Dayton has quite a few heroes…Charles Kettering, The Wright Brothers, Erma Bombeck, Jane Reece…and of course, The RubiGirls! The ever-present, charity driven drag troupe have finally emerged in this time of quarantine to help us all laugh, love and raise some funds for our friends! This time the GIRLS, led by a quarter of qualified Queens, Fonda Peters, India Summer, Minnie Skirt and Dana Sintell, set their sights on people on the front line in this health crisis, and the folks making those amazing carry-out dinners in the area.
‘I received an email, ‘ says India Summer.”Where are the RubiGirls? There have been plenty of other queens posting all kinds of fun and frolic on Facebook, but NO RUBI???” That’s when we knew, it was time for us to make ourselves heard again. To spread the word that we are here to help.’
‘A show was what we needed to do, but social distancing presented a real problem.’ says the 7-foot tall Minnie Skirt. ‘How do we make this work?’
Enter the talents and touches of Tender Mercy. Chris Dimmick, Lauren Gay, Dave Kittredge and Branden Fugate had an idea. ‘Let’s do an actual production…a show…a virtual drag show that people can see online!’ Said Dimmick, The GIRLS were unsure as they are used to the idea of live, full theater, with a responsive audience. BUT, Dimmick held his position….’We can do this!’
‘I was curious!’ said the quintessential Fonda Peters. ‘ Like a real TV show? Really….I asked them to explain!’ And explain they did.
Dimmick and Gay dug in and told the RubiGirls, ‘Start making videos, pre-produced, spliced and diced….until you have a show we can run! We will help with some video and sound of our own. We can do this!’
But Sintell balked…as she often does. ‘No, no, no…I initially squirmed. We need our fans three feet in front of us. They are our lifeblood. And besides, many of the live and virtual drag shows have been hideous and boring. The online shows have been greatly panned. I wasn’t convinced….UNTIL….’
India Summer opened the eyes of all when she interjected. ‘What about all of the Girls make their own movie but we host the show live. A bit of both. only a few girls, 6 feet apart, telling the RubiGirls story, but raising money for our friend in Dayton.’
Dimmick, Gay, Kittredge and Fugate smiled and said…’We got this Girls! We can do this! And it will be FABULOUS!’
And it definitely will. This Friday, April 24th starting at 7pm, the Girls have an unbelievable collection of old and new Rubi productions to share. The 75 minute show will feature Sintell and Peters as the Hostesses, with Skirt and Summer to assist. There will be virtual bar tours, spectacular RubiGirl numbers, and cocktail recipes, including the popular RubiSlipper. ‘The RubiSlipper has been a huge hit.’ says Dimmick. ‘The RubiGirls agreed to a 50% share of all the RubiSlippers we sold to go to charity. You won’t believe the amount of money we raised in just 3 days open (before the stay-at-home order). People love the drink, but even mores0, the RubiGirls!’ The Tender Mercy team will be on hand to tell their story to subscribers as well.
Minnie Skirt added, ‘We have seen the videos. WOW, WOW, WOW! Tara Misu and Magestik nailed their videos! And the opening is just amazing! Actually, everything you see is top notch!’
Fonda Peters chimed in, ‘I think this is the start of a new version of the RubiGirls. This show is really over-the-top entertaining. You will get to see the Girls all over Dayton celebrating the city and showing that life goes on! We are quarantined, but we are still able to take care of each other. That’s an important message right now.’
‘I’m impressed.’ Says Lauren Gay.’These RubiGirls are hard-workers. They really are bringing our community together this Friday! Something we can all share in!
Fugate interjected, ‘They like to drink, too.”
Dana Sintell wrapped up the conversation for us with ‘In this day and age, anyone can make a short film. Tik-Tok, IMovie, IPhone Films…etc. But again, the Girls take it to a new level. It’s about something bigger than the film. It’s about people. It’s about Dayton! We try to always keep Rubi on a level of MORE….More LOVE, More GIVING and More ENTERTAINING!.’
They have again achieved it.
For tickets, go to Tendermercy.com. Next click Mercy Mart. Then, Click on RubiGirl packages. Pick one! Look for your code which will be sent Friday for the BIG SHOW! Sit back and ENJOY!
