Seattle Gay News
Issue 44, Volume 41, November 1, 2013
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT by Eric Andrews-Katz SGN A&E Writer
JOAN MARCUS
PRISCILLA QUEEN OF THE DESERT PARAMOUNT THEATRE November 12 – 17 Bryan West is one of the three men with lead roles in the touring musical Priscilla Queen of the Desert. The big lavender bus rolls into Seattle on November 12, bringing this flashy production to the Paramount Theatre. SGN recently caught up with West, who is playing the role of Adam – otherwise known as Felicia. Eric Andrews-Katz: Who were your earliest influences in becoming a performer? Bryan West: I grew up in Baltimore, so naturally it was the director John Waters. I used to go to the video store and rent his cult films – I don’t know if my parents ever knew that. Divine and all those crazy characters in the movies he’d make, like Polyester and Female Trouble. Although I’m not really that kind of performer, they are the ones that got me interested in acting. Musically, I’ve been trained classically, but weirdly. My biggest influences see priscilla page 6
(l-r) Wade McCollum, Scott Willis, Bryan West in Priscilla Queen of the Desert
Farewell, Lou Reed
see paradisco page 7
by Albert Rodriguez SGN A&E Writer Everyone from David Bowie to The Strokes, from Morrissey to Ryan Adams, from The Who to the Vatican’s cultural minister, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, paid their respects to one of rock music’s legendary mavericks, Lou Reed, who passed away on October 27 at the much-too-young age of 71. Marquee British band Arctic Monkeys performed the artist’s seminal hit “Walk on the Wild Side” during a concert earlier this week, and Seattle’s own Pearl Jam dedicated their song “Man of the Hour” to him at their Baltimore show on Sunday night. Reed, who began his career with proto-punk group The Velvet Underground and also had success as a solo performsee music lounge page 10
closing sale Africa Mama 75-90% OFF 129Store Broadway E, 98102 (206) 856-2310 Ethnic Art & Gift Gallery
most items
10am-7pm Mon - Thu, 10am-9pm Fri - Sat, 12pm - 7pm Sun
rca
er3 photography
busiest people I know. Rarely alone, he is nearly always surrounded by a group of young men who are fiercely loyal to him. He doesn’t look his age, but when he talks about his views on almost any serious topic, you quickly realize that this “boy” you are talking to is, in fact, a man. Andrew Beck is the man, or Twink, behind local drag sensation Drew Paradisco. And these days, Drew’s dance card is full. Drew Paradisco has agreed to an interview in which we will talk about “Drewth.” As Drew, who is the mother to a number of drag daughters in the Haus of Paradisco, says, “The Drewth is the brutal truth. It’s not sugarcoated. If one of my drag children or grand-drag children asks me a question, they know to be ready for the Drewth.” The Drewth. I like that. So do a lot of people, actually. Say what you want about Drew – and the time, in 2011, when the Haus of Paradisco was known chiefly for bad makeup and birthing a new drag child almost daily – but the one thing (and this is a big thing) that everyone can say on her behalf is that the Drewth is real. Drew Paradisco is not someone who lies. Drew is a short form of her middle name, “so I guess my mother named that part of me,”