People ask me why I go to Marlena’s on most Saturday nights to watch the drag show.  Well, I do have a good friend that performs there named Ana Mae Cox. I like to watch her numbers. She is great!

However, last night was a night to remember or in some ways to forget.  Alice never could duplicate these things in Wonderland.  Before I knew it, I had fallen down the Rabbit’s Hole and ended up in a Mad Hatter’s party of a night.

I already had a great day spending some time with the boys Chris, Joey, Georgie, and Brendan.   Then something happened.  The magic of Oz in our Emerald City of San Francisco came with the music of  the night in the form of the Hayes Valley Follies at Marlena’s.  Okay,  the booze also contributed to it, too.

We sometimes forget when we see the performers and the numbers on the stage sometimes that these guys have lives and families. Their commitment to their art is so strong that they still perform so well behind all the make up and glitter, even if they have loved ones who are in the hospitals seriously ill or some sort of tragedy in their lives. I was privy to some private stories so some of the performances were extra poignant that night to me.

Then the other story is the audience.   There are straights and gays mixed in this narrow space drinking and enjoying the illusion on stage.  There is also this constant flirting and drama dancing on the floor. Straight girls flirting with gay boys,  gay boys flirting with straight boys, gay boys flirting with gay boys,  couples straying with their eyes…silent soap operas.

I see some doing it flagrantly with the hurt eyes of their partner looking on trying to to seem unaffected.  Others press up against others while their partner holds their other hand.

Texting is firing off constantly as smart phones light up in the darkness.

The show is on and the performers give their all. Ana Mae Cox did three numbers. She does a Christina Aguilera number ” Makes Me Wanna Pray.’ that is smoking hot!

Miss Galilea, who also is Emcee did her signature Lady Gaga “Bad Romance.”  I  loved it!  It is so original and quite fun!

That is why I call Marlena’s my “Happy” place.  I can watch performances like these and forget my troubles and cares for a night.

Well,  then my boys, Chris and Joey, decided to go out for a break.   So Tarzan showed up.  Well, Joey turned into Tarzan while Chris was peeing by a tree.  He started swinging on a vine that was hanging from the tree. He swung completely around and right into the top of the hood of a parked car.  Chris and I went into shock.  Then Joey did it again with a half Tarzan/ half ballerina move.  He screamed with pure abandonment…like a banshee.  He did it again. Chris and I looked at each other and we bursted out laughing.  I mean we just kept laughing at this crazy jungle boy. Oh these drunken times.

Well, we got back into Marlena’s and the soap opera antics were in high gear that even Agnes Nixon could not have written a better script for the night.  It was like who was cheating on who, who liked who , who was leaving with who, and I felt my brain couldn’t take this anymore.  I just wanted to go home, I just wanted to go home!

I kept clicking my heels three times.  Nothing happened.  Then I got a text message.  I was going to get a ride home in ten minutes.  That is better than anything Glenda the Good Witch could have given me.

My friend George already left with Shaun. Chris came back with Joey  with a rubber Giraffe. Apparently, Tarzan found a pot and broke it and there was a rubber giraffe inside.  I am not making this up. It was like a prize you would find in Cracker Jack…only bigger.  I laughed and laughed.

It is Wonderland.  I was looking at Tweedledee and Tweedledum.

Where is my ride?!!!!?

The car finally came. I got in.  I got out of the rabbit hole.

I am looking back at the crazy night….and except for one thing….it was a fun night!

I cannot wait for next Saturday.