Romance and divas

A few years ago, my girlfriend and I were at the local Vietnamese restaurant when we realised it was Valentine’s Day. We joked about our lack of adherence to the annual celebration and then decided that maybe we should come back to this very same diner every year as a sort of pseudo Valentine’s Day ritual. That lasted two or three years before it fell by the wayside again.

I have never been one for Valentine’s Day, I guess for all the reasons that most people who aren’t moved by it stick to - it’s forced, it’s commercial, it’s tacky. However, I never voice those reasons because those arguments to me always sound mean-spirited, cynical, and quite frankly, mind-numbingly dull, and anyway, why would I want to impose my crotchety stance on people who embrace it?

This year I felt compelled to take a look at Valentine’s Day and as luck would have it so did writer Tim Hunter. Tim has been with his partner for 15 years and each year they celebrate Valentine’s Day and they couldn’t give a damn about anyone else’s cynicism - now that’s always something to love. In this issue, Tim fills us in on who Saint Valentine was and why the queer community should perhaps adopt him as our champion, and he makes a pretty good case for it.  

Now, Trevor Ashley is a busy boy. In fact is there a performer who is busier at the moment? Trevor is EVERYWHERE and the audiences are loving it. If he’s not creating his own shows, he’s starring in someone else’s. If he’s not at the Sydney Opera House, he’s at Melbourne’s Art Centre, and that’s exactly where he will be this month, at The Famous Spiegeltent. I spoke with Trevor about his show, I’m Every Woman in which he channels everyone from Liza Minnelli to Bonnie Tyler to Lady Gaga. We also spoke about the recent controversy over his show trAnnie, which was changed to Little Orphan Trashley, his start at Johnny Young Talent School and his upcoming European tour.

Ruby Wax. Remember the infamous Ruby Wax interview with Pamela Anderson on the set of Baywatch? Or the interview with former Philippines first lady and notorious shoe hoarder, Imelda Marcos? From the moment we heard we were getting an interview with Ruby it’s been one long Ruby Wax YouTube marathon in the office. Michael Magnusson spoke to Ruby about her hew show, Out of Her Mind which she is bringing to this year’s Melbourne Comedy Festival. While the show is about mental illness and Ruby’s battle with depression, as you can imagine it’s delivered in true Wax style – albeit, it seems, this time with quite the dark twist!

Enjoy.