Peter Rauhofer’s "We Can" Pride Party
RAUHOFER LAUGHS! RAUHOFER IN HYSTERICS! RAUHOFER CRACKS UP WATCHING ALAN T. PERFORM "WHATEVAH"!
Yes, that Alan T., the voice behind some of the fiercest bitch tracks ever recorded. That dominatrix voice belying the gentle soul beneath the crack exterior, the warm heart behind the class sass, Alan T. played the court jester to Rauhofer's prince-and the two of them had the crowd at Roseland gagging with pleasure.
But wait- First, before that-let's rewind back to the beginning of the WORK! family's Saturday night Pride party, WE CAN!, at Roseland Ballroom. The place was a madhouse! Packed from one end of the massive ballroom all the way to the other-and outside, a line down the block to Eighth Avenue. Everyone was there-or waiting to be there! A flock of international go-go boyz flew in-or at least, international by way of South Beach...
Legendary Saturday night Pride party
And inside, in the booth, it was Paulo rampaging the ballroom with a thundering backbeat as he co-opted Obama's "Yes, We Can" speech for his own take on history-our LGBT history. Shooting out of the starting gate like a horse destined to win the Derby, Paulo was relentless and in total control. It was thrilling to witness: the floor packed with herds of raging stallions and unbridled ponies, galloping to Paulo's backbeat.
One kid, mouth agape, asked us, "How many years has this party been going on?" Um, this is the first, we replied-but already it had the feel of an annual tradition, evoking memories of Victor Calderone's legendary Saturday night Pride parties at Hammerstein Ballroom.
The children were in heaven. This was cunty music-music made to crank you up and up. And everyone was there! Nurse! Juan Andreas! Matt! Omar Gonzalez! Alan T. on the door! Richie D. and Chris Harris! Abel! Escape! And one of our favorite posses-the Circuit Hos, a gaggle of kids who met while Providence students, now playing in New York, Boston, Ohio and Orlando-and yet still they show up en masse, always at the right party at the right time.
Maya’s gorgeous go-go boyz
And there was Maya of the Siren voice, swathed in tulle and surrounded by a tiered wedding cake of twenty or thirty gorgeous go-go boyz. It was brilliant; it was genius. And then the baton went to Offer Nissim-who channeled his inner Shirley Bassey, making it suddenly clear: he and Shirley are sisters, separated at birth.
And then, and then-it was Peter time! And his set commenced with Alan T. doing his best blissfully ditsy "Whatevah"-and that was when RAUHOFER LAUGHS! It was delicious to witness, these two consummate professionals in hysterics at their antics-and the tone was set for the rest of Peter's set: it was all about cunty fun. WE CAN (HAVE FUN)! WE CAN (LAUGH)! WE CAN (PARTY)!
And we will, and we do-all morning long! Here's to the latest legendary Pride party now entering the NYC annals: WE CAN (AND WE WILL-SEE YOU NEXT PRIDE!)
RELATED LINKS
"We Can" Photo-Album