Sex in the City Gets a Drag Queen Makeover
Sex and the City: LIVE!, a send-up of the iconic HBO series from the 90s, returns to the Mission this week with a cast of San Francisco’s most fabulous drag performers.
Back by popular demand after an immensely successful run last year, Velvet Rage Productions will present two episodes of Sex and the City: LIVE! each Wednesday night in an open-ended production at Rebel Bar in San Francisco. We spoke with D’Arcy Drollinger, who directs and performs as Samantha in the production.
Is Sex and the City: LIVE! a spoof, an homage, or a parody of the HBO series Sex and the City?
Sex and the City: LIVE! is a send-up of the TV series, done with sincerity, love and lots of wigs. Think of it as an adult version of Scooby Doo on ice.
Who is your target audience? Are you assuming your viewers will have watched the HBO series and/or the movies?
The audience will probably represent a similar demographic to those who watch the original series: mostly women and gay men. Most people who come see the performances will have some familiarity with the original series and will be coming to see their favorite characters in this larger than life recreation. However, even if someone hasn’t seen the original show, the content is funny and relevant enough that it will still be highly enjoyable.
Will you be performing any specific scenes, episodes, or seasons from the original series?
We will be performing two episodes during each performance. There is an early show and a late show each night 7pm and 9pm. Some of the major relationships in the series (like Carrie and “Mr. Big”) will be recurring themes in the performances. For each episode, we take some of the funniest situations and plot lines we find work best on stage, and combine them into a greatest hits.
Sex and the City was obviously very popular and continues to be well-loved, but there have been criticisms of the show as well, including the way women and gay men are portrayed. Is Sex and the City: LIVE! critiquing the original TV show in any way?
The mere fact that we are restaging the series in drag results in some commentary—there’s a critical eye in hindsight. Some of the plots create a very base-level characterization of both women and gay men. By presenting these scenes and characterizations in a live setting, the ridiculousness is suddenly more overt and becomes almost an inside joke between the performers and the audience. But these critiques are not heavy-handed. The show is more than a sketch comedy spoof, rather it is an homage to the show and the characters that broke new ground in regards content seen on television. Each of the four main characters represents an extreme. Most people are going to relate to one (or all) of the characters in one scene or another. But ultimately, this is a bawdy nighttime show in a bar: our main goal is for people to come, have a great time, and laugh with us.
Sex and the City: LIVE! is presented by Velvet Rage Productions and features performers Heklina, D’Arcy Drollinger, Trixxie Carr, Leigh Crow, Cookie Dough, Jordan Wheeler. There will be two performances every Wednesday night at 7pm and 9pm, beginning on January 16th at Rebel Bar. Tickets are $20.
