[OutVoice] Tampa, FL: "Queer Theatre for Laughter and Tears"

[TheChorusBoy at aol.com]

TAMPA BAY GAZETTE

JULY 2006

QUEER THEATRE FOR LAUGHTER AND TEARS
By DEWEY DAVIS-THOMPSON


Actor Jade Esteban Estrada sings "Unearth Me" as Queen Christina of Sweden in 
ICONS: The Lesbian and Gay History of the World, Vol. 2 at the Suncoast 
Theatre. Photo by JONNA HUSEMAN.


Pride brings an extra worthy theatre event to the Gulf Coast with ICONS: The 
Lesbian and Gay History of the World, Vol. 2 performed by the Prince of Pride, 
himself, Jade Esteban Estrada. 

Turn back time a week or two and there, bejeweled, be Jade. But it's not mere 
rocks that give this proud prince his bling. The lesbian-impersonating 
thespian who calls Comedy Central his home reflects the glittering aura of gay 
heroes as if he were beaming their souls as brightly as the spotlights bouncing 
from his dolled up Latino peepers and into the emotional bodies of the audience.

Uplifting, inspiring and educational: the musical comedy ICONS Vol. 2 takes 
the audience even deeper into queer history. Where ICONS Vol. 1 brought Ellen 
and Oscar Wilde to us, in ICONS Vol. 2 Jade asks the audience to make the 
journey to the characters. More subtle, thoughtful and mature than #1, the middle 
act of this trilogy is also more technically intricate. Billie Jean King plays 
a whole tennis match, Harvey Milk does a soft shoe dance for office at least a 
half dozen times and Mark Bingham sings us along on his wild 9/11 ride. 
Somehow Jade even manages to put Queen Christina's crown on the entire audience, 
bedazzling them all with the effervescent ballad "Unearth Me."

Jade's show is so much more than song and dance, much more than history 
lessons in a wig. The (Christian) church, the White House and the bath house all 
have a place in the fluttering pages of Sappho's queer history chronology. 

I can only hope she shows up again to place a bookend on the series.

##



Check out Jade's galleries by logging onto:

www.getjaded.com
www.iconsofhistory.com
www.myspace.com/jadeinamerica