Two weird things happened to me on Sunday...(this would April 1 2012 for the date conscious)...
1. I lost a drag queen.
2. I met a dog from Romania...
And it all happened on a Sunday afternoon in the middle of Cirencester...middle class middle England in the middle of Gloucestershire....however, I digress...Cherry was asked to perform at a charity fashion show at said venue in aid of two local charities – Cloud 9 and Teckels – a number of celebrity clothes horses came to take part – actors, models, sportsmen and women - and the odd male stripper was there too, although they were more obvious the less clothes they wore – I am sure you get my drift and don’t need it pointing out to you...
Cherry, being as altruistic as ever, was happy to oblige when the call came through – and was in her element when she found out she was sharing the dressing room with a tranche of, well, how does one put it politely...man totty!!!!!
As usual, I had driven there (and found my way unlike the Colchester incident....) and our best mate ,Claire, and her 7 year old daughter, Ellie, travelled up with us.
Before anything had started, Cherry was getting herself sorted and plying the slap in the mirror. Ellie, being completely make-up obsessed, watched intensely asCherry plied the layers until it was complete. Cherry was passing down little nuggets of wisdom, which I am sure Ellie will make use of - I am just concerned that before her 8th birthday she is going to look like Cherry's Mini-Me...
During a little recess, post make-up and pre-costume donning, we went and had a quick drink in the theatre’s cafe bar, where Ellie was lucky enough to get Willie Carson’s autograph...for her Dad of course...and also to meet Honey, a rescued dog from Romania. One of the models had brought her along to have in the fashion show, and she quickly gave a quick synopsis of Honey’s life, that she had been maltreated in her home country, and that these canine angels save them from this and give them a better life, fostered into a family home;loved, nurtured and taken care of as any pet should be, for the rest of their natural life. I thought this was a rather touching subject and was impressed that there are people out there who do such acts of kindness for animals such as this. So hence, this is how I met a dog from Romania.
Now, the second point is rather strange considering the costume Cherry was wearing – she had recently commissioned a very bright egg-yolk yellow gown and floor length jacket from a very talented seamstress – and it was amazing that wherever Cherry was, she was always in view, like a mobile Belisha Beacon.
However, we did get separated and one of the backstage crew found me and asked where Cherry was? I looked around and realised that she was nowhere to be seen - for a split second of day-dreaming I had actually lost Cherry!!
Frantically, I started looking for Cherry, went into the auditorium to see if she was there, into the cafe, I even asked one of the theatre workers if they had they soon a 7ft tall drag queen dressed head to toe in yellow. She looked blankly and said “not recently, no...”
Anyhow, I went backstage to say to the guys I couldn’t find her, when all of a sudden in her luminous glory, Cherry was stood in the wings, waiting to go on. The relief was immense, like having a big wee after a long journey on the motorway without any services...so all was right in the world.
And as usual I was on hand to rebuke any riposte that deserved to be rebuked, such as people calling Cherry “Sherry”, which is like a red rag to a bull to me...and for some unknown reason an ageing old bint with the tact of an armoured tank division sidled up to me and said, “Is that there the drag act that keeps dining out on the fact that she was once on “Britain’s Got Talent”??, to which I politely and firmly said, “No!”
“Oh that’s alright then,” she said. “This one’s much better, even if she is a bit cheeky!” and with a grin and a wave sidled off to find the rest of her senile delinquent friends.The event was organised by Russell Nurding and supported the charities Cloud9 and Teckels. Cherry and I hope that the charities go from strength to strength
Much love
M2D x x x
