www.ExpressGayNews.com • August 25, 2003 Q1 Q_COVERstory Vegas Takes a Gamble with Zumanity Adults-Only Show Includes Explicit Homosexual Content By Steve Friess sexual images. An elderly couple are also Special to The Express an unlikely but welcome part of that mix, For all its explicit and prurient doing a sensual and touching dance number hypersexuality and obvious flair for to remind the audience that age need not campiness, Las Vegas has never been much preclude anyone from a sexually charged of a draw for gays and lesbians. There are a life. few all-male dance revues, but they’re more Still, it’s the homosexual content that aggressively marketed as trendy destinations makes this show of cultural significance, if for bachelorette parties. Some hotels and only because it just hasn’t been done before wedding chapels allow same-sex wedding on this scale for this diverse an audience. ceremonies, but the state’s constitution now Cirque has offered some homoeroticism in explicitly prohibits them from having any the past—a sequence in Mystere in which legal value. And the only openly gay the musclebound Lorador brothers lift and headliner on the glittery Las Vegas Strip is a twirl each other and often have face-to-groin drag queen, albeit a very, very good one. or groin-to-ass contact is a huge favorite for (Sigfried & Roy don’t count as they’re not, gay men—but they go so much farther here. believe it or not, out.) We’re not just talking about homoerotic Last week, though, Cirque du Soleil content, but real, live homosexual activity. opened an entry to the Vegas entertainment A gay couple, married to one another in real scene that could single-handedly change the life, conduct a gripping seduction dance that city’s image for gay people. climaxes with them kissing for at least a half The erotic, adults-only Zumanity at the minute. Bare-breasted women splash about New York-New York hotel is, at a $50 and grope in a life-size fishbowl while million cost to mount, the first genuine big- musclebound studs lay helplessly and budget effort ever in America to integrate irrelevantly outside the glass. explicit homosexual content into the It’s worth noting that the Zumanity panorama of sexual options in a live stage Theater was originally built for an excellent production intended for mainstream but short-lived show called Madhattan in consumption. which actual performers were plucked from This is, quite simply, the show that will the sidewalks and subways of cities such as finally convince gay America that Vegas New York and Chicago and compiled into isn’t tacky anymore. The city has been vastly a gritty Vegas variety act. The consensus upgraded since its Elvis and 99-cent-buffet on why it failed is that it was considered days, now boasting some of the nation’s too “urban” for conservative farm-fed finest restaurants and hotels and an A-list audiences from the Midwest. Now that variety of entertainment. There’s even an all- there’s a Cirque du Soleil erotica show in gay resort now, the Blue Moon, although it’s the same space, the predictable and such a novelty that it made the front page of understandable question for Vegas pundits the Los Angeles Times. But it is Zumanity to ponder is whether that can work as that will immediately place Sin City on the mainstream entertainment where Madhattan list of must-go destinations for queer could not. travelers if only because there’s nothing else Or, as one local newspaper columnist like it anywhere. asked aloud at Zumanity’s premiere post- In this outing, Cirque du Soleil was party on the fake Brooklyn Bridge outside required to do something truly new to avoid New York-New York: “Can you see a diluting an entertainment market in which straight frat boy from Indiana going home they already own two other permanent and telling his friends to go to Vegas to see shows, O at Bellagio and Mystere at Treasure a black guy and a white guy kissing each Island. With Zumanity, as intended, the mold other?” is broken. Whereas O and Mystere have My answer: No. I expect the straight some similar elements and have much in frat boy from Indiana to go home and tell common with parts of the five Cirque touring his friends: “Go to Vegas and see the two productions, nobody can seriously view topless babes do each other in a mammoth Zumanity in precisely the same category with fishbowl. You gotta put up with watching its Cirque lineage. some queers going at it for a few minutes, Gone are the bright-colored costumes, but it’s so worth it.” Not exactly a proud replaced by, well, not a whole lot of material moment for gay lib, but that wasn’t the at all. The emcee, Greenwich Village cabaret question. legend Joey Arias as Mitzy LaMooche, Indeed, the debut offered an amusing actually speaks directly to the audience, and reminder of the fact that even the Cirque vocalists also sing in English, not the usual folks remain ever-so-slightly hamstrung by gibberish language referred as “Cirquish.” the prevailing heterosexual culture. Near the There are some breathtaking acrobatics, end, during a mammoth circular orgy scene Sketches of Zumanity’s but the grander effort here is to make the on the revolving stage, Arias lured a random costumes, created by renowned fashion entire theater feel kaleidoscopic and kinky male audience member on stage to insert designer Thierry Mugler through dance, lighting and clever props. into the action. He was led into the center With even the band members dancing and and laid down intimately alongside three of shimmying as they perform from high above the gorgeous women in the cast. the stage, the room always feels a bit like Zumanity, you must remember, is all it’s in motion. about busting sexual boundaries and To be sure, Zumanity is much more than opening minds. Yet the show presumed that just its gay elements. That content is merely the guy they brought up was straight and a part of a program that works hard to show would be titillated by the nymphs. the extraordinary and varied potential for It was opening night, so it was an all- human erotic love and passion. In one locals, by-invitation audience. I knew the sequence, a handsome, well-muscled dwarf man they brought to the stage. He’s a hottie pursues and, ultimately, attains the affection all right. of a tall, beautiful blonde. A pair of obese He’s also gay. Oops. What were the women in fishnet stockings start out the odds? Well, if this show does its job right, show seemingly as comic relief by and gays and lesbians flock to Vegas to see wandering the theater with platters of sliced it, the odds are going to become increasingly strawberries to offer to audience members. high. But in the end they’re very much objectified For more information about Zumanity, as well and welcome into a montage of go to www.zumanity.com. Q2 www.ExpressGayNews.com • August 25, 2003 www.ExpressGayNews.com • August 25, 2003 Q3 Q_CULTURAL COCKTAIL By Mary Damiano Shakira Says Hello Miami, Cher Says Goodbye—Again Singers Hit South Florida for Pride and Performances “Cultural Cocktail” and a few other Ivory, who did Room With a View, The Shakira has been confirmed to regular Q features will not appear next week, Remains of the Day and Howard’s End. appear at Orgullo Miami Pride because we’ll be bringing you a very special From the commercials on TV, it’s being Q—a rundown on all the hot things to look marketed as a comedy, with plenty of forward to in the upcoming season. This romance and sex, Parisian style. That’s what handy guide will give you the lowdown on I was expecting when I went to the screening. what’s happening at the movies, on the stage, Instead, I got attempted suicide, a body in a in the clubs, on the tube, in the bookstores trash can, a psycho on a murderous as well as the hottest events that will keep rampage—mon deux, not exactly the the season sizzling. Stay tuned—it’ll be a sophisticated fluff they’re selling in the keeper. commercial. The plot, centering on a pregnant mother whose husband suddenly Shakira Shakes It for leaves her at the exact moment her sister Miami Pride comes to Paris for a visit sounds like good ingredients for a sophisticated comedy, but Shakira, the luscious, Latin singer with the plot just doesn’t click, and the film lacks the bodaciously undulating booty, has been cohesion. Perhaps Ivory should stick to confirmed to appear at Orgullo Miami Pride, directing period pieces instead of such a car march and block party scheduled for merde. Oct. 4. According to Luigi Ferrer, executive director of the Bisexual Foundation, several A Great Double Feature people asked him why Miami had no Pride event after attending the Wilton Manors The winner of the Best Picture Oscar, Stonewall Parade and Festival last June. Chicago, was released last week on DVD, Orgullo Miami Pride is now in the planning but the real bit of genius was that the musical stages and needs volunteers to help with their from 1979, All That Jazz, was also released. organizing committee. Shakira was chosen All That Jazz is an absolute gem, one of my because her brother and she feels strongly all-time favorite movies, and it makes a about gay rights and gay causes.