For me, when I'm driving I need a constant playlist of grade A jams. Most of the time I rely on the familiar and formulated playlists of my iPOD. Sometimes though, I decide to add a little spice, variety and gamble to my life by listening to the radio. Most of the time I am annoyed by the inane commentary and repetitious music variety of the radio, but sometimes you stumble upon a nugget of gold. Today, was such a day. 

Having a little Saturday brunch with my roommate and mom and we stupidly forgot the champagne; for no brunch is truly complete without mimosas. As I slid into my 1989 Ford Sho - which has had a check engine light on for weeks - and turned on my car, the epic threesome of Wilson Phillips blared through over my stereo with the iconic song "Hold On". 

What happened immediately afterward could only be described as gay temporary insanity. I both gasped and squeled at the same time, turned the volume up on full blast, and began to sing as scenes from their picturesque mountain music video played in my mind. 

It's not that you're gay for liking Wilson Phillips or even knowing the entire song word for word, it's more that you're gay if you proceed to turn your Saturday afternoon drive to purchase Champagne into an epically staged performance ripe with choreography and off-key singing. I think I might have terrified the biker next to me at the stoplight; or perhaps he secretly began singing the song as I drove away. Here is the music video if you would like to relive the experience; rull of awkward mom jeans, boots, and Carnie looking like a Texan undertaker. 

Happy Weekend!!! 

 Tonight marks the premiere of the 3rd Annual "Made in Reno" musical festival. What started as a small variety show featuring local talent has blossomed and transformed to a larger than life music festival showcasing the best that Reno has to offer. The show has also evolved to become a fundraiser to sustain local music programs. Before the country began to face the greatest economic recession since the Depression, music programs across the nation were experiencing budget cuts with bureaucrats labeling music/music programs as an unnecessary expenditure. Though scientific studies have time and time again proven the overwhelming positive benefits of music programs for youth, finding secure funding was and continues to this day, to be a concern.

Made In Reno represents the combined efforts of a number of individuals who believe in the power of music; as well as the wonderful talent that Reno is ripe with. This two-day music celebration features some of the greatest bands and singer/songwriters in town demonstrating the inherent talent this city has to offer. The money raised through the show will go toward a general scholarship fund for music majors at the University of Nevada-Reno with priority going to students from Washoe County.

The Utility Players will be there lending their support, selling raffle tickets and performing a short set of songs from our all original musical - aptly named Improv the Musical.

Everyone should come out and support this wonderful and fantastic local fundraiser. Here is alink to the facebook event for Made in Reno - happening tonight and tomorrow at the Underground on 4th street. Show starts at 6:30pm and admission is $10. Hope to see you all there.

I'm not going to say that my voice is horrible - on the offhand chance that a Broadway musical director is reading my blog as we speak - but I also wouldn't comment that it is anything stellar. As I was growing up, I had an affinity - dare I say obsession - with singing. I sang everything; usually extremely loud and off key. My mother repeatedly threatened to throw me out of moving vehicles if I sang on the way to school in the morning. It's not her fault; I often tried to emulate Whitney, Mariah, or Celine. My young gay pre-teen couldn't understand that it is hard for a 12 year old white boy to sound like Whitney Houston but lord knows I tried.

Over the years, I slowly and surely improved my vocals through proper instruction and practice with musicals. Well, the moment of truth came when fellow Utility Player Amanda was not at our most recent show. I had to step in for "Boy Band" and work with the three members of our band to come up with a solid performance. We pulled Jes' dad and stepmom up on stage - obviously - thus making the game a little more comfortable - with familiar folks there - however increased the pressure immensely; Jes' dad and stepmom wanted a phenomenal performance and we could not disappoint.

Typically when we have rehearsed this game I have gone last. Typically I don't have the best sounding voice, but usually can improv a decent rhyme scheme and hilarious lyrics that the audience doesn't care. Matt, Ian, and Ariel stepped up to the plate and delivered their improv verses with hilarity. Now it was my turn. Pressure on. Ariel had just delivered an incredibly performance, passed me the mic, and gave me the "alright you're up look". Time to bring it home. I decided to focus on Jes' stepmom - Cindy. Prior to this moment I was thinking of all the things to rhyme with Cindy. Time was running out and my options were unfortunately limited - not many things rhyme with Cindy. What happened after that moment was a mix of luck, divine intervention, and great improv coaching. Check out the video below; I think that I pull off the "straight-dude-trying-to-get-with-the-older-woman" well.

Oddly enough I am not one of those individuals that is suffering from Bieber Fever – the latest infectious disease to hit the country. In a few days, Justin drops by Reno Nevada for a one night only concert and the pre-teen girls of the city are all atwitter. I don’t really get it. Perhaps it is a sign of my growing maturity and the evolution of my tastes, but five years ago I probably would have been one of the biggest Justin Bieber fans …. Who are we kidding …. Probably a year ago I would have been one of his biggest fans. Now, I cannot even tell you a name of one his songs. All I know he is creating a generation of teen boys that look like lesbians with his dykey quaffed hair. In the past I use to walk down the street and mistake 30 year old lesbians as twelve year old boys … now I am mistaking twelve year old boys as lesbians … it’s a very strange world we find ourselves in.

I had a really awful yet deliciously satisfying thought the other day. I had this notion/fantasy that I while Justin Bieber was sleeping I would crouching tiger, hidden drag queen my way past his guards and into his hotel room. Then I would maliciously shave all of his hair off … and maybe if I felt inspired I would give him a Mohawk. I would love to see what would happen with Bieber Fever after that point. I have a feeling that he would loose all of his powers. Then of course … I would sell it on Ebay for an exorbitant amount of money … to some pre-teen girl for sentimental reasons … or to a drag king to fashion themselves a wig/mustache out of it.   

For the life of me, I cannot fall asleep. Reno has blossomed into Summer and with that means unbearable heat. I have both of my windows wide open, praying that a slight breeze might come my general direction. I am way too hot and uncomfortable to even think about sleeping anytime soon. So aside from rocking out to the FAME soundtrack and engaging in an epic game of RISK on Pogo, I thought I would do a blog entry.

It's been two weeks, so I thought I would do another couple of selections of my favorite song covers for the week.

CHER - COVERING "WALKING IN MEMPHIS": Now, it has been established that award winning actress and entertainer of the millennium Cher is one of my idols and icons of life. It is not very well known that Cher in 1995 she covered Marc Cohn's infamous hit Walking in Memphis. Once you adjust yourself to hearing Cher sing this, it is actually a really good cover. 

SAM TSUI & ALLISON WILLIAMS - COVERING "BREAKING FREE": Yes, shocking as it might be, I am probably one of the biggest high school musical fans in the world. There was a period in my life where all I did was listen to High School Musical - or HSM as groupies call it - all day, everyday, imagining that Zac Efron was singing to me instead of that annoying girlfriend of his Vanessa Hudgens. So I am constantly on the lookout for good covers of HSM songs. Now, Sam Tsui actually has a lot of videos on youtube and even a youtube show called College Musical. It's definitely worth checking out - witty writing mixed in with great vocals.

ALANIS MORISSETTE - COVERING "MY HUMPS: I remember working office hours at one of my student org. jobs back at UW-Madison and a co-worker coming in saying that we had to check out this video. I had always been a big fan of Alanis Morissette. Jagged Little Pill had rocked my 4th grade mind and though I did not understand most of the lyrics of the songs at the time, they spoke to my soul none the less. More than anything the video is just hilarious. It showed this humorous and comedic side to Alanis that I don't think necessarily comes across immediately.

Stayed tuned for more selections and feel free to post your own choices as well!

I heard a rumor through the grapevine that the iconic entertainer and drag queen role model Cher was playing on putting on another tour once her contract at Caesar's Palace expires. I immediately begin scouring the internet looking for any and all information about the Diva's return to the touring stage. There wasn't a whole lot of information about it - sadly and disappointing enough. A bay area radio station's website explained that she was working on a new album and the soundtrack for her upcoming film Burlesque with Christina Aguilera. Reports state that she already has a hit lined up for the album entitled Already Been There which she intends to premiere in a few weeks at the World Music Awards. Cher, has already previously put on the Farewell Tour - which she said was going to be the last time she ever performed in a touring concert series, though she would still record music. The tour lasted from 2002 to 2005 and was the second most successful tour by a single solo artist at the time.

God bless you Cher. Not only do you provide makeup and wardrobe inspirations for all of us queens out there but here you are 63 years old and having a second farewell tour. The comedic gold of another Cher Farewell Tour is going to be epic especially coupled with Whitney Houston's current cancellations of more concert dates of her own comeback tour.Poor Whitney, she has been seen with Bobby Brown and her old friend cocaine again.

I really do aspire to be like Cher. Her tenacity, smart business sense, and incredible determination and work ethic got her to where she is now. I hope that at 63, I still look that hot, and my picture is slapped in the dictionary under fabulous, sparkly, and iconic. I hope that she is still descending on adoring fans from a crystal chandelier when is 80 ... then not so many people will judge me when I do it at 85.

Yesterday, I headed out to the pre-school where my roommate and another good friend of mine work at. They had planned this spring music concert and wanted me to come and watch and support. I was totally down with doing that, however I got wasted the night before and had to get up early in the morning to go this shindig. So I tried my best to not smell like a distillery, threw on my big gaudy sunglasses, and hit the road for an epic concert.

With my cousins all in the teenager/pre-teen box, it has been a while since I have been around small children …. let alone an army of small children. The first thing I noticed when we pulled up to the private pre-k school – which shall remain nameless for the sake of my roommate's job – was the playground. The lawn was not real grass but instead some awkward AstroTurf and all of the playground equipment had these beige tones and made out of what appeared to be  some rubber byproduct – thus ensuring that no matter how hard you hit your head on the equipment it would just bounce right back. I instantly went down memory lane to my playground which, let me tell you, was a zoo of concrete and metal – there was no such thing as padding or wood chips in my day.

Then I walk into the classroom, which has about fifteen kids, and I wanted to die. They were everywhere, demanding things, wanting attention and affirmation, tattle-telling on one another, all the while bouncing off the ceilings. My friends & the kids had been working hard for the past couple of weeks to put on this “spring concert” which was going to incorporate some singing, some dancing, and even a little improv. The kids packed the house with friends and family – damn they put a lot of entertainers I know to shame with the amount of people that came out to watch them. Who knew that a preschool spring music concert would be so entertaining and dramatic all at the same time?

So start off the concert, the kids decided to sing/dance along to 98 Degrees rendition of “True to Your Heart” from the awe-inspiring Disney film Mulan. Then did the Bunny Song, Peanut Song, and other objects that they decided to writing a catchy jingle too. The kids also did some improv which I thought was pretty impressive. Taking a quick glance around the room I was able to divide the classroom into 4 different types of performers:

1. The apathetic kid – the child that does not have a performers' bone in their body and generally stood or sat there the entire concert looking awkward and uncomfortable. If they did any of the dance moves they were half-assed and lifeless, their projection was non-existent, and their stage presence was beyond absent. Though they may be 4 or 5 years old, that is no excuse, shall we just examine the Olsen twins.

2. The over-enthusiastic kids – the kids that think they are Justin Bieber and therefore want to do, sing, dance everything. At first you are excited by their involvement and hope that it serves as a model for other children. After about 5 minutes you are over it and hope they join the apathetic kid group. They are the children who have their hands raised first and after each of the numbers asks such questions as “wasn't I the loudest, couldn't you hear me the best”. Because they are so desperately vying for attention they tend to take up the most space with their body and voice. So many of the kids wanted to hold this damn poster with a painted picture of a sun on it, you thought it was the greatest gift you could ever give them. Unfortunately most of these children will grow up to be the people that “try too hard” or the people that hog things – time, attention, spotlight, compliments, toys, etc.

3. The Pumpkins - in general these are the best children to watch. Adorable without trying too hard. There was one kid in particular who wore this beautiful princess dress for the concert. So jealous – if only I was able to accessorize like that or have fabulous costumes from such an early age.

4. The Prima Donnas – and of course, last but certainly not least, everybody's favorites, the Divas. These were the children during the concert that tried to selfishly outshine everybody and when they are unsuccessful go and cry in the corner trying to draw attention to themselves. Well honey baby child, “ba whoooooooo A wooooooo” cry me a river darling. There is a show currently going on, and you should be onstage, and not offstage crying in the corner, especially when you have nothing to cry about. It was a little bit awkward and uncomfortable to watch – not that deterred me from soaking it all in mind you ;)

The parents ate it up, which they usually do in these sentimental, Hallmark-Lifetime-TV-Moments. People were tearing up, cameras were flashing, and a half an other later I still had my big sunglasses on, still was a little drunk, and now a little misty-eyed. I do not envy my friends in their job. Working with other peoples' children all day – especially ones that are bratty and spoiled, the joys of a private preschool – unable to discipline them at all, is really rough. At the end of the concert my friends were sweating and I thought that they might pass out right there on the carpet with the silly fish swimming around it. It is instances like this where I go back and forth on the whole having kids thing. Part of me would like to have a child and just raise the most kick ass kid in the world. The kid who is confident, but not arrogant, smart but not a know it all, and who exudes fabulousness from their very pores. Then I start wondering about life with a kid: PTA meetings, bake sales, soccer matches, sleep overs, school, dentist appointments, SATs, etc. It is at this point that I get very scared. I can't even take care of our house plant which I am looking at while I am typing – at the moment leaves are turning yellow and falling off. How would I ever be able to look after an infant that wants things constantly? Or what happens if my kid doesn't think I'm cool? How would I pick up the pieces of my life after that crushing blow?I guess I will just have to cross the child bridge when I get there.