Local director/actor brings back drag queen favorite Buddy Starr
Molly Pearson asked her father, Paul, if he would put on high heels if able when he's in his 80s.
"The question should be 'Can I still at 55?'" the veteran local actor/director laughed. "That's open to question and interpretation."
The curious will find out tonight and Saturday night when Pearson resurrects his alter ego drag queen Buddy Starr at The Q after about a 10-year absence.
"Pictures of an Exhibitionist" is a floorshow/performance art extravaganza that has nothing to do with composer Edward Mussorgsky's famous "Pictures at an Exhibition."
"I listened to an electronic version of it, but I'm sticking to (ABBA's) 'Dancing Queen,'" Pearson chortled. "That's about as arty as I'm going to get."
"Pictures," though, will have everything to do with Pearson's age. It's his way of celebrating his 55th birthday and his eligibility for discounts at buffets.
"I'm entering an older age," he said. "In terms of drag, not many carry it much past their 30s. I've stuck with it and kind of enjoyed it."
According to friend Beth Muehling, it's because Pearson is so good at it.
"He is there to have a good time and to make sure you have a good time," she said. "When he's doing it, he never loses sight of who he is or what he is doing for the audience."
Pearson created Buddy and the show "Buddy Starr's Screaming Kupcakes" in the late 1980s. They were products of working night clubs and bars from the late 1970s the mid-1980s.
The goal, Pearson said, was to take ideas from those days and put them on real theater stages outside the bars. The outlandish shows were a mix of pop music, camp, broad humor and social satire with genders and genres bent in every possible way.
Locally, the Kupcakes reached their peak when they played "First Night '91" a performing arts New Year's Eve celebration for four shows in the Johnny Carson Theater at the Lied Center for Performing Arts.
In 1994, Pearson founded the Futz Theatre and Buddy took a backseat to his duties running a small business.
When the Futz closed 4½ years later, Pearson began directing large-scale productions and acting more frequently. Buddy became an occasional hobby.
But when Buddy did perform, Pearson had found "her" persona had changed.
"I found I had grown into it in a whole new way," he said. "'She' was funnier, bawdier and, oddly, more glamorous than before.
"I was taking more risks with 'her.'"
Pearson gives Buddy partial credit for his success on stage as one of the evil, ugly stepsisters in the 2001 production of "Cinderella."
"By playing it straight as a character, I found myself putting together my serious acting training, my comic timing and my ability to run in heels," he again joked. "I knew I was having a better time than anyone else in the place, and that was very satisfying."
For "Pictures," Pearson has created many new routines. He also will look back at some of his favorite bits from the past three decades during the floorshow.
"There will be a lot of comedy, a lot of silliness and a certain elaborateness and gaudiness," he said.
This almost goes without saying, especially since Pearson is one of the most vocal gay rights advocates: The show will contain some commentary on such issues as gay marriage.
"We have a little performance that has something to say about that," Pearson said, slyly.
Joining Pearson will be local actors Muehling, Robie Hayek, Ward Lewis and Keith Potts, as well as "gender illusionists" Freida Lae, Red Essence, Destiny, Skylar and Feleasha Savage and "Mr. Q 2003."
Muehling said she's anxious to see Pearson as Buddy again this weekend.
"In my mind, he is not a performer," she said. "He is a phenomenon. I like watching phenomenons."
Reach Jeff Korbelik at 473-7213 or jkorbelik@;journalstar.com.
If you go
What: "Pictures of an Exhibitionist," Buddy Starr
Where: The Q, 226 S. Ninth St.
When: 9 p.m. today-Saturday
Tickets: $6 at the door
Note: Show contains adult content and language and is not recommended for people under 16. Anyone under 19 must be accompanied by a parent or adult guardian.
"The question should be 'Can I still at 55?'" the veteran local actor/director laughed. "That's open to question and interpretation."
The curious will find out tonight and Saturday night when Pearson resurrects his alter ego drag queen Buddy Starr at The Q after about a 10-year absence.
"Pictures of an Exhibitionist" is a floorshow/performance art extravaganza that has nothing to do with composer Edward Mussorgsky's famous "Pictures at an Exhibition."
"I listened to an electronic version of it, but I'm sticking to (ABBA's) 'Dancing Queen,'" Pearson chortled. "That's about as arty as I'm going to get."
"Pictures," though, will have everything to do with Pearson's age. It's his way of celebrating his 55th birthday and his eligibility for discounts at buffets.
"I'm entering an older age," he said. "In terms of drag, not many carry it much past their 30s. I've stuck with it and kind of enjoyed it."
According to friend Beth Muehling, it's because Pearson is so good at it.
"He is there to have a good time and to make sure you have a good time," she said. "When he's doing it, he never loses sight of who he is or what he is doing for the audience."
Pearson created Buddy and the show "Buddy Starr's Screaming Kupcakes" in the late 1980s. They were products of working night clubs and bars from the late 1970s the mid-1980s.
The goal, Pearson said, was to take ideas from those days and put them on real theater stages outside the bars. The outlandish shows were a mix of pop music, camp, broad humor and social satire with genders and genres bent in every possible way.
Locally, the Kupcakes reached their peak when they played "First Night '91" a performing arts New Year's Eve celebration for four shows in the Johnny Carson Theater at the Lied Center for Performing Arts.
In 1994, Pearson founded the Futz Theatre and Buddy took a backseat to his duties running a small business.
When the Futz closed 4½ years later, Pearson began directing large-scale productions and acting more frequently. Buddy became an occasional hobby.
But when Buddy did perform, Pearson had found "her" persona had changed.
"I found I had grown into it in a whole new way," he said. "'She' was funnier, bawdier and, oddly, more glamorous than before.
"I was taking more risks with 'her.'"
Pearson gives Buddy partial credit for his success on stage as one of the evil, ugly stepsisters in the 2001 production of "Cinderella."
"By playing it straight as a character, I found myself putting together my serious acting training, my comic timing and my ability to run in heels," he again joked. "I knew I was having a better time than anyone else in the place, and that was very satisfying."
For "Pictures," Pearson has created many new routines. He also will look back at some of his favorite bits from the past three decades during the floorshow.
"There will be a lot of comedy, a lot of silliness and a certain elaborateness and gaudiness," he said.
This almost goes without saying, especially since Pearson is one of the most vocal gay rights advocates: The show will contain some commentary on such issues as gay marriage.
"We have a little performance that has something to say about that," Pearson said, slyly.
Joining Pearson will be local actors Muehling, Robie Hayek, Ward Lewis and Keith Potts, as well as "gender illusionists" Freida Lae, Red Essence, Destiny, Skylar and Feleasha Savage and "Mr. Q 2003."
Muehling said she's anxious to see Pearson as Buddy again this weekend.
"In my mind, he is not a performer," she said. "He is a phenomenon. I like watching phenomenons."
Reach Jeff Korbelik at 473-7213 or jkorbelik@;journalstar.com.
If you go
What: "Pictures of an Exhibitionist," Buddy Starr
Where: The Q, 226 S. Ninth St.
When: 9 p.m. today-Saturday
Tickets: $6 at the door
Note: Show contains adult content and language and is not recommended for people under 16. Anyone under 19 must be accompanied by a parent or adult guardian.
Copyright © 2002-2009 Lincoln Journal Star. All rights reserved.