November 2024 – Andro & Eve

An Enchanted Forest edition of The Kingdom Come!

27th November 202427th November 2024 by androandeve

Drag king Pure Gliss sings dressed as a mushroom while onstage using a wheelchair

On 19 October we produced the ninth edition of our drag king cabaret, The Kingdom Come, transforming Crookes Social Club into an enchanted forest for a night of mischief and magic.

This night showcases some of the UK’s most exciting drag acts, and they’re all drag kings, although those attending this evening’s event could be mistaken that the stage had been taken over by all sorts of creatures and beings!

_{Ding Frisby, The Kingdom Come (2024). Credit – Nelly Naylor}

Yorkshire-based Ding Frisby took to the stage as a mushroom, with a very witty act finding the connections between the world of mycelium and polyamory, while Pure Gliss’ first act was also mushroom inspired, with a beautiful costume. Pure Gliss wowed us with their siren song with their second act too.

_{Manly Mannington, The Kingdom Come (2024). Credit – Nelly Naylor}

Our host Manly Mannington started the evening dressed as a giant blue flower, and ended up as a cyborg robot character, whose mesmerising movements had all eyes glued on him. Jamie Fuxx served up his smooth singing and seduction, with two acts that had their fair share of surprises.

Drag king Jamie Fuxx in gold waistcast and matching cap and black trousers sings on the mic — _{Jamie Fuxx at The Kingdom Come (2024). Credit – Nelly Naylor}

Dandy Darling brought his high octane acts, bursting forth on the stage as both a worm and praying mantis. All we could say was ‘wow!’

_{Dandy Darling, The Kingdom Come (2024). Credit – Nelly Naylor}

We knew we could rely on Sigi Moonlight to supply us with some seriously surreal and fairly sexual acts, and he appeared both as a tin man and Adam, who of course you’d meet down in the forest. He was said to have a bit of bother with a snake who attended with one of the audience members, but nothing of enough concern to warrant the casting of any spells.

_{Sigi Moonlight, The Kingdom Come (2024). Credit – Nelly Naylor}

Good job too, as many in our community had arrived dressed as magical beings, and who knows what they were keeping under their mushroom hats. It was great to see so many embracing the theme!

Our Community Information stall was back (read more about that here in this blog) with added crafts, so some took the opportunity to model some creepy crawlies from the modelling clay we provided. As usual the vegan cake from Little Town Pantry was gone before the first act was done!

_{Audience costumes at The Kingdom Come (2024). Credit – Nelly Naylor}

Thanks to all who took part in the raffle, helping us raise vital funds for our Pay it Forward ticket fund, enabling us to continue to provide discounted and free tickets to those who need them at future events. A huge thanks also to the Andro & Eve team, tech team and volunteer crew who helped everything run smoothly on the night.

This event was a fundraiser for Andro & Eve, and we were relieved to meet our fundraising target of £1000 – which we will use as match funding to support future programmes of creative activity for our community in South Yorkshire.

The Kingdom Come will return in 2025, so to be first to find out the date of the next event, and get access to the ticket pre sale, make sure you’re subscribed to our newsletter. It also contains lots of useful resources for support for LGBTQ+ folks and a roundup of queer friendly events in South Yorkshire. Ideal!

For now enjoy these extra snaps from The Kingdom Come, Enchanted Forest edition by Nelly Naylor.

_{Pure Gliss, The Kingdom Come (2024). Credit – Nelly Naylor}

_{The Kingdom Come (2024). Credit – Nelly Naylor}

DJ wanted!

22nd November 202421st November 2024 by androandeve

DJ Xzan a Black trans masc person DJ's on some decks

We are looking for a DJ for the next A Reyt Queer Do on Saturday 14 December!

If you are a queer DJ based in the North of England and want to perform in front of a friendly crowd in Sheffield then this might be the opportunity for you!

A Reyt Queer Do will be hosted by burlesque and drag artist Rhys Pieces and is about platforming emerging queer performance talent. Our crowd is a mix of ages from 18 – 55+ so if you like to play an eclectic mix of genres and music from across the decades we’d love to hear from you.

We’re particularly keen to platform folks traditionally less well represented in the music industry and those based in Yorkshire. You don’t have to have lots of experience, but we do need you to be comfortable and confident in playing at least a 60 minute set to a room of people, and be able to foster a fun dancefloor for the LGBTQ+ community.

We can offer a £200 fee and up to £60 cover transport or accommodation costs in Sheffield.

We just need you to be available from 10pm – 12.15am on the day of the event and to play a 90 min – 2 hour set.

To apply, send the following information to hello@androandeve.com

> Your name + social media handle
> A link to a DJ mix by you
> Tell us what DJ experience you have
> Tell us why you’d like to DJ for the Andro & Eve community.

Deadline to apply: Midnight Thursday 28 November.

We look forward to hearing from you!

If we don’t select you for this opportunity, we are still keen to build our contacts with DJ’s in the Yorkshire region so we’d encourage you to apply so we can contact you about future opportunities.

Reyt Queer Do Open Call for LGBTQ+ performers

7th November 20247th November 2024 by androandeve

Black drag king Lionel Bitchie sings live onstage

We’re offering open mic slots for fresh queer acts at A Reyt Queer Do 8 on Saturday 14 December.

This queer cabaret event is themed around ‘Camp as Christmas’ and is at Sidney and Matilda in Sheffield city centre.

A Reyt Queer Do will be hosted by drag and cabaret artist Rhys Pieces and is about platforming emerging Northern LGBTQ+ performance talent. Whether you’re a new act, or you have new work you want to test out in front of a friendly live audience, we’d love to hear from you.

Drag, comedy, clowning, queerlesque, song, anything goes, as long as it works in front of a live audience. In return for you performing one 3 – 8 minute act we’ll provide;

– Up to £70 to reimburse any expenses
– Food and drink at the venue
– Photos of your act shot by a professional photographer

We just need you to be available from 4.30pm on the day of the event.

To help you get a sense of what to expect, this blog about our most recent edition of A Reyt Queer Do is a useful read.

To apply, please complete the short Google Form and share a link to an extract of your act or performance.

It doesn’t matter if the film of you performing is not in front of an audience, we just need to get a sense of your performance style so we can programme a mix of acts.

Deadline to apply: 9am Monday 25 November. Priority for slots will go to those based in South Yorkshire.

Please note – This event will be BSL interpreted, so if your application is successful we will expect you to provide any lyrics / script in advance of the event for our BSL interpreter to learn. More information on the access provisions in the venue can be found here.

We expect to have more people apply to perform than we have time and budget to give a platform, so we won’t be able to offer everyone a slot, but we are always keen to hear from fresh talent for upcoming events. We are unable to give feedback to unsuccessful submissions, but we may keep your details on file for future bookings.

We look forward to hearing from you! If you have any questions that aren’t answered below please drop us a line to hello@androandeve.com

FAQ’s

I am not based in the North of England, can I apply?

We will not consider applications from acts based in locations other than Yorkshire or the North of England. (We consider Northern talent to be inclusive of the East and West Midlands).

Do you only platform drag king acts?

No! A Reyt Queer Do is for all kinds of live performance acts to share their work. The Kingdom Come is our platform solely for drag kings and we tend to focus on platforming more established acts there.

I can’t perform on the 14 December but want to apply, should I?

Thanks for your interest, please hold off for now! We are a part time team, so we’d appreciate you helping us manage capacity by applying for a future opportunity. Please subscribe to our newsletter to be first to hear about the open mic slots for future events.

I don’t have a video of my performance. Can I apply?

We cannot accept applications without a video. This is to ensure we understand what your performance style is and whether it will work with the venue restrictions, and around our other programmed acts. If you don’t have a video, feel free to record yourself performing to camera. Video quality does not matter, we just want to see your act!

I am a wheelchair user, what is stage access like?

Unfortunately, Sidney and Matilda does not have step free access to their stage so we cannot accommodate a wheelchair onstage. We are very limited with accessible live venue options in Sheffield, and are looking into alternative performance venue options for future events.

Back to the 90’s with A Reyt Queer Do!

5th November 20245th November 2024 by androandeve

Drag king Lionel Bitchie raises one eyebrow as he poses for the camera

We started Autumn in full celebration mode with the return of A Reyt Queer Do, with a sold out ‘Back to the 90’s’ edition at Sheffield gig and nightlife venue, Sidney and Matilda.

This queer cabaret and party is all about platforming fresh queer, Northern artists, sharing whatever performance style they like in front of our supportive and welcoming community.

Bipolar Abdul and BSL interpreter Becky Mayo onstage — _{Bipolar Abdul. A Reyt Queer Do (2024). Credit – Emma Bentley Fox}

On 22nd September we were joined by drag king Lionel Bitchie, comedian Stevie Yardy, singer-songwriter Jay Womack, drag king Mr Brake Down, and burlesque artist Spyhnxie, with the early evening event hosted by drag artist Bipolar Abdul. It was an eclectic and fun line up that didn’t disappoint, with our audience enjoying these talented acts. They took us from plenty of laughs to more poignant moments. Our BSL interpreter, Becky Mayo was a superb asset to the show!

Burlesque artist Sphynxie holds an umbrella high onstage while she performs — _{Sphynxie. A Reyt Queer Do (2024). Credit – Emma Bentley Fox}

Alongside the queer performance we made space for a craft table in the courtyard of Sidney and Matilda and many enjoyed the chance to draw, clay model and share their thoughts.

Our usual vegan cake (from Little Town Pantry) was a tasty Sunday afternoon treat and the raffle helped us raise vital funds for our Pay it Forward Ticket fund. 10 members of Lesbian Asylum Support Sheffield were able to attend this event thanks to past support of this scheme.

Three people craft with modelling clay at a table in a brightly painted courtyard — _{Crafting at A Reyt Queer Do (2024). Credit – Emma Bentley Fox}

Thanks to everyone who joined us for this special event, creating such a supportive atmosphere for our artists to share their work. Also huge thanks to the team at Sidney and Matilda and our team and volunteers for producing an event so many enjoyed. As one audience member said;

‘That was fun, inclusive, welcoming and joyful’
Audience member, A Reyt Queer Do 7

We never rest on our laurels at Andro and Eve, and are aware that stage height and seating options need to be adjusted for future editions of this event. We’re working on this and say thank you to those who highlighted this issue. As a small project-based arts organisation, operating in a city with limited venue options, finding accessible venues has always been a challenge, but we’re always trying to improve the ways our community experience our events and workshops.

Jay Womack sings while playing keyboard onstage — _{Jay Womack. A Reyt Queer Do (2024). Credit – Emma Bentley Fox}

If you want to support our work, a one off or ongoing donation is so helpful – helping us secure grant funding to ensure our events are accessible as possible. You can donate via our website at the top of this page or Kofi.

Our next A Reyt Queer Do is on 14 December. 60% of tickets have already sold, so don’t hang about if you’d like to join us for this Camp as Christmas edition hosted by cabaret star Rhys Pieces!

And if you can’t wait until then for a dose of queer culture, why not come along to our Feeling Fabulous Queer Dance workshops with Ghetto Fabulous? We’ll get you moving and boost your mood this winter!

An Enchanted Forest edition of The Kingdom Come!

DJ wanted!

We are looking for a DJ for the next A Reyt Queer Do on Saturday 14 December!

Reyt Queer Do Open Call for LGBTQ+ performers

We’re offering open mic slots for fresh queer acts at A Reyt Queer Do 8 on Saturday 14 December.

Back to the 90’s with A Reyt Queer Do!

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