San Diego’s LGBT Pride weekend is history and Comic-Con has come and gone. So, for those of us hooked on color and spectacle, now what? What can we do? Where can we go? Well, there is never a dull moment in America’s Finest City if you know where to look. So how about looking to La Mesa!
In a couple of weeks I will be writing about a few creative individuals who make their artistic work happen in the comfort of their own home. But that arts feature will appear too late for those of you who might be compelled to make a date with Chandalier, one of the local art stars that my feature will focus on.
Chandalier, aka Mario Marchiaro is perhaps one of the best kept secrets in East County, maybe even all of San Diego County. Unless you are a neighbor, a friend or a savvy user of Meet Up, you won’t know about the handful of annual, seasonal events carefully choreographed by this Italian ex-dancer, turned artist come drag performer. The immensely enjoyable evening events that Marchiaro prepares aren’t happening in a club or a local meeting hall though. No, they happen on a stage under the stars in Mario and his partner Ken’s spacious backyard. The two act performance is accented by film clips and music of course.
Earlier this year I attended Burlesque, a show about working women. This Saturday night beginning at 7 p.m. Mario reprises Hollywood Femme Fatale. Here’s the pitch: “Characters from notorious movies come alive on stage as Chandalier takes you on a musical journey with seductive numbers, fantastic costumes and breathless choreography! Come see real divas with big attitudes, pushing and clawing their way down the red carpet.”
This sounds like a night with my friends, but I digress.
Even though we are in the heart and the heat of summer, make sure to take a sweater or a blanket because the night gets chilly once the sun goes down. When I went last time this appeared to be a ritual event for sets of friends who brought platters of cookies and other snacks so you might want to bring something appropriate to the occasion.
There is an entrance fee so make sure to go to partydrag.com, Facebook or Meet Up to learn more about that and make a note of the specific, but easy to follow parking instructions.
