Seat Filler

Our Hit Parade, a strangely sublime monthly showcase of 10 reinterpretations of current top-40 hits, also held a special pride edition (and World Cup edition and Michael Jackson’s death anniversary edition) on June 30 at Joe’s Pub. Bodacious belter Bridget Everett, gay Kiki & Herb alum Kenny Mellman, and bisexual performance artist Neal Medlyn were joined by special guests like Logo’s Cole Escola and Lea DeLaria, who put a goosebump-inducing spin on Train’s “Hey, Soul Sister.” Among the more surreal moments, Medlyn conducted a raw chicken cavity search while singing Drake’s “Find Your Love,” and Jack Ferver drank Diet Coke in his underwear, made out with audience members of both sexes, and beat his boyfriend with a rolled-up yoga mat while listening to Usher’s “OMG.” OMG, I loved this show!

A fixture on New York’s downtown cabaret scene since moving from Hawaii in 1989, Raven O achieved new fame as host of Cirque du Soleil's Zumanity in Las Vegas and Manhattan’s infamous burlesque club the Box. In Raven O: One Night With You, a compelling autobiographical solo act that ended its Tuesdays-only run at the Bleecker Street Theatre June 29, Raven took rapt audiences for a cool casino-loungey ride that would’ve made Frank Sinatra blush and Liza Minnelli relapse. Backed only by bass, he illustrated his colorful coming-of-age tale with jazzy, soulful interpretations of traditional tunes like “Rainy Days and Mondays” and “My Favorite Things” — an effectively simple story-song framework that contributed a comforting contrast to his androgynous badass appearance and disturbing history of drug abuse.