Sybil Bruncheon's “My Merry Memoirs”… LGBTQ Pride Parades of the Past - 1986.

Here we are for the 1986 LGBTQ Pride Parade just rounding the corner of Central Park West and onto West 59th Street. That’s the old New York Coliseum Building in the background which was demolished in 2000 for the towering steel-and-glass Time Warner Center. (imagine how furious Jackie Onassis would have been had she lived to see that!) This was the old parade route too; starting at Central Park West at West 70th Street all the way down to 59th and Central Park South at Columbus Circle (shown here), then across to 5th Avenue, down to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village, across to Christopher Street and Sheridan Square, and then all the way down to the festival on the Hudson River. This was the year of the rededication of the newly restored and refurbished Statue of Liberty for its Centennial. All of Washington DC and scores of foreign dignitaries, celebrities, and VIPs showed up for the ceremonies, the arrival of the Tall Ships, performances by major music stars, and the most expensive fireworks display at that time! And there Mummie was, roasting in her gold lamé, in Luke Valenti's vintage convertible with deflating balloons and GCN folks from NYC and Cincinnati draped all over the hood!... ah, good times... good times!

[Well, clearly, I wasn't making THAT much history... after all, as we all know, RuPaul invented drag... nothing basically came before... oh well! All of us over at the newly created Gay Cable Network (on the newly invented cable television system) were too busy making sure that we filmed and photographed everything in case someone decided to shoot me for the audaciousness of having muscles and a strapless Statue of Liberty dress on! The idea was the same as the press coverage of the Hindenburg back in the 30's... everyone felt that something horrible could happen at any minute so why not always be on stand-by for that "great photo op"!]

(Photo by Diana Di Prima. Sybil’s gown by Cliff Boone and Morrie Breyer at A.Q.U.A.)

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Sybil Bruncheon's “My Merry Memoirs”… LGBTQ Pride Parades of the Past - 1986.

Here we are for the LGBTQ Pride Parade just rounding the corner of Central Park West and onto West 59th Street. This was the old parade route too; starting at Central Park West at West 70th Street all the way down to 59th and Central Park South at Columbus Circle (shown here), then across to 5th Avenue, down to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village, across to Christopher Street and Sheridan Square, and then all the way down to the festival on the Hudson River. This was the year of the rededication of the newly restored and refurbished Statue of Liberty for its Centennial. All of Washington DC and scores of foreign dignitaries, celebrities, and VIPs showed up for the ceremonies, the arrival of the Tall Ships, performances by major music stars, and the most expensive fireworks display at that time! And there Mummie was, roasting in her gold lamé, in Luke Valenti's vintage convertible with deflating balloons and GCN folks from NYC and Cincinnati draped all over the hood!... ah, good times... good times!

[Well, clearly, I wasn't making THAT much history... after all, as we all know, RuPaul invented drag... nothing basically came before... oh well! All of us over at the newly created Gay Cable Network (on the newly invented cable television system) were too busy making sure that we filmed and photographed everything in case someone decided to shoot me for the audaciousness of having muscles and a strapless Statue of Liberty dress on! The idea was the same as the press coverage of the Hindenburg back in the 30's... everyone felt that something horrible could happen at any minute so why not always be on stand-by for that "great photo op"!]

(Photo by Mark Garrett. Sybil’s gown by A.Q.U.A)

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Sybil Bruncheon's “My Merry Memoirs”… LGBTQ Pride Parades of the Past - 1985.

Rounding the corner at Central Park South (59th Street) at 5th Avenue in my custom made gown by Cliff Boone and Morrie Breyer at A.Q.U.A. with Luke Valenti driving the Gay Cable Network convertible. That’s the Plaza Hotel in the background. (photo by Diana Di Prima)

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Sybil Bruncheon's “My Merry Memoirs”… LGBTQ Pride Parades of the Past - 1985.

Getting into place on Central Park West and W. 62nd St. before the start-up. This was the OLD parade route which started in the West 70s on CPW, went down to Columbus Circle, crossed over along 59th Street to 5th Avenue past the Plaza Hotel, then all the way down to Washington Square Park, then meandered through Greenwich Village, past the historic Stonewall Inn and Sheridan Square, and down Christopher to the festival on the Hudson. Yes... it DID take about 3 days! LOLOLOL! NYC, 1985

(photo by Ferdinando Scianna, Sybil’s gown by Cliff Boone and Morrie Breyer at A.Q.U.A., Jewelry by Jesse Galvez of J. Antonio, and Larry Vrba)

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Sybil Bruncheon's "My Merry Memoirs... PETER ALLEN"...

I knew Peter Allen from the "circuit" back in the day. Although he certainly had his ups and downs, he also was a lovely charmer, a “character”, and beyond wonderful when he was going through his happier times. One night, we bumped into each other at Tout Va Bien, a French restaurant in the theatre district near Times Square run by ex-pats and refugees from Paris and WWII. He came in and sat down with a friend at the next booth, and when he saw me, he came right over and gave me a giant Aussie hug and kiss... well, our separate-tables dinners became ONE dinner, and we laughed and reminisced about the good times, the triumphs, and the friends in common.... and we also comforted each other about the losses and the sadness that were part of the deepening AIDS catastrophe. We both had lost partners (and most of our friends) as the disaster unfolded, and Peter was bravely battling on with his own health. He continued performing, and brilliantly, right up until just six months before his own death in San Diego.

But on that night, in 1991, at dinner, he was as radiant, funny, naughty, generous, and loving as could be! I remember I told him about a show of his that I saw at the great Radio City Music Hall in 1982. It was one of those times when you wanted to sit as close as possible to the stage as opposed to sitting back in the enormous theater for the panorama of the production. And he sang and danced to "Arthur's Theme". His eyes widened as I described how he had played the song and sang at the grand piano, and then as the orchestra took over, he stood and danced as well. The stage began to fill with fog, and the entire skyline of Manhattan came out of the mist in the background and the moon began to rise, and Peter then did his signature semi-improvised style of dancing around, then up onto the bench then up onto the piano, and the entire stage began to rotate with the piano and Peter rotating separately on the giant disc.... and then, as he continued to sway and sing the lyrics, he and the piano, swung up and out, and then floated into the clouds, higher and higher and vanished into the distance as the entire audience gasped... and wept...

Peter, and our two friends sat there in the restaurant staring at me. I said that it was one of the most breathtaking things I had ever seen… To break the silence, I said, "And Peter, I want you to tell that story at my funeral!"... a line that I often use. Peter, with his eyes sparkling, chuckled, "… and will you say that at my funeral?"... because... well, we all knew.

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Sybil Bruncheon's "Hollywood's Hysterical Histories"...

Poor, poor Aileen Pringle... she had that awful speaking voice and those appalling speech impediments! As her film career ended with the advent of the "talkies", she was forced to serve as a human radio antenna in the MGM cafeteria during lunch time!

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Sybil Bruncheon in Cincinnati GCN... Prepares "Gelatin Surprese"... (part I)

GCN Cincinnati is proud to present Sybil Bruncheon in her continuing summer 1987 series. Join Sybil as she shows the audience that a grand dame should always know her way around kitchen utensils. To do this, she will begin her preparation of “Gelatin Supreese” (Part I)

(Produced and edited by Mark Bailey and the staff of Cincinnati’s GCN)

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Sybil Bruncheon in Cincinnati GCN... Prepares "Gelatin Surprese"... (part II)

GCN Cincinnati is proud to present Sybil Bruncheon in her continuing summer 1987 series. Join Sybil as she shows the audience that a grand dame should always know her way around kitchen utensils. To do this, she will begin her preparation of “Gelatin Supreese” (Part II)

(Produced and edited by Mark Bailey and the staff of Cincinnati’s GCN)

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Sybil Bruncheon in Cincinnati GCN... Prepares "Gelatin Surprese"... (part III)

GCN Cincinnati is proud to present Sybil Bruncheon in her continuing summer 1987 series. Join Sybil as she shows the audience that a grand dame should always know her way around kitchen utensils. To do this, she will begin her preparation of “Gelatin Supreese” (Part III)

(Produced and edited by Mark Bailey and the staff of Cincinnati’s GCN)

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Sybil Bruncheon's "Odd, REALLY ODD Histories!"...

A just-discovered photo from 1935 of the German amusement park that the Gestapo built at Dachau... the Nazis meant to deceive the rest of Europe with their model "alternate towns for the other races" living in the Reichsland... fortunately, only Neville Chamberlain seems to have been fooled... and only for a time...

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