The sad farewells begin

With only four shows to go in Toronto (would you believe tomorrow's matinee will be my 1200th as Bernadette?) it's time to say goodbye to some wonderful new friends. My darling David Lopez  who started with us as a swing will not be travelling to New York with us so we said au revoir over a farewell lunch at "Luma". Until next time, dear man.

My dresser Woody Milholland was recommended to me by Simon Burke

after he appeared in Toronto in THE SOUND OF MUSIC and I've always paid attention to Simon since he recommended the indispensable John Fahey to be my dresser in London. Sadly, Woody won't be coming with us to New York so I must leave him to the clutches of the incoming tour of BILLY ELLIOT.

I couldn't have done it without him.

a night shot

Was waiting for a tram and saw this old block of terraces

Not as cold tonight. All snow melted and gloves were off!

weather can be so rich!

So the weather has been violent in the extreme across the border. And here is a photo  (courtesy of Beth Child and the New York Times)  of a  woman walking through the East Village which is where we will be living as of next week...if we can get there!

And here follows an extract from a report by Robert D. McFadden in the New York Times  27th December

The headline was "Huge Blizzard Halts Travelers On East Coast" and seemed to be a straight forward report of the severe conditions...until this paragraph when the cold snap must have hit his head........"Throughout the afternoon the storm grew into an adventure. The snow came down in great sweeping curtains, drifting over parked cars and park benches to be sculpted into aerodynamic shapes.  Everywhere the winds whispered and moaned in their secret Ice Age language.  The blizzard spawned lightning flashes and thunder. Yet the sounds of the city were strangely  muffled and distant....."

Pretty good ,eh?  Better than the usual dry scientific facts.  I was with Mr Mcfadden, ready to rip off my parka  and thermals and romp naked in the stinging drifts as ice maidens and satyrs whipped my blueing skin with birch fronds and bade me fly on the  wings of the ice storm into the arms of the Snow Queen herself!!!!!!

Queen St West

We walked along this trendy section of the street until our marrow was frozen. Taylor lost another pair of gloves so if the pictures are wobbly it's because his fingers were like icicles again.

This Georgian house is being eaten by the flats!

Wendy Walgate

The piece below by artist Wendy Walgate was in a gallery on Queen St West and is fantastic.

(detail)

ken's heaven

It's a good job Ken wasn't with us today or he would have disgraced himself on the pavement. This installation is by  a psychotherapist called Dr SHELDON Wagner. He is 67 and got his first Barbie ten years ago. He now has thousands. He rescues the dolls to give them a new purpose, a new life, a new home. The project has been left to sit in the window of the gallery at 100 Ossington Ave for almost five years. The doors are always locked and the owner is rarely seen.

The above gives a general idea of his Christmas tree.  And the ones below are treasures from the rest of the display.

 

Dr Wagner is obviously very free in his acceptance of sexual freedom. Ken just stands on a shelf at home.

Freud would have had a field day

It's a really beautiful display. Dr Wagner is planning to open the doors and show the rest of his collection soon. I think it will be extraordinary.

kens greeting

Hi Guys! Ken here. Well what a Christmas Day! One of the big dummies..the one who goes out every night dressed like a black inner tube..is coughing and spluttering and flopping. The other one keeps hovering about and making him disgusting smelly drinks out of garlic and old socks.  Their planned Christmas dinner has gone from a groaning board of bird and roast vegies to a Jewish chicken broth!  So while they grovel in sweaty hack I thought I'd fill you in on what"s new on the shelf.

I was up early one day and the sun was bouncing off the buildings opposite. So I set the timer  (Richard Avedon doesn't know how to do it yet) and took these pics of us greeting the day.   We felt as though we were either  in a Royal Command performance or had seen a vision of where plastic finally ends up.

It  being Christmas Miss Ebony..who travels with us to be the Fairy of All Fairies once a year..is now firmly exkonsed on the tree

And speaking of Royalty  ...the other boys and I welcome the following New Queens to the fold.

Her Majesty the Queen, a gift from Brian Thomson, is solar operated and when charged waves her right hand at the hoi polloi.

And the other queen is courtesy of Garry McQuinn.  She is a collectors item and now my new best friend and I might climb into the box with her so we can have sex.

A Merry Christmas from us all.  Gotta go the guys are coming    xxxx   Ken

Happy Holidays to ALL!!!!!!!

We're freezing in a White Christmas...

Let 'em eat cake

On the top floor of Casa Loma was a gallery of "Stick-your-head -in -here-kid"  photo op cut outs.  I got a bemused woman to snap me. I was trying to channel Norma Shearer. And I did!

Casa Loma

There is a magnificent house on the Spadina Hill which looks down on the city and Lake Ontario. It was owned by a magnate whose fortune was lost in a financial crisis early last century. It had a spell as a hotel in the twenties and thirties and was THE social centre of Toronto nightlife.  Two childrens shows and a Santa Cave were features today so I was sidestepping rugrats .

It's just a hall!

Camp's camp anywhere

The master bedroom ....

...has its own study with a wyvern lamp that has finally returned after being lost for years. A wyvern is a two legged dragon

The fabulous master bathroom

Mrs Magnate's suite

The dining room off the Conservatory

The Conservatory!

And so to the end

We all have the right to a house like this.  So I have opened a special savings account. The money box the bank gave me is really sweet.