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• Uptown Jeremiah Brown is working the door in a swank black dinner jacket. Inside, the dapper downtown crowd two-steps to tracks spun by DJ VH1 (Lady Gaga’s DJ of choice) who is sipping on Hennessey giving a show. Under feather-adorned pendant lights a small pocket of shiny gays glow, laying claim to one section of the club. In the heart of the normally testosterone-rich straight club district, The Roosevelt Room is experimenting. On Fridays, the club opens its arms to the gays. Trying to mix gay and straight, even in this notorious straight area, is nothing new. Hiring hosts like hunky Woodrow Monteiro is a good start though. Tonight he has lured in Prism’s creative director, Gairy Brown. “This spot used to be called My Apartment,” Brown reminds. “It’s where I got my start.” Perhaps Brown’s comments foreshadow things to come for Monteiro.

• Into Elevate walks a fashionable lad wearing questionable cowboy boots, a huge woman’s shoulder bag… and a fan. He’s giving a show to the crowd but most people, including some who have come from the Lady Gaga concert, have come to watch rising Canadian singer Addictiv. With her impressive voice and catchy tunes, she’s already huge in other countries like Mexico. Having played Pride twice, she has received a lot of help from Toronto’s local gay scene including Cajjmere Wray, the producer behind her hits “Just Breathe” and “Over it,” and Scott Fordham who is the choreographer helping shape her live show and music videos “I wish I knew [Fordham] a long time ago. I would have kidnapped him,” she jokes before going on stage. Her performace is almost halted as one drunken little monster insists she sing a Gaga track. Her (perhaps unnecessary) bodyguard, muscles the harmless twink and his equally harmless fag hag out the door. I think they were over it.

• On Sunday nights Woody’s is transformed into a cabaret bar. Tonight, the always-flawless Michelle Ross is giving a show, literally. A true professional, she rarely drinks while performing, except tonight she has a glass of white wine. “Will this be out my system by the time I drive home?” she asks the audience. Can you image her being pulled over dressed like Diana Ross? Miraculously, part of Michelle’s repertoire includes a final act called King Jesus, a series of highenergy Baptist church gospel songs. With the crowd on their feet, raising hands towards the heavens, Michelle is sprayed with water and made dripping wet as if she had just been baptized. It seems Sundays, even in a gay bar, are still about worship.

• The Four Season Centre for the Performing Arts teams up with Dancap Productions to present Miss Saigon, the first musical to hit its hallowed hall. The production rehearsed for eight days in Pittsburgh where it spent two weeks before packing up and heading to Toronto. “We had only three run throughs in Toronto. It was quick, microwave theatre,” says Aaron Ramey who plays one of the lead characters, a soldier named Chris. “Stick it in, heat it up and its good to go.” Though the sets (including a disappointing helicopter prop) are rather low budget, the vocal talents of everyone, especially Ma-Anne Dionisio (who originally played the same role as the young Vietnamese girl Kim 17 years ago), are worthy of a standing ovation. Dionisio arrives at the wrap party with little Chloe Stanford, one of the two girls (yes girls) who play the role of her son Tam. She twirls in her little black flapper dress for the cameras. Even at six, she’s fully comfortable putting on a show.

rolyn chambers
deepdish@fabmagazine.com