TransVocalizers — David de Alba, Part II

Last month in this space, we were going to post the second part of our exclusive interview with David de Alba, part one of which was posted as our March installment. However, it was decided by the Powers That Be to hold off until this month. We ran an interview with the first performer to be featured in this column, Jackie Beat, instead.

de Alba as Boy Chick

The main reason for the delay in posting Part 2 is that David de Alba will be presenting his show, David de Alba’s Finocchio’s Memoirs — The Last Chapter at The Onyx Theatre in Las Vegas on Sunday, June 17th. This posting is much closer to that performance time, and hopefully will serve as a reminder to David’s fans of the upcoming performance. So, thank you for your patience in waiting for the finishing portion of the March interview.

TGForum: You were the youngest cast member at Finocchio’s in San Francisco. I saw a great quote about the club being an “. . . old elephant burial ground. . . .” By being the youngest cast member, did this help you in developing your style?

David de Alba: There were some ones in the chorus line in my age group, but as far as the starring acts, they were older. Lavern Cummings was older, Carol Wallace was older, Lori Shannon was older . . . so I was the youngest starring act.

By the time I joined Finocchio’s in the early ‘70s, most of the old timers from the 1940s, 1950s were either retired or dead. But then, what I call my golden cast, from 1971 to 1989 . . . I am the only one who still performs.

After ‘89, after I left California, the cast that joined Finocchio’s are all still alive. But I don’t count them. Our cast had musicians and live singers, and live comedians. When Finocchio’s decided to fire the band (I was gone by that time), the cast that came in then, the whole cast was lip synching to recordings, which was against the Finocchios policy. The only person who was live as the emcee.

The Finnochio's Cast

TGF: What was it like as a cast member at Finocchio’s?

DdA: Well, Finocchio’s had two names: ‘The old elephant burial ground’ was one. The Finocchios gave a chance for the performers. If you were in your late ’60s or ’70s, or even ’80s . . . I was very happy there were not discriminating against age. But what I didn’t care for was the other title, which was ‘The House of Hate.” The problem was there was so much instigation between some of the performers.

TGF: You mean a lot of back stabbing?

DdA: Some would call Mrs. Finocchio in the morning to instigate about different people. She would listen to all the hateful lies that people make up. One day I say, ‘Mrs. Finocchio, why do you listen to these lies?’ Her answer was, ‘David, I listen to whatever I want. Not to everything.’ I said, ‘Yes, but even if you listen to a little bit, it can harm us. People are telling you things that are not true.’

But she encouraged it passionately. This was the one part of it I didn’t like. I was an only child and I didn’t come from an instigating family. When I wolud have to present very difficult songs in Spanish and English, and new costumes, I knew there would be somebody back stage, that if my song went well, the next day they would call Mrs. Finocchio to do everything in their power to destroy that song. This I didn’t care at all for.

I wish Mrs. Finocchio would have had more sense not to do that. But she loved it. I think she thought, these were her kids and she appreciated this kind of gossip. To this day, this is something I despise. But I loved to be on the stage there, because the audiences were wonderful, especially the tourists from other countries. The musicians were very good. But between that wonderful feeling, the instigation was a heavy burden to carry.

TGF: It was pretty much an “old school” production during your time at Finocchio’s, then?

DdA: It was old school glamor. When we did the hair and the make-up, you were supposed to look beautiful, like Maurine O’Hara, not like this new make-up and the huge wigs. Our wigs were done in a normal way, they looked like a real female would look on the street, not like a drag queen. I hate to use that word, but Mrs. Finocchio used to say, ‘My boys are not drag queens. My boys are female impersonators.’ There’s quite a difference. The difference is between day and night. I was also the hair stylist for most of the people in the show.

TGF: Do you feel contemporary audiences have the same appreciation for drag as when you were performing full time?

DdA: Well, from what I’ve experienced, the people who come to see me performing, who are mostly over 50 now, they appreciated my act because of the Judy Garland legend and Finocchio’s. I’ve never had any trouble so far not having people appreciate me. I’m not going to go to a regular gay club with kids in their twenties. They expect me to do the current acts like Beyoncé, Britney Spears, and all these people, which I will never do. When I do a concert and it says David de Alba Does Judy Garland, the people who come know what to expect.

TGF: Do you pay attention to current drag?

DdA: I hate to sound judgmental, because people will say, ‘Oh, David lives in the past. This is not the way things are now.’ But when I look at some of the people . . . first of all, at most shows, I don’t think I’ve seen some people sing live. It’s always lip synching. Then I noticed that some of the make-up may be unusual for a fantasy. But these boys are made up in almost a grotesque way, so overly done. No Mitzi Gainor of Judy Garland, or any of the famous females from the past would come out with a hairdo looking like that. To me, they tend to perpetuate the old drag queen, and I hate that word. People see a man with huge boobs, huge wig, and grotesque make-up, and when they think of an impersonator, they think of that.

This is what the Jewel Box Review, Finocchio’s, and The 82 Club didn’t like. They wanted the boys to look as real as possible, and to perform live. The new generation wants to be announced as ‘she,’ but at Finocchio’s, we had to be announced as ‘Mr.,” because they were men iln drag. If we had been announced as ‘she,’ then the straight people would think that the boys in the show think of themselves as female. Technically, this is not the art of impersonation. We were supposed to show that we are boys.

The RuPaul idea works for the new generation. I’ve seen a few shows and it’s interesting, but I could never compare this to what I did at Finocchio’s.

TGF: You never used a drag or female name?

de Alba as Judy Garland

DdA: No. People would ask me why. I would say that famous people, like Charles Pierce, or Jim Bailey, used their male names. There’s a few others that come to mind . . .

Now, ‘de Alba’ in Spanish means ‘of the dawn.’ And David is from the Bible. So I used David de Alba all the way. It would be ‘David de Alba as Judy Garland’ or ‘David de Alba as Liza Minelli,’or ‘David de Alba as Boy Chick,’ which is my international act in which I sing in Spanish and English.

TGF: What advice would you give to anybody who wants to get into doing what you’re doing?

DdA: Now days, it’s very difficult. In the ‘50s and ‘60s, when I was in Chicago, there were so many straight clubs, not just gay bars, where I could do a show on the weekends. You could talk to the managers and owners. Now days, everything is corporate. The managers aren’t around.

People now are dong pantomime, or lip synching. Mine is a dying breed. There’s Jim Bailey and two or three other acts that you can count on your fingers, who sing in drag. It’s a different era. I’m glad I did it when I did it.

TGF: Can a well known female impersonator ever retire?

DdA: I feel, that in my case, as long as the voice holds, as long as there’s some kind of look . . . even like an older Marlene Dietrich, she look pretty older . . . as long as you can look presentable and you are alert. People say to me, you look pretty good now that you are between 40 and death. I say yes, I do look pretty good. So, as long as some youth is left on the skin (even if you have to go through plastic surgery), and your voice holds, even if you have to sing in two or three lower keys, then you don’t need to retire, as long as there’s an audience for you. Once the audience starts to leave, and people don’t appreciate your art work, even if you look beautiful . . .

That’s why my Judy Garland and The Finocchio’s Memoirs are very important shows, because I’m keeping the legacy of that club alive with these shows. Interviews like this are important, too, if you can encourage the TG community to attend shows. The people who appreciate art and talent are the ones I want to attract. There’s more to it . . . I go beyond the typical drag show.

For more information concerning David de Alba, check out his website. For ticket information regarding his upcoming Las Vegas show, please check out www.onyxtheatre.com The Onyx Theatre is at 953 Sahara Ave, Bldg. #16, Las Vegas, NV, 89104. Box office phone 702-732-7225.)

ALSO THIS MONTH

Rev. Roger Anthony Yolanda Mapes will present Rev. Yolanda’s Old Time Gospel Hour at NYC’s The Duplex on May 20 and June 3rd. The Duplex is located at 61 Christopher Street, at 7th Avenue, NYC. For ticket information, 212-255-5438, www.theduplex.com Also, please check out Rev. Yolanda’s site.

NEW MUSIC

A couple new projects have come to my attention recently, and they couldn’t be more different from each other.

The first is the new album by Neon Trees, Picture Show. Their 2010 debut album, Habits, won them an audience that accepted the band for it’s entertaining songs and stage shows. Neon Trees is comprised of Tyler Glenn-lead vocals, keyboards; Chris Allen-guitar, backing vocals; Brandon Campbell-bass, backing vocals; and drummer Elaine Bradley, who also sings backup.

What caught my attention right off is the fact that Neon Trees overall sound is kind of hard to pin down. It’s an interesting mix of pop, rock and ’80s techno bands. While our main focus here is usually dance music — and Picture Show has some danceable stuff — the band’s musicianship is in the forefront. Real drums (played by a female drummer . . . which is very cool), along with well crafted pop/rock material makes for a fun CD to listen to.

Opening track Moving In The Dark is one of the danceable cuts, without having that overly programmed feeling. Other good dance tracks are Lessons In Love (All Day, All Night),
Trust, and the ’80s feeling Close To You, which is also one of the better production moments on the project.

Stand out tracks on Picture Show are Teenage Sounds, which is marginally danceable, very Bowie influenced, and is very high energy; Weekend, which is one of the better production moments, with a great hook which makes the tune reminiscent of those fun songs that used to be released only during the summer months; and I Am The DJ, which, while being unashamedly a pop tune, is perhaps the most musically inventive tune on the album.

While I’m personally not a fan of too many new bands, I’d take a chance on wanting to see Neon Trees live. They present fun tunes that are well crafted and have the musicianship to make them entertaining. I think it would be a fun show to see.

Go! Pop! Bang! by Rye Rye

Okay, this is definitely a danceable record, with a mix of pop and hip-hop that doesn’t separate much at all. While the focus here from Rye Rye is present a sort of overall feeling of the speed, sound and feel of modern life, she does so with the odd musical moment that’s unexpected if you thought this was just another hip-hop outing. The best example is Never Will Be Mine, which seems to seamlessly move from dance, to vocal ease. You’ll have to check out the CD insert for proper producer and musician credits.

Tags: featured, History, impersonation, music

Category: History, Music