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Church 'ladies' steal show Drag queens do benefit in Duquesne Monday, December 11, 2000 By Marylynne Pitz, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Live entertainment is a tradition at the Hungarian Reformed Church of Duquesne, where church ladies, including Irene Zeleznik, once dressed up like men to play "The Hungarian Beatles."
Zeleznik sat in the audience yesterday as this year's Christmas pageant featured another gender bender -- a line up of eight drag queens named Eda Bagel, Thea Trix, Courtney Brown, Enya Dreamz, Phara Giza, Tamara Knight, Laura Michaels and Patti O' Fernicher.
As eight male entertainers, dressed in elaborate wigs, glamorous gowns and glittering jewelry, lip-synched and vamped on impossibly high heels, gray-haired church members applauded enthusiastically.
"I've seen them act before. They're marvelous," said Marion Nagy, as she puffed on a menthol cigarette.
Jeffrey Kash, better known as Eda Bagel, opened the show with the crowd-pleasing "Santa Baby."
Gliding across the stage on slim, tapered legs tucked into red sling-backs, Kash danced in a short, form-fitting red dress trimmed in white fake fur.
"Santa Baby, I want a yacht, and that's not a lot," Kash lip-synched.
Again and again, Kash slinked past the long tables that were decorated with holly and red and green candles and set with ham salad sandwiches, red Jell-O and cake.
After the opening number, Kash welcomed audience members to the "Hungarian Reformed Church and Cabaret Hall."
With its white walls, tiled floor and harsh fluorescent lights, the church basement hardly resembled a nightclub. Nor was it the ideal setting for drag queens, who are more accustomed to creating their illusions in darkened theaters.
But, as Julia Nagy introduced the show, she reminded fellow churchgoers that the performers donated their services "to help us make money for our church." The $10 admission bought a meal and entertainment.
Buoyed by nervous energy and wearing artfully applied makeup, the eight male entertainers romped on an elaborate set that featured a sleigh stuffed with plush animals and large gifts, tall candles, reindeer and twinkling gold stars.
"Well, if the Catholic Church can have bingo, we can do something interesting, too," Kash said.
Two years ago, Kash joined the Duquesne church. His company, Cross-Eyed Mary Productions, offered to do a show for the congregation, which had not enjoyed a Christmas pageant for 10 years.
In the spring, Kash and some of his friends performed "An Afternoon With the Stars," and the show raised $1,300 for the church.
The Rev. Joseph Posta, pastor of the church, offered a prayer before the performance, asking for "peace on Earth, good will toward men."
In long blonde, curly hair festooned with white and red flowers, Thea Trix appeared as Dolly Parton. Dressed in a black choir robe, the entertainer lip synched to "Go Tell It on the Mountain."
Thea Trix, better known as Jason Zubovic, unzipped his choir robe to reveal a tea-length burgundy velvet gown.
Shelley Beebe of Charleroi liked Zubovic's burgundy velvet dress so much that she asked to borrow it.
"I've never been to one of these before. I love it," Beebe said.
Bill Stein, who sat at a table close to the stage, got many kisses on his balding head from the entertainers.
"You seem to have become the designated lip smacker," Kash joked.
Patty O'Fernicher, better known as Patrick Farley, donned a deep purple gown to mimic gospel singer Sandy Patti in an earnest rendition of "O Holy Night."
In a black dress covered with sparkling silver sequins, Phara Giza, whose name is Adrian Cooper, lip synched to "God Bless Us Every One" and handed out silver stars to select audience members.
Not every performance stuck to the Christmas theme. Enya Dreamz, whose real name is Scott Morowitz, reprised the 1980s song "I'm Walking on Sunshine." Yellow daisies covered his purple and black dress and his daisy earrings shook as he shimmied.
As Laura Michaels, Michael Safar donned a red wig and black dress to impersonate Barbra Streisand's emphatic style of singing, then told the audience that his roommate is Morowitz, better known as Enya Dreamz.
"She's always trying to get her grubby hands on my wigs. We fight like cats and cats," Safar joked.
The production was a bit of a family affair because Kash played Carol Burnett while his sister, Amanda Kash, served as the show's stage manager.
Their mother, Carolyn Kash, sat out front, collecting money for a raffle. "I try to be mother to all the guys. They call me Mama Kash," she said.
Many of the church's members were first or second-generation Hungarians and experienced prejudice firsthand.
"They learned to tolerate everybody, except each other sometimes," Carolyn Kash quipped.
The Kash children, who grew up on a farm in Daisytown, Washington County, got an early introduction to theater via California Area High School's spring show. Their mother taught English at the school.
"Jeffrey was about 6 when we did 'Fiddler on the Roof.' They learned how to build beards that year and they learned how to put on makeup," Carolyn Kash recalled.
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