Following triumphant performances in major cities across the country and in Europe, Mrs. Kasha Davis is getting back to her roots.
The Taylor native is set to return to Northeast Pennsylvania with a pair of benefit shows at Radisson at Lackawanna Station hotel that will honor her hometown heritage and help some old friends.
Mrs. Davis, who earned a big bump in notoriety after competing on season 7 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” on Logo TV last year, will bring her one-woman show, “There’s Always Time For a Cocktail,” to the Platform Lounge on Saturday, Feb. 27, at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $20, and are available by emailing balletheatre@aol.com. Proceeds benefit Ballet Theatre of Scranton’s annual gift to the community, “The Nutcracker.”
Then, on Sunday, Feb. 28, Mrs. Davis will be joined by Aggy Dune, her Big Wigs stage partner from Rochester, New York, as the marquee entertainment at Pink Elegance Goes Hollywood!: A Pre-Oscars Party, which starts at 4 p.m.
Tickets to the event are $65 and include open-bar cocktail hour and dinner, with proceeds going to Susan G. Komen Northeastern Pennsylvania. Reservations are limited to the first 500 seats sold and can be made by calling 570-947-5852 or visiting www.komennepa.org.
Audiences who attend both performances will be treated to two entirely different shows, Mrs. Davis explained.
The Komen event is a quick-change comedy and impersonation show, during which guests will see Mrs. Davis and Aggy Dune dressed as “great divas,” such as Cher, Liza Minnelli and Tina Turner. The “Las Vegas-style” act has been polished over 12 years and gets people laughing from the start.
“It’s a high-class show, tongue-in-cheek, but you can expect that level of professional experience,” Mrs. Davis said. “Expect to have fun and enjoy some sparkly costumes along the way.”
The Hollywood theme of the Komen event is timely to the Academy Awards ceremony, which broadcasts on ABC that night starting at 8:30. Formerly a fashion show called Pink Elegance on Parade, the fundraiser was updated for a fresh take on the pop culture phenomenon.
“It happened to fall on Oscars Sunday last year and it sparked the new idea,” said Joanne Arduino, event co-chair along with Laurie Cadden, Brenda Bistocchi and Julie Jordan.
“We kept ‘Pink Elegance’ in the name because we want the tradtion to continue,” Mrs. Arduino explained. “It sort of bloomed from there.”
A pink carpet and pink Cadillac will greet guests upon arrival, while Ms. Cadden will interview attendees clad in their finest pink or celebrity-inspired ensembles, in the tradition of Joan Rivers. BTOS dancers, under the artistic direction of Mrs. Arduino, will circulate among the crowd, outfitted as celebrities including Liz Taylor’s iconic Cleopatra, Julie Andrews’ Mary Poppins and Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
Mrs. Arduino sought to bring Mrs. Davis home to Scranton after catching her autobiographical “Cocktail” show at the Laurie Beechman Theatre in New York City last year.
“I really loved it,” Mrs. Arduino said. “It ran the gamut of emotions.”
“I thought it was a great opportunity to bring the story back home, where it all began,” Mrs. Davis explained. “The story that I’ve written is the story of my life.”
A Riverside Junior-Senior High School graduate, Mrs. Davis (who goes by her family name, Ed Popil, when not on stage), attended Marywood University for theater and business and also studied with BTOS. She transplanted to Rochester years ago, where she resides with her husband, Steven, who is the sound and lighting designer for the show.
“There’s no hiding that it pokes fun at the ’70s, ’80s, (when) I wasn’t allowed to be out and gay,” Mrs. Davis said of “Cocktail.”
“It’s influenced by my mom and the Scranton area, so there’s friends and family that’ll be there that are referenced,” she added. “It talks about my move to Rochester and experiences along the way.
“It’s about loving yourself and forgiving others,” she said. “It’s seen through Mrs. Kasha Davis’s eyes, but it’s my story that I think a lot of people can relate to.”
Told in a piano bar/cabaret style with plenty of jokes and singing, the show also will feature local drummer Marko Marcinko. After Mrs. Arduino booked her for Pink Elegance, Mrs. Davis offered to add on the BTOS benefit as a thank you for the years of dance instruction and friendship she enjoyed with her Scranton teacher.
“Ballet Theatre has been such a foundation for me, I realize more and more,” Mrs. Davis said. “It teaches you so much about how to hold yourself on stage in a professional manner, in terms of the entire theatrical experience.”
Her first time performing in drag was on Marywood’s stage, when she portrayed the Witch in a version of “Hansel and Gretel,” she said with a laugh. But since leaving NEPA at age 28, the 44-year-old has had limited engagements in the area.
“It’s a big homecoming event for me,” Mrs. Davis said. “I’m very proud of what I’m doing. In the last several years, I’m completely at peace with who I am, and I’m going back to a place where I wasn’t.
“The world is a different place, and so is Scranton,” she continued. “Leaving (allowed me) to accept myself. It’s a celebration to go back. It’s a big deal.”
Support from local people on social media has been overwhelming since “Drag Race,” and working with Mrs. Arduino to coordinate the shows has been like a reunion and deja vu all at once, Mrs. Davis said.
For a queen from Davis Street who always wanted to be an entertainer, making it in Scranton is a dream come true. She’s looking forward to opening up minds about how fun drag can be, she said.
“People come to a drag show and they don’t know what to expect, but men, women and children can watch,” Mrs. Davis said. “It’s an inclusive show.
“It’s not just a gay thing, a late-night bar thing,” she added. “I understand the apprehension, but I think people will be surprised (by) how much they walk away enjoying it.”
Contact the writer: pwilding@timesshamrock.com, @pwildingTT on Twitter
If you go
What: “There’s Always Time for a Cocktail,” featuring Mrs. Kasha Davis
When: Saturday, Feb. 27,
8 p.m.
Where: Platform Lounge, Radisson at Lackawanna Station hotel
Details: Tickets are $20. Proceeds benefit Ballet Theatre of Scranton’s annual gift to the community, “The Nutcracker.” For reservations, email balletheatre@aol.com.
What: Pink Elegance Goes Hollywood!: A Pre-Oscars Party, featuring Mrs. Kasha Davis and Aggy Dune of Big Wigs
When: Sunday, Feb. 28, 4 p.m.
Where: Radisson at Lackawanna Station hotel
Details: Tickets are $65 and include open bar and dinner. Proceeds benefit Susan G. Komen Northeastern Pennsylvania. For reservations, call 570-947-5852 or visit www.komennepa.org.
Originally Published: