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Northampton's Femmetastic Fatales steal TraniWreck spotlight
"Queer-identified femmes" add punch to bizarre burlesque extravaganza
By Ryan Lindsey
The first Monday of the month Jacque's Cabaret hosts Truth Serum
Productions' TraniWreck. Host drag king Heywood Wakefield and his
gender-bending, genre-defying troupe always put on one of the most
interesting shows Boston has to offer, but the June 6 show surpassed
all expectations. The regular cast-Heywood, Sir Loins/Donita Roxx, Miss
Dominica K, and Mr. Lady-turned in stellar performances, but one of the
show's special guests stole the night. Northampton's Femmetastic
Fatales, a group of "queer-identified femmes," served up five burlesque
acts celebrating femininity and the allure of the female body in all
its variety.
Though the Fatales have four members, only three were available for
the group's encore Boston performance (they performed at the Dyke March
Benefit at the Milky Way the night before). Kitty L'more, Violet
Valentino, and Pussy Bojangles sandwiched solo acts by Bojangles and
L'more with group acts, the last of which made great use of the
addition of a runway to Jacque's stage; the girls offered up what is
best described as a fashion show striptease, that left them in the end
dancing in panties and pasties-a particularly inspiring scene given
that all of the girls have more voluptuous figures than Hollywood and
the fashion industry would have us believe is attractive. One of the
night's most rousing moments occurred when a wardrobe malfunction left
one of the ladies' breasts bare, causing Heywood to inform the audience
that "nothing illegal happened here at Jacque's" -the sort of statement
that is almost always preceded by a remarkably enjoyable show.
The night's other special guest was visiting from Berlin, which made the similarities between his/her numbers and those of Hedwig and the Angry Inch
all the more apt. The first performance was as flannel- and denim-clad
drag king Ray Camaro, complete with a surprisingly well-applied
moustache and, somewhat oddly given the star's name, a Corvette
belt-buckle. In the second act, the drag king vestments were tossed
aside-though the moustache was hilariously kept-in favor of the
high-femme drag costume of Deborah K.
Of course, crossing gender lines is what TraniWreck is all about,
and a comparison between the acts of Ray Camaro/Deborah K and Sir
Loins/Donita Roxx is unavoidable. Sir Loins' main (best?) attribute is
the huge pantyhose sausage contraption strapped to his crotch that he
likes to stick into people's drinks, soaking up a sip of their
beverages for himself. Donita Roxx and her backup girls, the Coxx,
always put on a great Courtney Love-type performance complete with
raucous choreography and suggestive props. In the latest show, the
group had two acts, the first of which featured a huge set of lips and
a large cardboard penis that the girls put to good, if obvious, use.
Their second number, which closed out the show, had the Coxx dancing
around on the stage with only electrical tape covering their bosoms-an
appropriate end to the evening.
No TraniWreck show would be complete without the lap-dancing,
table-hopping, hyperactive performances of Mr. Lady or the baton
twirling strangeness of Miss Dominica K, who added vintage costuming
for this latest show-an element that helped integrate the Fatale's
burlesque numbers into the TraniWreck fold.
In all there were 15 performances crammed into the two-hour show,
making for a more than usually frantic pace. The only possible problem
with the show was the limitation placed on the performers by the new
runway. While it enhanced some of the acts, it seemed to hinder others,
and it likely kept the troupe and their guests from taking away as much
in tips as they would have otherwise. But with as many numbers as the
show contained, finding so little to fault is quite an accomplishment.
Heywood and his gang proved yet again that two hours at TraniWreck is
time well spent.
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