May 31: Mickey Weems recent article on Disney Drama gave us a candid look behind the scenes as planning and preparation for next weekend's big Gay Day Weekend events continue. Now, Part 2 in a series reveals more of Mickey's thoughts just as many are packing their suitcases for a trip to Orlando.
Disney Drama, Part II: Loyalty, Betrayal, Creative Spelling and Lame-Ass Excuses by Mickey Weems
So much has happened in so little time. Where to start?
Taking Care of Our Own
The cancellation of World/Vibe, an event in Orlando just two weeks before Gay Day weekend, was the first of a chain of events that would transform the partyscape. It was revealed in quick succession that EnVibe was closely associated with World/Vibe. Then, with the arrival of a new event with obscure origins at Typhoon Lagoon for Friday night, EnVibe scaled down aspirations to focus on only one party, Wonderland on Sunday night. Then EnVibe added a pre-party called CruzGroove for Saturday night featuring Mike Cruz, a DJ who appeared to be stranded with no event after the initial downsizing.
Looks like Steve Milo takes care of his DJs.
E Tu, Brute?
But not everyone looks after Steve Milo. Party producers Sean and Paul are sponsoring Gay Dayz Orlando, two events on Friday and Saturday night. The Friday night event will be a hip-hop Circuit party, a bold new concept that I applaud for its audacity, but question whether it will work (no doubt for those who feel that “gayngsta” vibe, it will indeed werk). The website for these parties also mentions three events not sponsored by Sean and Paul, One Mighty Weekend’s Thursday and Sunday parties and EnVibe’s CruzGroove. Good for S&P to extend the courtesy to OMW and CruzGroove.
The DJ for the Saturday S&P party is Manny Lehman, who had originally been scheduled for an EnVibe event that Sean and Paul were supposedly co-sponsoring. In an act as Machiavellian as it is hasty, the S&P website (in both of its incarnations as of May 30) does no promoting whatsoever for EnVibe’s Sunday night party, Milo’s premier event.
Hostile Take-Over
Back to Typhoon Lagoon and the mystery of who is actually in charge. The website for the Friday night is slick and well crafted, comparable to OMW in sophistication. The one organization mentioned on the website (that is not a nonprofit) is GayDayS.com. I am not sure how closely the Typhoon Lagoon event is to GayDayS or Disney, but the party’s backers must carry some clout if they can convince the Magic Kingdom to open the park for their event.
Rumors abound that this is the first tentative step taken to snatch the profitable parties away from Chisholm, undermine One Mighty Weekend and end the era of independent promoters, including EnVibe and S&P, during Gay Day Weekend.
What’z in a Name?
The fact that nobody in this whole clusterfunk, not even GayDayS, seems capable of spelling Gay Days in their names or official events without abbreviation (Gay Day) or creative spelling (DayS) is noteworthy. When you see people doing this with a word in their name, it often is a strategy to keep away lawsuits over copyright.
As mentioned earlier, Sean and Paul use the phrase “Gay Dayz” to describe their events. One might then ask if this is simply a maneuver to avoid a lawsuit, or if they were related to noiZe Magazine. The answer with regards to a noiZe connection would be no; this is a case of parallel evolution. The Gay Dayz Dudez should not be confused with the noiZe boyZ.
Mission Accomplished
Speaking of lawsuits, Circuit Dog Tony Hayden has declared victory and removed the blatantly negative articles about Johnny Chisholm from his website. Congratulations, but I’m not sure Hayden is the victor. George W. was more convincing when he landed on the aircraft carrier with the “Mission Accomplished” banner at the beginning of the Iraq War. Hayden is maddeningly vague in his rambling “Victorious” video (no longer on his website), which leaves more questions unanswered than if he’d said nothing at all.
And the not-so-vague ominous references to One Mighty Weekend and Chisholm Productions on his Circuit Dog website are transparently clumsy. Finesse, Tony! Finesse!
An Offer We Can Refuse
On to the ensuing drama with Offer Nissim and One Mighty Party. After protracted (and apparently pointless) “ post-contract monetary” negotiations, Nissim has cancelled due to a family emergency in Tel Aviv, which is unfortunate.
I teach college, and I also find it unfortunate for my poor students when so many grandmothers die at the same time as their grandchildren’s finals are scheduled. Or the students’ dog eats their homework. “Tragic” does not begin to describe what I think of these excuses.
Nevertheless, I do not fault Star69, Nissim’s booking agency, at all. Nissim bears full responsibility for his cancellation.
For those Circuiteers that were excited about watching Nissim wave his hands in the air for a couple of hours (whether or not he actually does anything else in the DJ booth is as up in the air as his hands), well too bad.
So far as I’m concerned, good riddance.
Stay tuned. The drama is far from over.
