Friends, I am
home.... it has been months..... I came home last week actually, but I
had a show in NY and didn't actually return to my home til a couple days
ago. Been getting settled, cleaning house, doing laundry, getting
reacquainted with my dog, Mr. Pumpkinseed, cooking for the Amoeba....
The
last 10 days of my journey were spent in the UK. I went to Scotland, to
the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It was glorious. 3000 shows happening
simultaneously in a gorgeous city with incredible people, culture, food
and architecture. There was a Game of Thrones musical (sold out every
night), I saw "Ecce Homo" a drag cabaret performer surviving over 30
years with HIV/AIDS....and I saw "Le Gateau Chocolat" and "Tshwame
Gospel Choir" from South Africa, Dandy Darkly a rhinestone clownboy
storyteller from Georgia via NYC.....I personally performed with Chaz
Royal and Betty D'Light's nightly presentation "Best of Burlesque" at
the Spiegeltent Columbino, part of Assembly Fest. This was an excellent
show, with some the best burlesque and variety performers working at
the top of their game right now. It was wonderful to be part of this
exceptional crew. Here is a nice pic of some of us on my last day there
with Chaz Royal, Betty D"Light, CeCe Sinclair, Whisky Falls and Eliza
Delight:
While
I was in Edinburgh, I fell in love with a show called "Church of Malcolm", became their backup singer and dancer, and we were selected to
perform at the "Best of the Fest" showcase here is a pic from us from
backstage, me with Malcolm Doherty and his son Callum McQuattie:
My sweet Amoeba had joined me for this leg of the journey.... we made it through the looking glass and back again.... here's a nice shot of him with Malcolm backstage as well...
And
then, after an incredibly informative and delightful run of magnificent
shows, with tears on me cheeks, we boarded a train to London to perform
at the oldest gay pub in London town, The Royal Vauxhall Tavern:
It
was a delightful evening that included trans hostess who sang like
angel from Detroit, an opera singer from Italy, local live LBGTQ
community news, the stars that night were Smokin' McQueen, his
kookaburra puppet and me! The lady who booked us, Inge, is a force in
the community and her event "Bar Wotever"
has been going on for years and I was honored beyond words to complete
my journey at this incredible and legacied venue. It was a journey....
12 countries, 15 cities.....I am home now..... the footage is on 2
harddrives, we are beginning the process of editing now and I am getting
back to my gigs and performances.
I ask you can mark the calendar for my next one, October 2, 2015, I am singing for the first time ever with my group at the James Street Gastropub,
on the 3rd floor, in the newly restored ballroom. This venue is
incredible, it housed the first ever racially integrated dances in
Pittsburgh, and their history of showcasing the best in local jazz
continues today. It closed briefly but reopened in 2011, so please do
come out, see me there, support this venue and their work. They have
great food, great cocktails and beer selection, and most importantly,
they maintain stages featuring live music. It's becoming a rare thing,
stages that regularly support live music, and it won't stick around if
we don't support it. It's only $5 and I am singing all night, with Donna
Davis, the High Priestess of Soul on piano, Tony DePaolis on bass, JT
"Smitty" Smith on drums and Reggie Watkins on the trombone. Here is a
link to the facebook event page, please share it, if I do well, they
will have me back, I have waited a LOOOOOONG time to get into this
venue, please come out and celebrate with me!
So,
last year, you may remember that I had a dream, a dream to show the
world how awesome our music scene in Pittsburgh was, and I went about
this dream by studying video at Pittsburgh Filmmakers and did my
internship at Mr Small's Theatre as part of their Creative.Life.Support
program..... I shot a bunch of video....and I learned that filmmaking is
not a solo mission. It can be, if you want to spend 25 years doing one
thing, but if you want to get the work out in a timely fashion and not
lose your sh*t, you should work in a group, which I did, to shoot it....
but I thought I could edit it, but my schedule is nuts. Like all the
time. I am starting to get a handle on things, but I always overbook
myself.....so before I went to Europe, I began working with a recent
graduate of Filmmaker's intensive program, Andrew Klein, and while
Alistair McQueen and I were off shooting new video, he started in on
editing my old video. And I am so happy he did.... I just uploaded my
first concert from my Sunday Phunday series today, there is more to
come, trust me, but these musicians mean so much to me.... Terry
Griffith, Irish Balladeer and his grandaughter, Grannia Griffith, have
been like family to me since I was but a wee Phat Man Dee....(I'm
working on my brogue....I definitely left a piece of my heart in
Leith....) actually, before I was "Phat Man Dee", Terry's son Damon aka
"The Big Daddy Bull Seal!" and I had a poetry troupe for a decade before
I even started singing with a band.... and his daughter Grannia I have
known before she was even out her mama Mary Crow's belly...... so, to
see her all grown up and a lovely young woman and songwriter in her own
right is an amazing miracle to me.... I hope you like this first episode
of "Sunday Phunday with Phat Man Dee and Phriends, featuring Terry Griffith and the Grannia Griffith Story": Link: https://youtu.be/qwgYKsHf3Hc
It
should be noted that one of our camera operators, Ms. Nancy Evelyn
Gold, passed away recently, while I was in Scotland. I am so sorry to
see her leave us, she was far too young.... she was special for many
reasons, a wonderful friend, and her work was so important. She shone
her cameras on communities who rarely are given voice, the LBGTQ youth,
the cast always, the gender dancers and trans people in our lives who
too often go unheard. Please check out her work and remember her fondly,
I know I will miss her terribly.
Her youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/GenderDances
There is a service and memory walk planned for her if you knew her, or want to get to know her friends.
Love, respect, and may music unite you with the family you never knew you had, it did for me,
Mandee
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