Many people, including many members of our community, believe that Wigstock, the annual New York City outdoor party of drag queens and their fans, is just a gathering of men dressed up as women. Far from it! In the words of Lady Bunny, the founder and annual emcee of Wigstock, "This isn't NECESSARILY a drag thing or a gay thing or a straight thing. It's a chance for all of us to get together in the park and have a good time!" At WIgstock, you're guaranteed to see an eclectic array of comedians, musicians, performance artists, local New York celebrities, and Manhattan's best drag queens and kings. Yes, Virginia, drag KINGS do exist! But No, Virginia, you don't HAVE to be in drag or even wear a wig to go to Wigstock! The only requirements for having a good time at Wigstock are an open mind and a sense of humor. This year, Wigstock was blessed with absolutely beautiful weather. On Sunday, September 2, at Pier 54 in downtown Manhattan, Chelsea boys, West Village types, club kids, and gender benders of all varieties gathered to celebrate peace, love and big hair!

The first Wigstock was first held in Tompkins Square Park in 1985. At the time, it was a largely informal gathering which was free. Over the years, the all-day event boasted such well-known performers as RuPaul, Deee-Lite ("Groove Is in the Heart"), Crystal Waters ("Gypsy Woman"), Blondie's Debbie Harry, Joi Caldwell, Kevin Aviance ("Rhythm is My Bitch"), and Charlotte ( the club hit "Skin"). New York drag divas Lypsinka, Mistress Formika, Jackie Beat, the Dueling (Tallulah) Bankheads, Joey Arias, Hedda Lettuce, Kiki and Herb, and Varla Jean Merman (who claims to be the illegitimate daughter of Ethel Merman and Ernest Borgnine!), among many others, almost always make it to Wigstock to showcase their talents. Even Chi Chi LaRue, drag queen director of gay adult movies, got into the act in Wigstock 2000 with a hilarious performance. As the general public discovered Wigstock, the event grew and became more expensive to produce-- and, to some people's dismay, became more "slick" and "commercial" as well. There's now a large video screen which allows the entire gathering to see what's happening on stage. Over the past few years, the producers of Wigstock have also had to seek sponsorship as well as charge admission. Many of the people who enjoyed the lack of formality or corporate involvement in the early days of Wigstock now bemoaned having to pay $25.00 to get in and seeing Wigstock T-shirts and calendars for sale! Wigstock further entered the pop culture landscape when in 1995, "Wigstock: The Movie" and its FABULOUS soundtrack were released. Unfortunately, as the event became bigger and more expensive, the producers of the annual event suffered through poor weather for Wigstock 2000 (when it rained a little) and Wigstock 2001 (when it rained A LOT!). The smaller numbers of attendees resulted in financial trouble, and as a result, Wigstock 2001 was called "The Last Blowout." (But between you and me, I don't believe that it will be! See more about that later!)

This year, hundreds of people took advantage of the great weather to enjoy performances by New York's best emerging and underground talent. MC Lady Bunny, in trademark huge blonde wig which appeared to put her in danger of snapping her head off at the neck, this year had a partner to help her with hosting responsibilities: hilarious drag king Murray Hill. (His name is a New York City-only joke!) The same way that drag queens exploit the humorous aspects of what it's like to be a woman, Mr. Hill did the same to the male gender, pleasing the many women and lesbians in the crowd. As we all know, humor is a very important element to the art of drag. And at this year's Wigstock, the humor was wild, raunchy, and definitely NOT for the faint-hearted or the politically correct! There were absolutely NO taboos at this event! In addition to the "what-you'd-expect" jokes about gay sex and parts of male and female anatomy, there were no-holes-barred jokes about Paula Poundstone's and Michael Jackson's, shall-we-say, sexual preferences; Whitney Houston; Anne Heche (too easy a target!); Lizzie Grubman; and even fellow drag diva RuPaul! (Picture Lady Bunny singing to the tune of "Supermodel:" "You gotta find work... work... work... Now that your show, on VH-1 has been can-celled!") Even jokes about the late Aaliyah abound (And no, I'm not repeating them!) Speaking of Lizzie, in one act, Lady Bunny introduced a blonde drag queen done up as Ms. Grubman, who was "run down" by a cardboard cutout of the Lizzie-mobile-- much to the delight of the audience! In another humorous act, the gender illusionist waitresses from Manhattan drag restaurant Lips performed a dance routine to "We Are Family" which started out as a well-choreographed "sister act" and deviated into a wig-pulling, dress-ripping, high heel-kicking comedy cat fight!

Then it was on to the "fallen diva" segment of Wigstock. Flotilla DeBarge, one of New York most visible - and funny-- African-American drag stars, did a hilarious sketch where she lip-synched the campiest moments of "Mahogany," the 1975 cinematic misfire which starred fallen diva Diana Ross. That movie, available on video, was so bad that it's good-- I proudly own my own copy! Many of us now put "Mahogany" in the "Vehicles for Faded Pop Queens which are Now Camp Classics" section of our video collections. Destined to join "Mahogany" is the upcoming Mariah Carey flick "Glitter," which was being HEAVILY promoted at Wigstock. "Glitter" postcards and tubes of body/hair glitter gel were being given out, and a preview of the movie was shown-- which was greeted by snickers, laughter, and rolled eyes from the audience. This movie, which was delayed due to Mariah's assorted nervous breakdowns, may be the perfect movie to go see with a large group of well-inebriated friends, after which you can have a "Mariah Carey CD Burning Party." No, I don't mean COPYING the CD's-- I mean really BURNING them-- on a bonfire, preferably. After the preview of "Glitter," Lady Bunny announced that Mariah Carey, in person, was at Wigstock! The audience was shocked when what appeared to be the fallen diva appeared on stage. But wait! No, it wasn't really Miss Carey, but was drag diva Lindsay Blue, who you may remember as flawlessly channeling Diana Ross at the 2000 Miss Auntie M's Pageant. Lindsay's version of Mariah, dubbed "Mariah Scary," got halfway through the Mariah song "Emotions" before her singing turned into a frenzy of trembling, hiccupping, burping, and panicking until she ran off the stage screaming. A faithful tribute to Mariah, indeed!

The biggest musical highlight of the event was, without a doubt, living legend Jayne County. All you little tikes who party at Luxe on Wednesdays and all of you from the Coming Out Class of '92 who think that gay music began in the disco may not have heard of Miss County, but read my lips: you soon will! Jayne was formerly Wayne County, and the male/female duality of Jayne's personality has always colored Jayne's raw, sexually aggressive "don't f*ck with-me" persona. With a discography including songs with titles like "Toilet Love," "Cream in My Jeans," and "(If You Don't Want to F*ck Me Baby) F*ck Off!!," you know that Jayne doesn't play by the rules! "F*ck Off" was originally released in 1977, and a CD dance maxi-single of the song was released in 1999, turning up on many DJ's list of favorite and most-requested tunes from that year. Jayne County is on the verge of a major return! I'd say "comeback," but Jayne never really left the scene, frequently showing up at downtown Manhattan clubs like Squeezebox (sadly, now closed) and popping up at events like Madonna's "Music" CD launch party in L.A. Jayne shows no signs of stopping, and in addition to her new single-- her crowd-pleasing version of "Man, I Feel Like a Woman!"-- she has a new CD coming out soon. Jayne is a pioneer of the transgendered rock and roll/ punk scene, and paved the way for many others who dared to test the limits and break the rules in a not always gay-friendly environment. Jayne's performance at Wigstock was no lip-synched performance of a current pop tune: a true rock and roll goddess, a sweaty Jayne screamed her way through her song "Night Time" in torn lingerie, rolling around on the stage, flashing her mammoth mammaries, and showing any potential rock stars in the audience how it's done! Amazingly, Jayne resisted the urge to make any nasty comments about "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," the current movie based on the off-Broadway play that bears MUCH MORE than a coincidental resemblance to the story of Jayne's life! Jayne and her admirers have had something of a "war of words" with the makers of "Hedwig," who have not even mentioned Jayne or even addressed the issue in interviews, press releases, etc. Many Jayne fans are boycotting seeing the film. (Out of respect for Jayne, I resisted entitling this article "Taking the Wig Down Off the Shelf," a line from a song from "Hedwig.") After Jayne's performance at Wigstock, I met the towering drag legend, who still has a vestige of Southern accent in her voice (Jayne was born in Georgia.). What a thrill! Despite Jayne's appearance, her manager, our Long Island star The Fabulous Jimi LaLumia, was nowhere in sight! "No, Jimi's not here," Jayne shrugged. "I can't get him to leave Long Island!" (Then again, if you're famous on Long Island, why head over to Manhattan?!) You can buy Jayne's new CD maxi-single, "Man, I Feel Like a Woman!" at Jimi's store The Record Connection in Ronkonkoma. Check out the VERY cool Jayne County web site, www.jaynecounty.com, for links on how to get this single, or Jayne's 1995 biography, "Man Enough to Be a Woman," by mail; plus VERY cool photos, audio and video clips, a full Jayne County bio, and contributions by Jimi LaLumia..

Other eye candy at Wigstock included Renee Taylor, (AKA Fran Drescher's mother on "The Nanny"), promoting her new off-Broadway play "If You Ever Leave Me, I'm Going with You;" the rock group the Toilet Boys; Dean Johnson, a 6'2" bald drag queen who performed a lesbian fantasy song called "Planet Muff"; and candidate for Public Advocate, Democrat Norman Siegel, who was wearing a wig! (a purple Afro, to be specific), and posing for pictures while handing out pamphlets. The E! Network was also there, filming the most outrageous costumes and people-- with occasional footage of, and interview with, a gawking straight person-- for a future "Special Assignment" show. There were also belly dancers, transgendered rights advocates, and promoters for the upcoming Ben Stiller movie "Zoolander." What WAS missing, unfortunately, was more people from Long Island. The only other fellow Long Islanders I saw were Rick Cullen, writer for "Community Connection" on Louis Trapani's web site ArtTrap.com; and Doug, a devoted CHOLI volunteer. Was anyone else there? Let me know!

The final act was another living legend, Blondie's Debbie Harry, showing that over 50 can be FABULOUS. The blonde rock star, still sexy, was the reward for all those who braved the hot sun of the day, and all those in high heels who couldn't bear standing, much less dancing, anymore. She performed the 80's classic "Atomic." Long live Blondie!

Although this was reportedly the last Wigstock, I have faith that those who produce the annual event will find a way to pull through and keep entertaining us for years to come. The sheer talent, flamboyance, and creativity of all those who performed and many who attended is too vast. Never underestimate the power of drag!

Check out www.wigstock.nu for pictures from past Wigstocks!

To get a list of Lady Bunny's UNCENSORED jokes from WIgstock, e-mail me.

Photos: Jed Ryan

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