REGINA FONG: WINTER PALACE GALA

Regina Fong tribute, Black Cap, London, UK, 17/05/2011

SKIPPYYYYYYYYYYYY, Skippyyyyyyyy, Skippy the butch kangaroo, butch! butch! butch! The Fongettes were out in force last Tuesday when The Black Cap paid tribute to legendary gay performer Reginald Sutherland Bundy aka Her Imperial Highness Regina Fong.

For those of you who missed out on the tour de force that was Regina, boy did you miss a treat. You’d be hard pressed to find gay gentlemen of a certain age out there who don’t remember her hilarious sketches that revolutionised drag culture back in the 80s, right through until 2003 when Reg sadly left us to tread the boards somewhere over the rainbow.

Alongside Paul O’Grady’s Lily Savage, Reg’s Regina Fong can be credited with redefining the gay cabaret scene with characterisations that appealed to the broadest spectrum of gay men, lesbians and clued-up straights, too. But as Lily went on to mainstream superstardom, Reg remained a cult gay icon and is fondly remembered as, perhaps, the greatest drag act of them all.

Each year since his passing, a charity gala of remembrance is held on the very stage that Reg concocted his hysterical mime routines, and tonight the 9th Annual Winter Palace Gala in aid of MacMillan Cancer Support is packed with fans and friends ready to party and celebrate all things Fong.

Lead by Brighton’s very own blonde bombshell, Lola Lasagne, a stellar line up of dragsters including Millie Turner, Nicky Vixen, Sandra, Mandy Gap, Mrs Moore, Trindy, Lady Ebbonknee, Jacquii Cann and Titti La Camp wowed the crowd with a selection of Fong’s finest skits. Re-enacting such classics as She-Rah, The Typewriter, Night Train to Glasgow, Barbarella, Wash’n’Go, Shiva, Spaghetti Junction and A Mouse Lived in a Windmill (yes, really) to name but a few, the audience–participation was always an integral part of Regina’s act – was in rapture, regaling QX with their favourite Fong memories.

Not only did Fong become a gay cabaret superstar himself, his infamous amateur talent nights at The Black Cap launched careers of the likes of Millie Turner, Nicky Vixen and the unforgettable Zsarday. Reg’s own career stretched far further back as one third of the Disappointer Sisters – another Black Cap phenomenon. But tonight it’s all about remembering the flame-wigged wonder that was Regina. They certainly broke the mould on that one, duckie. Bloody brilliant and sorely missed.

The Black Cap, 171 Camden High Street, NW1 7JY
Photos by www.dosfotos.com

 

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