Dragstar Anti-Valentines Cabaret a sexy, creative, gender-bending delight

In a nutshell, Dragstar Cabaret was absolutely fabulous and totally exceeded expectations. And I almost missed it, I just happened to see it advertised in the Tucson Weekly the day before and in a spur of the moment my friend and I figured, why not attend this Anti-Valentine's day event, we're single, and what better way to de-celebrate the upcoming homage to pairdom than to revel in a little bawdy fun.

To tell the truth, we were expecting a rather drab performance of just a bunch of butches strutting on stage. Thankfully, we were both very wrong. Dragstar actually created an hour and a half long show made up of sexy, corsett wearing femmes, mustached and musically talented kings, fire-eating butches, an exquisite red-headed burlesque dancer, and a wonderfully varied cast of characters. There was definitely something for everyone, and the crowd, made up of a mixed group of femme/butch/androgynous lesbians along with a smattering of straights, was more than appreciative and loud with their approval.

It was fitting that the show was held at the historic Hotel Congress in downtown Tucson, Arizona. Club Congress is a cozy venue with an eclectic atmosphere which has consistently supported LGBT events. It was refreshing to see such a varied group of women which makes you appreciate the fact that the lesbian world is so diverse. The butch-femme/gender-bending crowd was also a nice change, something you don't see enough of anymore, especially with the trend in mainstream media to primarily portray lipstick lesbians in shows like the L Word, you need to see the other side. It's important to have the balance, the butch-femme dynamic can be very sexy, which was most evident as demonstrated by Dragstar.

The show was made up several different storylines including a music number by Courtney Robbins who was promoting her new CD. She was followed by the entrance of a tall, stilt-wearing, metalic character being led by an amazon queen. That basically set the tone for the rest of the evening which was filled with wonderfully erotic suprises.

My favorite entertainer of the evening was Amazing Grace, a woman with a delicious mane of long, red hair and eyes that you could just fall into and hope never to get out of. Of course, if butch babes are what makes your heart go pitter-patter you'd have been more than pleased. There were bois a-plenty on stage, including a fire-eater, a suave, brat pack type of fella, and a plastic-sex-doll-carrying-nerd for those women that like their men docile. There were so many configurations, all juicy in their own right, that it was no wonder the time seemed to fly by.

If this show is any indication, Dragstar Cabaret is definitely one group you won't want to miss the next time they come to your neighborhood.