By Parker Sargent
                               Photos by Sean P Hargrove

Any show that starts off with cute boys in tear-away pants is going to get some attention, and the line-up for the Cherry Grove is on Fire charity show was packed with talent, celebration and lots of cheeky fun. 

Daniel Nardicio organized a fabulous concert at the Ice Palace that brought even more stars to the gorgeous Fire Island night sky, for an event to benefit the Cherry Grove Fire Department. 

A few months ago the brave members of the Fire Department fought so hard to save the Grove from the flames that took down the hotel, decimating Holly House and the Kokimo. Placing the importance of funding for the Fire Department at the front of all our minds. 

Which made Daniel’s event a wonderful way to support the CGFD and enjoy an evening of entertainment from outstanding Broadway legends, dancing boys with fire hoses, much loved drag queens and an adorable girl with a strange tiny guitar. 

Porsche served as our Mistress for the evening, taking us through the banquet of performers whom were each offering their support to Cherry Grove. They all shared their personal fond memories of being in the community and were happy to lend a hand to raise funds for the CGFD to help preserve this slice of heaven. 

The old saying “start off with a bang” was never more accurate than when the first singer in your show is Vivian Reed. If you don’t know her, Google her, you will have an evening of eleganza and elation when you see this Goddess strutting in a 70’s gold lame’ tuxedo or dripping in glamour while singing with Omar Sharif. 

 

Being in the audience just a few rows away from this mega force of vocal dramatics as she was belting out “Believe in Yourself” from The Wiz was almost surreal. To think that you can be sitting with a bunch of your closest friends, having drinks and getting a private Broadway caliber performance from the legendary Vivian Reed is something that will never fail to blow my mind. 

When you can feel a singer’s voice on your skin, that’s power.

She came out looking timeless and fed the children, who jumped to their feet to return the love Vivian showed in her moving performance.

The only way to follow such an emotional outpouring is to make them laugh.

Kew Cherry Grove comic royalty, Michele Balan.

 

Though she joked a bit about her age, there’s clearly no expiration on her ability to deliver a set that kept the crowd laughing. She included a few of her not-so-fond memories of the lost Grove Hotel when she joked “even on the postcards the beds weren’t made”.

The night continued with its vaudeville-esque feel as shirtless firemen danced across the stage, Ariel Sinclair glittered in red sequence, Brad Bradley sang about the sorrows of the Grove bar boys that sleep alone on Monday nights and Gusty Winds just looked fabulous.

A favorite moments of the evening was when songstress Jill Sobule, the original “I Kissed a Girl”, got the entire audience to join her in singing her original song “When They Say They Want Our America Back”.

Members of the audience joined with event organizers and performers to chant out this ditty of humorous insight into our current political climate.

 

And I’m not sure what kind of guitar Jill was using, but she crafted more than melodies with that funny little thing and created an amazing memory of a community coming together in a joyful noise to celebrate recent triumphs and soothe our spirits after tragic loses.

Though this was a definite high note, the show still wasn’t over yet.

We were treated to the handsome Michael Longoria crooning songs like “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You”, giving us another performance that most people can only see on Broadway.

 

The audience outpouring of support and celebration was felt again when the members of the Cherry Grove Fire Department got on stage to accept our gratitude for all their hard work in containing the fire in March.

With the new fire truck, which is helping to be paid for by this charity event, we know the CGFD will be able to keep us all safe and hopefully prevent any further loses.

Well, I guess when you have the audience on their feet, you keep them there, because the crowd went crazy when Alan Cumming appeared out of a wall of dancing firemen, who took their long hose and wrapped it around him.

How many people can say they shared a dressing room with Liza?

Alan can…and he shared stories of his time with Liza on Fire Island, then singing his rendition of “Mein Herr” from Cabaret, as a super gay way to pay homage to Minnelli.

But then Alan gave us Gaga…he gave us Adele…he gave us Miss Perry.

A well crafted blending of these three pop queens is what makes these intimate shows such a truly unique experience. Being able to hear what is inspiring the artist and getting a peek into them as an individual is something that most people dream of coming away from a show feeling, but its rarely accomplished in standard theater.

And if you’re going to open with a bang, you better close with a kiki.

But not just any old kiki honty, give them the original…Ana Matronic.

We have pranced around singing it, squatted to it at the gym or tried to mimic the dance routine in the music video, but at some point we have all been obsessed with the Scissors Sisters’ song “Let’s Have a Kiki”.

After being hammered with performances that inspired applause which could be heard by the crabs digging in the sand on the beach, everyone was so excited to see Ana Matronic, the lead female singer of The Scissors Sisters take the stage.

Joined by the Varsity Dancers Ana gave us the party anthem that will forever be proudly pumped in every gay bar and dance club across the globe.

 

The purpose for the party was a great cause and the energy of the room was exuberant when the show ended. Daniel and musical Director Lance Horne provided us with a show that was dazzling, hysterical, celebratory and sensational.

 

Daniel reported that $5200 was raised for the CGFD!