Fruit Salad Brings Queer Performances to the Olympia Theater

The Olympia Theater welcomes guests into its lobby for a delightful experience the third Wednesday of every month. In the Lobby Lounge combines a little burlesque, a little vaudeville, a little improv, and plenty of other fun.

By Juan Antonio Barquin

September 20, 2017

Performers at last year's Fruit Salad event. Olympia Theater

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The Olympia Theater welcomes guests into its lobby for a delightful experience the third Wednesday of every month. In the Lobby Lounge combines a little burlesque, a little vaudeville, a little improv, and plenty of other fun.

The lounge is usually occupied by the improv and sketch comedy troupe Front Yard Theatre Collective, but this month's edition offers something a bit different. After a successful run last year, Fruit Salad returns to the Olympia for a special September showcase. The queer variety show features Queef Latina and her girlfriends for some fresh drag and a gleeful series of performances.

"Fruit Salad was created in order to give a wider audience an opportunity to get involved with the queer community," Queef Latina explains. "I wanted a venue that was inclusive to both the younger teenagers as well as older supporters who wouldn't generally go out to a nightclub."

So who's in the mix? Andro Gin, Jane Bell, and Jupiter Velvet will dish out a variety of unforgettable drag performances. Kurt Fowl, as Fashion Bug Chasers, will serve a set of live performances. Shelley Novak has some delicious spoken word from her revealing memoirs. And Vita DeVoid, familiar to audiences of Front Yard Theatre Collective's shows at the Olympia, will offer gender-bending burlesque.

Tonight's free event, with doors opening at 6 p.m. and the show beginning at 6:30, also includes an afterparty with Pussy Control, live music by Miami's the State Of!, and Porn Nail$ ready to give you the manicure of your dreams. Cocktails will be available at a cash bar. Guests are encouraged to enjoy a guided tour of the theater during intermission.

"Fruit Salad promises to mix glitter and highlighter, stubble and bubbles, bringing the colors of the rainbow to the historic Olympia Theater," its organizers say. Sounds like it would be a shame to miss out. After all, how often does Miami get treated to a queer variety show of live performances, music, sketch comedy, sideshow, and improv?

Fruit Salad. 6 p.m. Wednesday, September 20, at the Olympia Theater, 174 E. Flagler St., Miami; olympiatheater.org. Admission is free.

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Juan Antonio Barquin is a Miami-based writer who programs the queer film series Flaming Classics and serves as co-editor of Dim the House Lights. Barquin aspires to be Bridget Jones.

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Twitter: @woahitsjuanito