{"id":9862,"date":"2014-01-30T19:37:20","date_gmt":"2014-01-31T03:37:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=9862"},"modified":"2014-01-30T19:40:02","modified_gmt":"2014-01-31T03:40:02","slug":"kinsey-sicks-drag-queen-parody-is-funny-harmonious","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/kinsey-sicks-drag-queen-parody-is-funny-harmonious\/","title":{"rendered":"Kinsey Sicks\u2019 drag-queen parody is funny, harmonious"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Woody’s [rating:4.5]<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The Kinsey Sicks has been entertaining for 20 years. In front are the quartet\u2019s co-founders, Ben Schatz (left) and Irwin Keller; standing are Spencer Brown (left) and Jeff Manabat.<\/p><\/div>\n

It was a one-night stand.<\/p>\n

But I\u2019ll long remember it as a theatrical m\u00e9nage \u00e0 quatre, which, clearly, is one person better than a m\u00e9nage \u00e0 trois.<\/p>\n

The harmonious homecoming of the Kinsey Sicks took place at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco. And, as might have been prophesied, the quartet\u2019s social satire was both outrageous and outrageously funny.<\/p>\n

And as raunchy as ever.<\/p>\n

I hadn\u2019t seen the drag queen tour de farce in more than a decade. My loss.<\/p>\n

This go-round, a 20th anniversary bash by \u201cAmerica\u2019s favorite \u2018dragapella\u2019 beautyshop quartet,\u201d spoofed \u2014 mainly through original lyrics and music \u2014 a potty-load of 21st century TV reality series.<\/p>\n

The foursome labels its musical comedy \u201cAmerica\u2019s Next Top Bachelor Housewife Celebrity Hoarder Makeover Star Gone Wild!\u201d<\/p>\n

I doubt if I\u2019d have laughed harder even if I\u2019d ever seen any of the original reality shows they were lampooning (or if I\u2019d known beforehand that the show was an outgrowth of their having once been contestants on \u201cAmerica\u2019s Got Talent\u201d).<\/p>\n

The Kinseys (who wear male attire when not on stage) were, as always, downright irreverent.<\/p>\n

No body parts were safe from their wit.<\/p>\n

And, naturally, there were endless overt and innuendo references to gay sex, gay sex and, in case you missed it, gay sex.<\/p>\n

The Kinsey Sicks website provides a quick rundown of the current cast \u2014 \u201cThe Boys Behind the Girls.\u201d Its cheeky tone is in keeping with the act, but there are serious undertones.<\/p>\n

Ben Schatz (\u201cRachel\u201c) co-founded the Kinsey Sicks with Irwin Keller and is its chief lyricist. A Harvard Law grad, he started the first national AIDS legal program and was on President Clinton\u2019s Advisory Council on HIV\/AIDS.<\/p>\n

Keller (\u201cWinnie\u201d), who\u2019s responsible for many of the group\u2019s musical arrangements, is a linguist and lawyer who authored Chicago\u2019s gay rights ordinance. He also acts as lay rabbi of a small Cotati synagogue.<\/p>\n

Jeff Manabat (\u201cTrixie\u201d) joined the Kinseys in 2004, and Spencer Brown (\u201cTrampolina\u201d) jumped on the vocalwagon in 2008.<\/p>\n

The homecoming show also briefly featured Maurice Kelly, who\u2019d originated the Trixie role. She sizzled while doing offering an updated rendition of \u201cFever\u201d in a white gown that recalled Glinda the Good witch from \u201cWicked.\u201d<\/p>\n

The cavernous Castro has 1,400 seats, and a quick glance showed virtually none was empty. I, in fact, got there somewhat late and was relegated to the last row of the balcony, from which I could hear almost every barbed phrase, many of which (including countless f-bombs) can\u2019t be reprinted by family newspapers or websites.<\/p>\n

If lyrics became too dense or too fast to discern, however, I simply tuned into a cappella excellence that the Kinseys\u2019 vocal instruments command.<\/p>\n

The throng appeared to be 99.4 percent gay male, with a smattering of lesbians. A handful of others, including me, represented the straight population. If there were any LGBT-bashers, they stayed in hiding.<\/p>\n

Parents wisely kept their tiny kids at home.<\/p>\n

Pre-show slides on a big screen set the mood. They skipped through the Kinseys\u2019 history, mostly in color but occasionally dating back the full 20 years to black-and-white stills.<\/p>\n

The concert-burlesque also included tidbits from old but still vibrant concoctions.<\/p>\n

For instance, the two-Jew, two-Gentile, big-haired, big-harmonied quartet offered excerpts from \u201cOy Vey in a Manger,\u201d which they just presented on the Sonoma State University campus, proving that the Kinseys and their fans prefer naughty over nice.<\/p>\n

Highlights of \u201cAmerica\u2019s Next Top\u2026\u201d were retooled versions of \u201cDon\u2019t Rain on My Parade\u201d and \u201cSanta Baby,\u201d as well as aggressive originals that asked the question, \u201cWhy the F\u2014k Aren\u2019t We Famous?\u201d<\/p>\n

The encores were superb.<\/p>\n

One gospel-based piece truly jumped, and the poignant closing tribute to former Kinsey performer Jerry Friedman (and, presumably, AIDs casualties) brought the entire crowd, many of whom had been only one or two degrees of separation removed, to its feet.<\/p>\n

Throughout the show, pop and cultural references were rife. Inserted, for instance, were often-snarky mentions of Rachel Maddow, Frida Kahlo, Simon Cowell, Susan Boyle, Dick Cheney and George Clooney.<\/p>\n

Throwaway lines rocketed in every direction.<\/p>\n

Like an old Henny Youngman routine, if you didn\u2019t laugh at this gag, that phrase, or any specific alliteration or allusion, there\u2019d be another along in a second.<\/p>\n

Some were groaners.<\/p>\n

Such as: \u201cVan Gogh didn\u2019t have an ear for music.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the two-hour show, which featured smatterings of audience participation, came a bonus: Deborah Doyle, president of the California Library Association, moderated a question-and-answer verbal roundelay featuring Kinsey input, serious and not.<\/p>\n

The uproarious but thoughtful quartet has appeared in Las Vegas, off-Broadway and in 42 states \u2014 and they\u2019ve put out two DVDs and eight CDs.<\/p>\n

But the more I think about it, the more I realize that in keeping with their clever, dense-and-dirty delivery, the four drag queens would probably rejoice in my indicating that they\u2019d put out at all.<\/p>\n

A 20-year retrospective about the Kinsey Sicks will be displayed at the James C. Hormel Gay & Lesbian Center of the San Francisco Public Library, 100 Larkin St., third floor, from Feb. 8 through July 10. For information on upcoming appearances of the group, check out www.kinseysicks.com<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>or call (415) 326-4679.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Woody’s [rating:4.5] It was a one-night stand. But I\u2019ll long remember it as a theatrical m\u00e9nage \u00e0 quatre, which, clearly, is one person better than a m\u00e9nage \u00e0 trois. The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9862","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-woody-weingarten"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"