BY JIM KNIPPENBERG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
One sure way you know you're in Cincinnati: "Honey, I've been here four hours and already my sinuses are out of control."
That from Lady Chablis, the Savannah drag queen of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil fame, who was here for a book signing and a bunch of partying, including a dinner Saturday at the East Walnut Hills home of Dale Lamson and Rondle West, and a T-shirt auction Sunday at the Celestial.
Chablis rolled in Friday, and despite raging sinuses, partied till sunrise in her suite, slept briefly, then did an afternoon signing at the Kenwood Barnes & Noble. Done up in a taupe-and-white gauzy outfit slit uptohere and introducing herself as Auntie Chablis, "She turned some heads real fast," said volunteer escort Kym Carr.
Turned a few pretty fast, too, in Covington, when she hit Rosie's for late afternoon Lemon Drops (a shot of vodka, with sugar and a lemon wedge). "It's her favorite drink," said volunteer chauffeur Alliea Phipps. She munched wings from Straus Haus with the Lemon Drops.
Folks at the Lamson party knew what to expect. About 200 gussied up in summer cocktail duds, including a generous dollop of seersucker 'cause it was, after all, a Southern do, mixed and mingled in the house, on porches, terraces and lawns.
Chablis, arriving about 9 p.m. in a long black sequin dress, was impossible to track as she flitted from room to room, but party chair Jolie Harris, tried. Breathlessly.
As Harris said, Chablis was everywhere. Now you see her, now you don't, now you do and guess what? She's in her second outfit of the night, a slinky animal-print dress.
Still ready to go, she followed the party with a trip downtown to boogie and close the Pipeline.
Then (is she tireless or what?) managed to perform twice Sunday (an abbreviated version of her Savannah night club act: dance and pantomime, sassy chatter with the audience) at the T-shirt auction. It's too soon to know how much money was raised; it goes to AIDS Volunteers of Cincinnati and American Foundation for AIDS Research.
BUZZ AROUND TOWN: Keeping eyes and ears open, Psst! has heard . . .
That one of New Orleans' finest is headed to Oktoberfest. That would be trumpeter Al Hirt, a 1941 CCM grad (trumpet performance) who always refers to Cincinnati as his musical roots.
Hirt (known as King of the Trumpet) will do a freebie at 6 p.m. Sept. 19 on Fountain Square with Rick Hubbard (King of Kazoo) to lead the World's Largest Kazoo Band.
Remember Kazoo Do? The Downtown Council is trying to get into the Guinness Book of Records by striking up the world's largest kazoo band -- 30,000 of the things tooted by besotted Oktoberfesters. A zillion kazoos and two Kings -- that's enough for Real TV to show a real interest. Show (4:30 p.m. weekdays, Channel 12) producers are talking about shooting the kazoo do -- and never mind that it's going to sound like the world's largest fly buzzing. Nothing firm yet (never is with TV), but it's being talked up.
That Joyce Wise is at it again. The Emmy Award winning producer -- for Cincinnati Reflections on WCET in April -- will soon do part two in the series.
It will probably be on downtown's grand old department stores -- Rollman's, Pogue's, Mabley & Carew, Alms & Doepke, Shillito's -- or grand old theaters -- Shubert, Albee, Palace, Pike Opera House, Grand, Capitol and Keith's. Or maybe Music Hall over the years. For now, Wise is deciding and asking for help from anyone who worked at the places, has photos, news clips or anything else about the topics. Call 984-9835.
Psst! appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Have an item to report? Call Jim Knippenberg at 768-8513; fax: 768-8330.
KNIPPENBERG ARCHIVE