Circa at The Pride Concert After Party

Well, what a fantastic party I managed to wangle a free ticket for! I'm fast becoming a frenzied media bunny. With everyone who is anyone in this gay metropolis attending, from Sir Ian McKellen to ooh, erm, ahh, Alan Carr, it was a celebrity-stuffed occasion and a stuffy warm night at The Sound Club in Leicester Square. But that didn’t prevent fun being had, with shirts being peeled off and ripped bodies being paraded. Mmmm!
Starting the evening swanning around looking for the stars of the night to offer my praises and who should I run into but no other than the great man himself Sir Ian McKellen. Hoping to have a few chosen flattering words to honour him with, I did no better than to blurt out “OH MY GAWD it’s you”, bouncing around in sheer excitement, struggling to contain myself. No doubt this was of no surprise to the great man… As I continued to struggle to contain myself he gently extended a hand. Nearly passing out I held on. I patiently waited whilst he finished conversing with one other stunning young fella, Menno, the writer of the Gaydar Diaries.
My moment had arrived, my chance to say something “OH MY GAWD it’s you, Sir Ian McKellen… I absolutely love every thing you’ve done, wow really enjoyed your drag performance at The Royal Albert Hall. Sir Ian spoke. I couldn’t hear a word, I guess he said “thank you”. He carried on to ask my name and suggested a quick kiss, with out a second thought I was thrusting my lips in his direction firmly laying one directly on the regal chops. ”Score!”, I thought to myself, now time to get a quick picture for the collection. As we all tried to shuffle around for that perfect pose the flash went. Bugger wasn’t ready for that one!!
Menno Kuijper (also in the photo) regularly performs his own material on the comedy and cabaret circuit in London including at Too 2 Much, the G Lounge, the Comedy Café, The Theatre Museum and the Battersea Barge. He's the writer of the very witty Gaydar Diaries about online dating - a sketch show, which allows for a multitude of characters and scenarios to be presented. He had envisioned it as ‘Vagina Monologues’ meets ‘Little Britain”. Simply a show not to be missed.

Well now feeling better composed, I proceed to prance around again looking for my next victim… More “idol” chit chat and flattery.
Waiting to capture that next face with my Kodak Advantix I see a couple. “Oh they look approachable”, I think to myself. ne a familiar face, the other unknown to me, but nevertheless I stop to mingle, still oblivious to whom this other person is. As I proceed to eavesdrop on the conversation I am soon included… At my first opportunity and with my usual flair and finesse I had to discover who this tall, well-presented red head chap was. So, as I do, I blurted out, "So who are you?" Menno answered ,"Christopher Green". Did the name ring a bell? Nope it did not. "Tina C" Ah really! My next victim was found.
Christopher Green, aka Tina C, global drag artist, had performed a couple numbers of his own earlier at the Albert Hall and was forever entertaining. I couldn’t help but be amused by some of his humorous lyrics. If I may quote the lyric “I became a schizophrenic just so I could love you twice as much” from, I presume, his latest album, I can tell you that the crowed roared with laughter at this. I guess you had to be there to really appreciate his wit but without a doubt he had the crowd raucously amused. He put on a rootin' tootin' darn good performance. Ye - ha!
My next attraction was the guitarist Murray Gould from the band Never The Bride. He truly was an absolute doll with his wild rocker perm. Dri fting back to what I thought at the performance at the Royal Albert Hall I wasn’t very sure of what to expect from this band, but they seem to be a firm favorite with the girlz… Lead singer Nikki Lamborn belted out their repertoire with a huge amount of gusto and passion. She possesses one of those truly powerful, unique voices. Distinctive and unforgettable.

Graham Norton did a nice thing for a couple of lesbians who had been married for like a hundred years. What did he do, you wonder? He took a friggin picture, exciting eh! He also appeared briefly in the Avenue Q sketch, I was mildly amused but would have enjoyed it equally as much had he not contributed at all.

Later at the party again, I briefly glimpsed Graham draped over a rather dashing man. I felt it best not to intrude with polite chit chat as he clearly was very preoccupied with matters of the ahem... heart... nod nod, wink wink.
Stood to my left, someone caught my eye. No other than Coronation Street star Anthony Cotton. With not much to say other than “oh I‘m a great fan of Corrie, wouldn’t miss it for the world” I shunted him to the side for a quickie. I mean a quick picture! So with a slight nod and a celebrity-styled smile the picture was taken and as soon as, I was off to the bar.
It was now about 2am and my night was coming to an end. Still rather stuffy and sticky in there, but now I'm loosely strutting around, jeans sticking to my legs and my shirt damp. I attempt a little boogie. Then, feeling terribly uncomfortable and ungracious, I make my way back to the bar. There I happen to bump into another couple, no idea who they are but had to take a snap. Mistaking the fella in the blue shirt for a member of the gay men choir. The London Gay Mens Chorus offered a tremendous performance at the Royal Albert hall, I was truly blown away. They also assisted Heather Small with singing her backing to the track, Proud, another superb performance. Turns out the fella in the blue shirt was a member of the leftfooters.
Shame our dear Stephen Fry didn’t attend the after party as he had to be the greatest addition to the show filling the gaps effortlessly with his witty, articulated charm… Good ole Steve.

See you wherever the gay glitter falls Darlings...

Curtis xx