|
 |
Miz Ima Starr 'Up The Disco' Artspace Sunday 12 June In what appears to be her last in a trilogy of shows for the Cabaret festival, with her show 'Up The Disco', Miz Ima Starr (Charles Bracewell) showed that she was much more than the average miming 'cock in a frock'. This girl can sing! And she has an M.A. in moving to music. Radiant in her shimmering gowns and naturally pink hair, Starr treated the full house to an engaging look at her beginnings under the tutelage of three gay uncles at the commune where she was raised, to her rise to stardom at the discotheque. So her story was the perfect excuse to cover a range of the worst disco hits from the 'seventies and 'eighties. For example we learn that the pubescent Yankee Poodle was upstaged at the high school prom by Janey, 'The homecoming Queen with a gun'. She was also a product rep for HERoin - the perfect stress reliever and even had a short stint as a 'Private Dancer'. Starr was well supported by her three associate dancers - the Starbursts - stereotypically gay 'eye candy' who shook their booty and gave their all - including most of their clothing. And her quick repartee worked well in the audience participation section of the show - Interview with a Drag Queen - where Ima gracefully paused to answer audience's questions on subjects like makeup, shopping etc. My favourite was "How do the two up above watch the two below?" although the winning question was a rather too curious enquiry about the bit attached to the two down below. Ima's farewell was a bittersweet medley of Harold Arlen's The Man That Got Away and Over The Rainbow. Let's hope that this won't be her last assault on the Cabaret Festival.  |
|
The latest issue available now!     |
All content copyright dB Magazine