A packed house filled the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center for the Tranny Roadshow on April 6. A diverse group of trans-identified performance artists, writers and musicians joined together for a second tour along the East Coast and through the Midwest.

The two-hour nonstop show began with co-organizer Kelly Shortandqueer’s series of early transition vignettes, detailing humorous tales of coming out as male while working at Office Max. Kelly’s fast-paced narrative set the tone for the show, framing basic transgender issues in ways that both trans and non-trans audience members alike could appreciate, allowing them to laugh at some of the struggles and ironies of gender transition.

Tona Brown shared three unaccompanied opera pieces followed by two reflective violin solos. Tona set the tone for seely quest’s powerful poetry on Jewish oppression and
broad-based discrimination. S/he softly, but fervently, spoke of hir father and hir disability and how the historic events in hir life shaped hir current reality.

Milwaukee’s own Miltown King, Willy Fister, punctuated the evening with a head-banging lip-sync of “I’m Not Sick, but I’m Not Well.” Audience members struggled to wrap their heads around the concept of a male-to-female drag king, but Willy’s gender was irrelevant when s/he moved from hard rock to a series of three deeply serious poems, read with passion and intensity. Willy closed with a Power Point projection of images of
discrimination and hardship, while lip-syncing to “Try to See It My Way.”

Much like Kelly Shortandqueer, co-organizer Jamez Terry also read a running narrative, this one focused on his 12 grandparents and filled with intergenerational stories. Funky AJ Bryce rocked listeners with his unaccompanied electric guitar, flying solo from his band, 42 Point Nothing.

The highlights of the evening came from Dylan Scholinski and Imani Henry. Dylan’s complex art was simply displayed in the adjoining bar area of the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center. He gently read pieces from his startling memoir, “The Last Time I Wore a Dress,” interjecting witty comments as he read. He also shared details from several pieces of his art, including three frames from the series “Nine Ways to Commit Suicide,” which takes a humorous look at methods of suicide.

Imani Henry — activist, writer, anti-war advocate — performed a short portion of his brilliant “B4T,” weaving together multifaceted stories of his family and his trans emergence. If you missed Imani’s performance, you’ll have the chance to see him again next year as one of the headline performers at the FORGE Forward 2007 Conference. (For more information about the first national FTM+/SOFFA Conference to be held in the Midwest, go to www.forge-forward.org/conference.)

Special thanks to the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center and Q Life for hosting and promoting the event, making it possible for the Tranny Roadshow to serve as the first fundraiser for the FORGE Forward 2007 Conference. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Onion also promoted and covered the performance, enhancing attendance and awareness of the event.