Articles
An Evening at The Rainbow Boom: Performaces Thrill at LGBT Center's Opening
originally appeared in Callboard magazine, April 2002
by David Ortmann
From ancient Greece to Shakespeare's England, performance has always found a home in gay and lesbian culture. It was exciting to see this tradition continued at the Grand Opening Gala of the San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Community Center on March 2, 2002. It was clear from the outset that the arts would play an important role in the Center's developing character. In addition to dance floors, gallery space, and a rooftop patio that inspired one actor to exclaim, "I want to have my headshots taken up here!" the 2nd floor Rainbow Room is an inviting and refreshingly large performance space with a sound system, lighting, and acoustics appropriate for stand up comedy, musical theater, workshops, and fully staged productions.
The Rainbow Room, decorated in a cabaret style reminiscent of a 1930s Parisian nightclub, hosted over 1200 patrons in attendance for the opening night performances. With delicacies furnished by 2223 restaurant and cocktails by Absolut and Captain Morgan, the crowd was ready for entertainment when Absolute Empress XXX Donna Sachet took to the stage at 8pm. Sachet, a San Francisco performance institution as well as a drag artiste with a fantastic singing voice, opened the festivities with song, and served as Mistress of Ceremonies throughout the night seamlessly stringing together the acts with her trademark wit and torch song elegance.
Shannon Day, backed by her sizzling jazz and blues band, charmed the crowd with her whiskey-throated renditions of new and older songs. The Kinsey Sicks followed, in their first San Francisco appearance since they left the Bay Area last summer to begin their off-Broadway run of Dragapella! at Studio 54. The crowd cheered and welcomed them back enthusiastically. Michael Cameron Benbrook, best known for his star-turn as Joan Crawford in San Francisco's annual Christmas with the Crawfords, Cheri Toney, and a special performance by Dana Atkins of Steve Silver's Beach Blanket Babylon rounded out a wonderful evening of comedy, song, and theater. Each act performed for half an hour before DJ Page Hodel took over at 10:30pm, transforming the Rainbow Room into a disco where patrons danced long into the night.
The San Francisco LGBT Center has plenty of upcoming plans for various performances in the Rainbow Room, including stand up comedy, film festivals, solo performance, theater and even square dancing.