Backstage and onstage with La Rivers
Orlando comedian Jeff Jones performed with Joan Rivers at Hard Rock Live on Friday night during Gay Days Weekend, and the night before in Jacksonville. They bonded when the notoriously foul-mouthed comedian told Jones she wanted him to do a “cleaner” show. “You can have one ‘fuck’ and one ‘asshole’,” Rivers told him. “That sums up my dating life for the last two years,” Jones responded. At Hard Rock Rivers introduced Jones as, “the best opening act… in his price range.” When she took the stage, the 76-year-old legend was bawdy and brutal. On Tom Cruise: “He’s been in the closet so long I’d give him to Goodwill.” On Chastity Bono: “She was ugly as a girl. She’s ugly as a man. She’d be ugly as a farm animal.”
Magic Moment
The Orlando Youth Alliance hosted groups from Miami and Lakeland during Gay Days Weekend, offering more than 40 LGBT youths their first glimpse at the sea of red t-shirts at the Magic Kingdom on Saturday. Walt Disney World PRIDE offered support. “It’s just amazing to see two men or two women walking around here holding hands,” said one.
Local talent shines at PH
The Parliament House had plenty of star power throughout the weekend: Debbie Gibson, Frenchie Davis, Blake Lewis, close to three dozen porn stars representing five different studios, and a foam party in the back parking lot. But attendees seemed just as dazzled by PH’s very own Footlight Players, who performed numbers from Glee, Lady Gaga and others. At the end of one performance, Armani jumped from the stage right into the swimming pool… in full drag. The huge crowd roared.
Rip Ride Rescue
The Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit roller coaster open during Stratosphere Party is scary to start with—an immediate 10-story vertical incline followed by a big downhill and all kinds of loops and twists through buildings and above Universal Studios Orlando. So imagine what it was like for those stranded on the coaster for close to a half hour at around 10 p.m. during the party. Fortunately, no one was on the vertical incline… or upside down on one of the loops. And the technical glitch didn’t seem to deter anyone— some rode the amazing coaster as many as 10 times.
