‘Dragapella’ more than a mere dress rehearsal

Monday, Aug. 30, 2004 | 8:16 a.m.

But if you can put aside your sexual preferences for an evening, this drag queen show is a riot.

The production, featuring four men in '50s style hairdos, was showcased at the Westin's David Brenner Theater on Thursday and Friday night. Producers are hoping to find a permanent home in Vegas for the group, billed as "The Kinsey Sicks, America's Favorite Dragapella Beautyshop Quartet."

It has performed all over the country, even doing a stint off-Broadway.

The superb cast includes Irwin Keller (who looks like a Sunday school teacher) and Jeff Manabat (going for the Marilyn Monroe look with a platinum blond wig). Also, Chris Dilley (whose beehive hairdo could be hiding a football) and Ben Schatz (built like a fireplug clad in a shiny red dress).

The four have distinguished backgrounds -- Schatz (whose character is Rachel) graduated from Harvard law school and created the first national AIDS legal project; Keller (Winnie) is a graduate of the University of Chicago law school, a linguist and former director of the AIDS Legal Referral Panel of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Dilley (Trampolina) and Manabat (Trixie) were actors and singers when they joined the group.

The Kinsey Sicks were formed in 1993 in San Francisco, formerly home to Finochio's, an internationally renowned nightclub that featured drag queen entertainment for 63 years before closing in 1999.

The queens at Finochio's took their roles seriously. They were gorgeous, attired in fashionable gowns and jewelry and never stepping out of character during a performance. It was almost impossible to tell that they weren't women.

Not so the Kinsey Sicks. There's not much feminine about this group, but for their wigs and their costumes -- gaudy satin dresses buoyed by petticoats, the kind popular with square dancers.

"Dragapella" is a satire, a spoof of drag queen shows. It features humor filled with double-entendres. The quartet can be rude, crude, ribald and bawdy -- even downright dirty at times. But almost always, they are funny.

They might talk in faux-falsetto voices, wear makeup and prance around the stage, but the unshaven underarms of a couple of the characters are clear indications they aren't as serious about their drag-queen status as are their counterparts at other venues.

Schatz goes from speaking in a sweet, syrupy voice to barking like a Marine drill sergeant in a split second. The lanky Keller is a baritone when he sings.

But it is more than a show filled with comedy. There are also plenty of songs -- sung a capella.

The Kinsey Sicks have something not too many other drag queen performers have -- superb singing voices.

While a couple of the songs are serious, most of them are parodies -- among them "Chapel of Love," a 1958 hit by the Dixie Cups. In the Kinsey Sicks' version, the lyrics include, "We're going to the chapel, but we cannot get married -- locked out of the chapel of love."

Connie Francis' "Where the Boys Are" (1961) is turned into "Where the Goys Are."

Nothing is funnier than watching, and listening, to them sing the Village People's "Macho Man" -- especially when the audience joins in the revelry.

"Dragapella," which lasted almost two hours Friday night, is a quirky production fans aren't likely to find in Kansas.