People of Horrors" can also be found on YouTube.

MGM in its heyday claimed they had "more stars than in heaven" but YouTube is giving them a run for their boast with the addition of The B-Girlz's QuaranQueened. There is not a computer monitor, cell phone screen or big screen TV large enough to contain this much glamour and mayhem. Survival tips, double entendres, crafting and lots of cocktails fuel the zany antics of the three glamazons, let alone their hairdos. Guests, who are treated surprisingly respectfully, include John Paul Kane, Troy Brooks, R Kelly Clipperton, Shawn Hitchins (Homogenius) and Patricia Wilson (Musings from the Bunker and Slouching Towards Womanhood, Crackpuppy). All of the episodes so far, and a treasure trove of short films starring the trio, can also be accessed from the B-Girlz's website bigirlz.com or their Facebook page.

Superstar Mandy Goodhandy brings her own style of glamour to YouTube with selections from the audiobook version of her autobiography Just Call Me Lady. Nothing will compare to the musical version, but hearing Goodhandy's sensual purr as she recounts the scandalous, tragic and comic adventures of her life so far, is a rare treat. Her voice evokes a Meryl Streep, Mae West and Betty Boop mashup, but stays uniquely her own. Goodhandy and Todd Klinck have also revived The Mandy Goodhandy Show podcast at blogtalkradio.com/goodhandys. The episode where they interview Scott Thompson and Paul Bellini of Mouth Congress, Buddy Babylon and The Kids in the Hall, is as entertaining and hilarious as one could hope. Mouth Congress, world domination tour temporarily scuttled, like Jon Bon Jovi and Justin Bieber, because of covid-19, aren't wasting time and their rocking new video "Tactile" is on Vimeo.

Rising star Spencer Sparklestein is also on YouTube though he can also be found at spencerstaysinside.com. Though the short Spencer Stays Inside videos are aimed at children trapped in a similar predicament, several of them - ie: "Episode 5 - Spencer Does Some Dancing" - cracked me up and brightened my day inside. The brainchild and creation of puppetmaster Adam Proulx (Avenue Q) Spencer Stays Inside is not only a delight but certainly a godsend for anyone trapped in isolation with rugrats.

Darren Stewart-Jones, creator of the Toronto Queer Theatre Festival, finished his short comic film Digging Up Dorothy just in time for the pandemic. "This was going to be my year to walk the red carpet at some LGBTQ festivals but covid-19 changed my plans somewhat," says Stewart-Jones. "I'm grateful to be safe and healthy and just hoping to get the film out there somehow. It's based on an actual event - Judy's remains were actually moved by her children back in 2017." Digging Up Dorothy is a mad dialogue by Ruby La Rue (played by Stewart-Jones in fabulous drag) to the consternation of television news host Sandy Sanderhurst (Paige Locke). The delirium and obsession with gay icon Judy Garland builds to a hilarious punchline.

The film also features a cameo from Nathaniel Bacon (Shakespeare's Criminal, Songs and Screams, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, My Dinner with Casey Donovan, Bent, Queer Idol). "Nathaniel was a trooper," says Stewart-Jone. "He was half naked, outside in a cemetery on a freezing cold late November day." Though the world's LGBT film festivals will not be happening this spring and summer, Digging Up Dorothy has been  picked up by online screening platform sofy.tv. To sweeten the deal, sofy.tv is offering a two month free subscription so Stewart-Jones wish, "This film was a labour of love. I just want people to see this movie," is coming true.

I can't even pretend that this is an exhaustive list of the inventive and intriguing art that is moving online in these troubled times. These are artists whose careers I follow with keen interest and who are connected to me through this blog and various social media platforms. And they are helping me get through this isolation nightmare. And though I can't wait to see them thriving in the venues where they belong, their creativity is still inspiring at a distance. There are many
artists that also deserve investigation: The Social Distancing Festival (socialdistancingfestival.com) initiated by Nick Green (Hackerlove, Dancing Queen) is packed with astounding content I have only begun to explore. And Buddies in Bad Times Theatre has a "Queer, Far, Wherever You Are" initiative that features performances and a blog series.

And James and the Giant Pasty and the men of BoylesqueTO (BoylesqueTo present the Boylympics, Class Dismissed) are burning up the internet with new risqué acts from the now postponed Gender Fluids. Stay Homo streams on Wednesday, April 22 at 8pm on Zoom. Billed as: "It's a Man-demic!!! Stay Home! Stay Queer! And stay thirsty when the men, femmes, and gentle-thems of BoylesqueTO stream directly to your bedroom with a burlesque cabaret for the apocalypse. Featuring acts filmed in and about social isolation. And all properly sanitized for your safety (the performers, not the content--that'll be dirty AF!)."