LadyLike’s Current Queen –Simply Edie, by Vicky Vogue

| Jan 14, 2008
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Vicky Vogue

This is a LadyLike magazine bonus! Since the articles and features for LL 72 where all done when CDS ceased publication that content is available for TGF readers. So, without any further ado here is Vicky Vogue’s Current Queen interview with New York City performer Simply Edie.

Simply Edie by Nicola JangSimply Edie is the moniker of a queen who is anything but simple. Oh, she’s simply gorgeous and simply fabulous and simply wonderful. But simply simple she just ain’t.

In 1932 there was a hit show on Broadway starring the legendary Ethel Merman. The name of the show was “Edie Was A Lady” and Merman stopped the show when she belted out the title number.

“Edie was a lady, though her past was shady, Edie had class, with a capital K” she bellowed and it nearly blew the roof off the theater.

Cole Porter once said, “When Merman opens her mouth you can hear her in the last row of the balcony. And that’s before she starts to sing!

Edie on stage in Philadelphia.Nobody can convince me that Ethel Merman wasn’t a drag queen. Only a man with a set of cast iron pipes could blare like she did. So naturally I believe the subject of this article, simply beautiful Simply Edie, is either the mighty Merman reincarnated or at least her direct descendent. As it happens there is another queen in New York City who claims to have that distinction, insisting that she is the love child of Ethel and Ernest Borgnine. Well Varla Jean we won’t dispute your claim but please meet your sister Edie.

When I interviewed Edie I found her to be very friendly and warm. She was easy to talk to and I liked her immediately. I began by asking about her beginning in drag.

Simply Edie after a show at LaTage.“I was new to New York and went to a fabulous little restaurant in the West Village called Universal Grill. It was Halloween and the restaurant owners offered me a job hosting. I agreed to do it for a couple of months”¦ famous last words!”

I asked Edie to describe her act. She said, “I try to have a good time on stage because I know that if I am having fun the audience will too.”

I wanted to know if Edie had any role models. Because she is first of all a dancer she was inspired by people like Gwen Verdon and Ann Reinking. She added, “Anything Fosse. I love Liza Minnelli who is the ultimate triple threat.”

Edie with Angela Gardner.When I asked her how she liked living in the Big Apple she said, “NYC is a drug. I can’t wait to get out but then can’t wait to get back to get my fix.”

Edie was born in Portland, Oregon and her family is still there. On the subject of Portland she said, “I love going home and try to visit as often as possible. It is someplace incredibly beautiful and special. I feel very proud to be from there.”

A promo shot of Simply Edie.Edie always wears gorgeous outfits and she loves vintage shops and buys dresses in those for public appearances or parties. I asked about her stage wardrobe and she told me, “For performing I have to have my outfits made. When dancing I need something that moves with me. I need stretchable fabrics. If I tried to dance in vintage polyester I’d melt.”

Edie has done a lot of traveling and she told me she especially loves working on cruise ships. “It’s the most beautiful way to see the world and not have to drag (I said it) your bags around. Just wake up and you’re in a new country. I just returned from a Baltic cruise ““ wow it was fantastic ““ and soon I will be going on two Mediterranean cruises back to back.”

When she’s not doing cruises or working in movies, TV or Broadway Edie loves the great outdoors. “Being from Oregon my backyard was like a national park. I love to hike and bike and go camping with friends.”

From cruising the Mediterranean to camping in the Poconos! Didn’t I say Simply Edie is anything but simple? Check out this fabulous queen on her website. (Ed. note: At posting time Edie’s website was “temporarily disabled”. Whatever that means. She is probably away performing on a cruise ship or something else glamourus that has prevented her from paying the web hosting fee. No doubt she’ll have it straightened out any day now.) And, if you get really lucky, maybe you can go to see her perform in New York sometime or tag along with her on a fantastic cruise ship. I sure wish that I could.

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Category: All TGForum Posts, Transgender Fun & Entertainment

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About the Author ()

Angela Gardner is a founding member of The Renaissance Transgender Assoc., Inc., former editor of its newsletter and magazine, Transgender Community News. She was the Diva of Dish for TGF in the late 1990s and Editor of LadyLike magazine until its untimely demise. She has appeared in film and television shows portraying TG characters, as well as representing Renaissance on numerous talk shows.

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