Okay, I am straying from my film beat to rant and rave about a performer I saw in Circle Circle dot dot's "Deconstruction of a Drag Queen." If you missed that play Kevane La'Marr Coleman will reprise the character of Utopia for a couple songs at Lips tonight. Go!
I know this blog is for movies but I can't miss any opportunity to highlight talent that I find or come across that really impresses me so yes, I am recommending you go spend the evening at Lips tonight to see Kevane La'Marr Coleman as Utopia.
Kevane La'Marr Coleman created the character of drag queen Utopia for Circle Circle dot dot's original play "Deconstruction of a Drag Queen." The play is inspired by the life of Anthony Diaz who is well known in the San DIego drag community as Grace Towers. Coleman's Utopia was one of the characters in the play. She was a character with a gift for drag and Coleman's performance perfectly demonstrated what that natural gift is like. The play, written by Katherine Harroff, also provided an inside look at a club based on San Diego's own Lips. So now in a case of life imitates art, Coleman will be taking the character of Utopia into Lips to perform. Coleman and Utopia made their debut at Lips last month with Circle Circle dot dot folks there in full support.
Here is a video of Coleman performing as Utopia in a dress rehearsal at 10th Avenue Theater. It will give you a tiny taste of his remarkable talent.
I can't tell you what a thrill it is to see someone who's insanely talented and completely new to you. Coleman's performance was like that, especially when Utopia did Tina Turner. So tonight I'm hoping that Utopia will do an encore of one of her Tina Turner numbers and take my breath away one more time.
