The Ice Palace’s annual Turnabout Show, when bartenders, DJ, cocktail servers, and other staff perform in drag, while divas DJ and bartend, took place on August 23 and was hosted by leatherman Titanium Tenney (Lavinia Draper/Susan Campanaro). DJ Notchuck (Porsche/Brant) manned the DJ booth. Ariel Sinclair and Logan Hardcore were behind the bar.
Titanium opened by singing “Stand By Your Man,” dedicated to the performers, and particularly pertinent this season, later sang “Light My Fire.”
Lovely Bubbles Atlantic (Tommy Wolf), in a shower of soap bubbles, gave us “Fashionista,” and Barbra Streisand’s version of Frédéric Chopin’s “Minute Waltz” paired with Little Kim’s “How Many Licks.” Donna Dyawanna (Robbie Ranger) accused that “You’re So Vain.”
Viveca M. Cox (Mark Silva) did a mash-up, with costume changes, and wielded a fan. Miso Honey (Mitchell) gave us “Beautiful People” and “Jingle Bell Rock,” which became a sing-along when the track failed and, later, “All the girls at the party look at that body.” Blue-haired Marianas Trench (Sean P. Hargrove) demanded “Let me smell your dick,” and blithely declared, “My Name Is Satan.”
Fearless leader and Madonna devotée par excellence Ivana Nalya (Ken Braun), assisted by a pair of backup dancers, offered “Nothing Really Matters” and “Tainted Love.” Lady Charles (ruling DJ Chuck McTague) was on hand for “The Best Thing about Being a Woman” and a mash-up that included “It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” and “River Deep, Mountain High,” tipping her red wig to the audience after these energetic numbers.
Rachel Ratchet (Ray Cruz) performed “Dancin’ in the Dark” and “Too Drunk to Fuck.” Beautiful Sharon Cox (Peter Chmiel) lent a terrific voice to singing “Don’t Go” and “In the Ghetto.”
A punky Wilma Dickfit (Pete Cono) mashed together the title song from “The Sound of Music” and “Bang Bang Bang.” Dempsey Dumpster (Sonny Shares/Ken Woodhouse) emoted in inspirational number “Fake Your Way to the Top,” from “Dreamgirls.”
Dickson Ciderbox (Wendy Lewis, Sue Panzer, Jess Hooks, Rachael Valentine, and even Porsche) gave the queens a run for their money with their street cred in rapping “Walk This Way.” Vita Hire (Jess) returned with all colleagues’ wigs and dresses for “Wig in a Box,” from “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” her Logan Hardcore, hanging from the rafters, a particular highlight.
The company concluded with an encore of “Best Thing about Being a Woman,” followed by “Queen of the Night.”