BUCK C. COOKE | 7.2.2008
AS FUN AS IT IS to stand up in the park and sweat your balls off while you cheer for your favorite vocalist or female impersonator at Pride, sitting in a performance venue with one of the largest stages in Atlanta does have its benefits.
“It will be fucking fabulous!” says Wild Cherry Sucret, co-emcee for Friday Night Divas and the Starlight Cabaret, Atlanta Pride's official opening and closing events — both of which take place inside the amply air-conditioned Atlanta Civic Center Auditorium.
“Friday Night Divas will take you back to music that helped us come out over the years," Sucret says. "Powerful voices will be in the house to get your butts out of your seats!”
The Friday night show brings together pop singers from the past, including “American Idol” castoff Frenchie Davis, ‘80s supergroup Exposé, the Grammy Award-winning Thelma Houston and dance artist Ce Ce Peniston.
Recently, Davis resurfaced onstage in “Rent” on Broadway and the national touring company of “Ain’t Misbehavin’” with Ruben Studdard, who ironically won the season of “Idol” during which Davis was unceremoniously dismissed.
Peniston is known for her hits from the early ‘90s like “Finally,” “We Got a Love Thang,” and “Keep on Walkin’” in addition to her more recent dance hits “Lifetime to Love” and last year’s “Shame, Shame, Shame” with Soulshaker.
In 1977, Houston won a Grammy for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for the disco hit “Don’t Leave Me This Way,” which became linked with the gay community at the beginning of the HIV/AIDS crisis. Last year, Houston released “A Woman’s Touch,” a soulful collection of cover songs.
GIOIA BRUNO RETURNS TO ATLANTA with her '80s-'90s Exposé bandmates Jeanette Jurado and Ann Curless to headline Friday Night Divas.
“We’re going to take you back to a time you’re dying to get back to,” Bruno says. “It’s the real deal, the real Exposé. We didn’t change things up too much. I think they’re going to be pleasantly surprised.”
When asked about what it is like to be back together as a trio, Bruno joked, “Those bitches! Just kidding. It’s amazing. It’s incredible to do this again. Surprisingly enough, we just fall back into a rhythm.”
Bruno also performs a selection of her solo dance hits like “Free to Be,” “From the Inside,” “Why Did You Call Me,” and last year’s cover of “Your Love is Lifting Me (Higher and Higher).” Fans of Exposé can look forward to “Tell Me Why,” “Seasons Change,” “Let Me Be the One,” “Come Go With Me,” and other ‘80s hits.
Some artists from the ‘80s downplay their work from the past, but Bruno doesn't mind the trip down memory lane.
“The funniest thing is that I never really listened to Exposé, so I am not really as sick of the music as people would imagine that I am,” she says. “There is a difference when you’re up on stage singing something that touches someone. Even if it’s inane dance music, you’re up there onstage singing to these people because the music touched them in some way.”
 ALSO PULLING OUT ALL the stops for the official Atlanta Pride event is Tiffany (pictured left), the former '80s teen dream who returns to Atlanta to close out the Coca-Cola stage on Sunday night before the Starlight Cabaret. She was in town about a year ago promoting her new CD, but Tiffany says to expect a whole new angle to her Pride show.
“It’s all up-tempo stuff, and I have a background singer with me now," Tiff says. "Her name’s Angela Piel, and we kind of rock out and have a good time.”
Love it, hate it, or hate to love it, don't roll your eyes if she busts out with "I Think We're Alone Now" and other flashback-inducing Tiffy-pop magic. But Tiffany’s also pimping her new track, “Just Another Day,” which she expects to drop in the next month and a half.
With it, she continues down the dance music road she previously explored, and for that she gives direct cred to her gay fans.
“It really was the gay audience that really inspired me to go back to dance, which I’m having a blast with,” she says.
One of those dance-inspiring gay men is David’s Pride Cover Boy Josh Zuckerman, who takes the same stage late Saturday afternoon. And what can fans expect from Zuckerman’s time in front of the crowd?
"A high energy performance!" he assures. "I'll be playing songs from my new CD, and I guarantee it will be a fun time."
Asked about his sex appeal, Zuckerman defers to his boyfriend, then answers:
"My boyfriend says, yes, I'm sexy, but I don't know."
We do. Be there when he hits the Coca-Cola Stage on Saturday at 6:40 p.m.
Other musicians performing at the official Atlanta Pride party on Saturday and Sunday at the Civic Center include Three5Human, 8-Inch Betsy, Sarah Bettens, the Rock, Rhythm and Rhyme Artist Explosion, Lindsey Hinkle, Dario, and the Michael Jons Band, among many, many (many!) more.
WRAPPING UP THE PRIDE FESTIVAL performances is the ubiquitous Starlight Cabaret, the drag show to end all Atlanta drag shows. This year, of course, it's not under the stars, but the anticipation is still electric.
The show features “30 of the best [drag acts] Atlanta has to offer,” cabaret co-hostess Sucret says. “There is going to be a crazy, spectacular opening number. I’m talking major! You get a taste of everything — camp drag, real drag, production numbers, dancers.
“People bring their A-game,” she adds. “It’s not just standing there and lip-synching. They go all out and pull out all the stops.”
Sucret and Lady Shabazz host Shawnna Brooks, Lena Lust, the Armorettes, the Divas of Chaparral, Jealousé, Martina Diamante, the studs from the King of Courts and many others.
And yes, you heard right. Both Friday Night Divas and the Starlight Cabaret are ticketed, paid events. But Ms. Sucret has lots to say about the changes to this year’s festival.
“I think our community doesn’t want to give back,” she says. “We try to keep everything free, and most major cities don’t have anything for free. There is a staff of four. It’s the hundreds of people who volunteer who make Pride happen.
“Get involved! Give back! I think the Atlanta community is spoiled by what they have,” she dishes. “They need to get involved and make it happen. Do you know that some people think we moved it on purpose? That cracks my shit up! Check out www.atlantapride.org! Get a clue, bitches!”
Sucret was waffling between “a gospel-stirring, choir-laden number to make the spirit of Pride come alive … or naked boys. I could go that route. I may do both!”
But they also both promise a lot of fun and part of Pride is about having a good time, but Bruno says party responsibly.
“It’s gotten bigger, crazier, and ultimately, I end up holding someone’s hair back at the end of the night,” she says. “Remember what the party is all about. Go out, party, but (literally) don’t fucking kill yourself.
"Remember who you are and be proud of that. Let’s be smart.”
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