[LINK] "Charlottetown disco show alters 'queen' reference"

[rfmcdonald]

Yet more happy, possibly gay-affirming news from my beloved hometown, concerning the Confederation Centre of the Arts' new show Disco Cirque.

Some have complained the musical — one of the main features of the 2009 Charlottetown Festival lineup — is over the top.

Disco Cirque traces the history of disco music in the 1970s and back to its roots in the gay community.

Part of the show features the pop hit Dancing Queen by ABBA. During the number, narrator and master of ceremonies Wade Lynch impersonates fitness personality Richard Simmons.

"It was offensive because the word 'queen' in the gay community — even though lots of gay men use it and laugh at each other — they saw it as being as extreme as using the n-word for a black man," said artistic director Anne Allan. "And when I heard that I was horrified."

Dancing Queen remains part of the show, but the bit with Richard Simmons has been cut, said Allan.

Meanwhile, Lynch has received lots of comments about his performance.

"'Oh my God that was fun! What a blast, you're so funny!' Those were the overwhelming responses from my gay friends. And then there were a few that said, 'Wait, wait, wait, this is wrong,'" said Lynch. "When you look at it from a contemporary context, getting up there and calling a man who is apparently gay a queen isn't OK, so I'm prepared to see both sides of it."

Allen said people should take Disco Cirque for what it is: an accurate, but fun look at a decade of music that made people feel it was OK to be gay.

Thoughts?