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If a Kinsey six is completely gay…the Kinsey Sicks are completely fabulous!
The Kinsey Sicks were born when a group of friends went to a Bette Midler concert dressed as the Andrews Sisters. |
For well over a decade, the group has combined award-winning a cappella singing, sharp satire and over-the-top drag to produce a feast of music and comedy.
The Kinsey Sicks began simply in 1993 — a group of friends in San Francisco who went to a Bette Midler concert dressed as the Andrews Sisters. Assuming they’d be among many drag queens, they were surprised to find themselves to be the only ones (other than Bette, of course).
They were approached that night to perform at an upcoming event. Their reply, “we don’t sing,” was almost immediately disproved when they realized that all of them had musical backgrounds. They began singing and harmonizing and the seed for The Kinsey Sicks was planted.
The group drew a large and enthusiastic crowd the following July at their first public performance — on a street corner in the Castro District. Since then, The Sicks have performed their original theatrical productions across the country, packing houses with such shows as “The Balled Sopranos,” “Motel Sicks: A Dragapella Summer Vacation,” “Everything But the Kitsch ‘n’ Synch” and “GreatesTits.”
In 2001, the girls solidified their position as “America’s Favorite Dragapella Beautyshop Quartet” when they produced and starred in their critically-acclaimed, Off-Broadway hit, “DRAGAPELLA! Starring the Kinsey Sicks” at New York’s legendary Studio 54.
The show earned a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Best Musical and a Drama Desk Award nomination for Best Lyrics. The New York Times raved, “The hottest ticket in town … taking the cabaret world by storm … voices sweet as birdsong.”
Last year, the group was recorded in performance at Broadway Studios in San Francisco for its first theatrical release, “Kinsey Sicks: I Wanna Be a Republican.” The show centers on four gals at a GOP fundraiser eagerly awaiting the arrival of President Bush. Biting camp wit, raunchy sex jokes and politically-charged humor are delivered in a mix of songs and stories.
The side-splitting film is out now on DVD. Also available are five CDs: “Dragapella,” “Boyz 2 Girlz,” “Sicks in the City,” “I Wanna Be a Republican” and “Oy Vey in a Manger: Christmas Carols and Other Jewish Music.”
For all the Sicks’ success, they are equally accomplished off-stage.
Original member Ben Schatz (“Rachel”) is the civil rights lawyer who authored Bill Clinton’s HIV policy during his 1992 presidential run. Irwin Keller (“Winnie”) is a lawyer and linguist and former director of the AIDS Legal Referral Panel of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Actor/singer/designer Jeff Manabat joined the group in 2004 in the role of “Trixie.” And earlier this year, the role of “Trampolina” was taken over by Charles Romaine.
Sicks and the City
Queen City Theatre Company (QCTC) is hosting “An Evening with The Kinsey Sicks” on Friday, Nov. 16 in Charlotte. The performance is set for the Booth Playhouse at the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, 130 N. Tryon St., at 8 p.m.
The production extends QCTC’s mission to present works “that celebrate the many different races, religions, genders and sexual orientations” in the region. The effort began with the riotously funny, one-man (woman?) show “An Evening with Miss Coco Peru,” and has included productions of “Manuscript” and queer comedy fave “Sordid Lives.”
Tickets for “An Evening with The Kinsey Sicks” are available online at www.queen
citytheatre.com or by calling 704-372-1000. Prices start at $32. VIP tickets for preferred seating and admission to an aftershow meet-and-greet, are also available.
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