The annual Guys in Gowns fundraiser is this Saturday, Jan. 30 at 6 p.m. at the Lincoln Theater in Damariscotta.
Tickets are $15 for adults, and $5 for children under 12. The event is catered by King Eider’s Pub, and food will be available for $15. All proceeds support Youth Promise.
The Newcastle-based nonprofit works with kids who need to fulfill community service hours. Youth Promise helps first-time offenders find community service opportunities and works with the kids to make sure the hours get filled.
For kids that need more help, Youth Promise offers assistance with getting a GED or a place to get basic support for drug or alcohol problems.
“It’s not counseling in the sense that we sit them down on a couch,” said Youth Promise Program Manager Lee Emmons. “But we talk to them and find out what’s going on and give them some guidance.”
Every year, Youth Promise holds Guys in Gowns to raise money. The performance is a medley of performances by local men in drag.
“It’s just like a talent show, but men are wearing dresses,” Emmons said. “We came close to selling out the theater last year, and we hope to do at least as well this year.”
The popularity of the show comes from the fact that most of the performers are well known – and not folks you expect to be in a dress.
“The people who do it are sheriffs, fishermen, builders,” Emmons said. “They’re extremely masculine, but for this one night, they’re in a dress. They’re usually very serious people, but they’re singing and dancing.”
Despite the potential for the risqué, the show is kept pretty sterile. It’s always family entertainment, Emmons said.
There are six acts confirmed for this year’s show, including several repeat performers. Many of the participants come back year after year.
“It’s just a good time,” said Steve McDermott, a performer last year, who will most likely be making an appearance again in this show. “It helps raise money for a really worthy local charity.
McDermott worked with Youth Promise in 2008 as an AmeriCorps volunteer. He also coached wrestling at Lincoln Academy and the YMCA.
“The folks at Youth Promise do a really good job putting it together,” McDermott said. “They bring everybody in and get them out of hibernation mode.”
Although he could not be reached for comment, Sheriff Todd Brackett will be performing with several members of the Sheriff’s Dept., as he has several years in the past.
Dr. Steve Sozanski, an endodontist – a root canal specialist – from Boothbay, will perform for the third year in a row.
Though Sozanksi didn’t provide any other details about his act, he said “Sonja de los Martinez will be reprising her act from the Boothbay Opera House in November.”
Sozanski is heavily involved in the planning and orchestration of the event, and said that this year’s working title is South of the Border Down Sagadahoc Way.
From 6-7 p.m. will be sort of an alcohol-free Latin cocktail hour and the show will be heavy on live, south of the border music, Sozanski said.
“It’s kind of a crazy way to break up the winter,” Sozanski said. “It’s a great group of people at Youth Promise, and they really care – those are the real stars,” Sozanksi said.
