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 Drag queen Pandora Boxx, who marked her 10th anniversary as Miss Gay Rochester last November, performs each Wednesday in “Pandora’s Playhouse” at Muthers. But her alter ego Michael Steck is aiming for a career in the wider world of show business, and is starting off by producing and hosting his own comedy TV show, as an independent study project for school.
Michael graduates this May from St. John Fisher College. “The Gay Means Happy Show” is a half hour comedy variety show, somewhat like “Laugh-In meets MTV”. Shooting started in February, and the show is scheduled to be finished this month. He hopes to submit it to RCTV, for airing on Channel 15 public access, so the Rochester audience may get a chance to see it. At some point he may also organize a “private” viewing.About the show, he says, “There’s definitely a gay element, but it’s not just gay material. It’s more like MTV editing – quick little skits, and it’s not filmed in front of a live audience. The name of the show will be called ‘GAY means happy SHOW!’ and it will be a play on words, with the various definitions: merry, bright, lively and homosexual. While the show will have a strong focus on gay/homosexual themes the show will not be entirely ‘gay’ oriented. The show will be in the vein of shows like ‘The Carol Burnett Show,’ ‘Laugh In’, ‘Saturday Night Live’ and ‘In Living Color.’ What separates this show from those shows, and makes it stand out on its own, is that unlike the traditional skit comedy shows, the editing style of this show will be more like that of a music video. The concept is to create a variety/comedy show with slick and stylistic editing to make a variety show for this MTV generation. The show will target the 18 to 35 age demographic and go for a hip and trendy feel, while still paying homage to the classic shows.” Steck writes all the material, and he will be hosting the show, joined by performers including Darienne Lake, Ambrosia Salad and Sasha Sashay. He said, “I’m getting my bachelor’s in communication journalism with a concentration on English writing. Ultimately, I would like to have my own TV show. I’m thinking of moving to New York. I’d like to do it all – writing, directing, acting, producing.” Steck has performed in local theatre, including the AIDS Rochester production of “Steel Magnolias”. He got interested in video at MCC, where he graduated in 2001. “I took a video class there. Sometimes when you do something for the first time, you find it’s the right thing for you.” In addition to finishing the independent study project and completing four other courses this spring, Steck performs every Wednesday at Muthers as Pandora, and recently took the stage at Club Marcella in Buffalo. He says, “The first drag performer I ever saw was Darienne Lake, and seeing her, I really wanted to be doing drag. I always liked the combination of being beautiful and being really funny.” Lucille Ball and Carol Burnett were early influences. Is he a habitué of the club scene? “I kind of go out in spurts,” he said. “I go out enough to know what’s going on. I feel it’s part of the job, and a way to make yourself visible.” Pandora has performed at various clubs, including It in Toronto. “I held a Madonna CD release party there. There’s a little Madonna in Pandora – she’s definitely one of my influences.” On the topic of what makes a good club, and what people are looking for in nightlife, he said, “I think a lot of times people are looking for sex, which is always a good thing. For a club to be really good, there has to be a vibe – a certain energy or personality. If you meet someone who is beautiful but has no personality, they just aren’t that attractive. A club needs to have that personality and then it doesn’t matter if it isn’t beautiful.” Steck’s all-time favorite club was the old Club Marcella in Rochester. “People there really cared, and it showed,” he said. “There was a family atmosphere, like the ‘Cheers’ bar. Everybody knew your name.” He added, “Pandora’s Playhouse is doing really well. I thought we’d get maybe 20 people for the first night (last August), but we got 120. Now it averages between 150 and 200. There’s no cover. I host the show and there’s a lot of improv. The difference between that and the TV show is that the TV show is written skits and I’m not in drag. It’s not a drag queen show.” After graduation in May, Michael will go where life takes him, keeping in mind his goal of working in TV production and using his multiple talents as writer, performer and producer-director. |
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