August, 1997
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A Smorgasbord Of Honey:

Don Auxier Gives Us A Cute Blonde With Pipes

by Mike Spitz

Folks who come to see Honey West entertain are made to feel so welcome and so comfortable, that they've been known to nab her padded perch, for chrissakes. "One weekend night while performing at Gentry on Halsted," reminisces Honey, "I got up, walked to the front of the piano, sang another phrase, only to turn around, and notice that the table right next to me had stolen my stool! - They were having such a fabulous time that they thought nothing about just helping themselves! - Meanwhile, I figured since I was the one with the mike, I was the one singing and sweating, that I needed my seat: 'You can't take that! That's my chair!'"

Her act forever friendly and inclusive, people have come up and put their arms around her, staring back at the crowd or even talking freely to the masses. "The challenge of live entertainment is the ongoing interaction, is the juggling between performer and audience. It's all too easy to have fun at someone's expense, when the genuine art is about helping people to enjoy themselves." And leave it to Honey to facilitate that with such stage antics as physically rushing out of the bar to interview innocent pedestrians, grabbing a telephone and having a pizza delivered, or giving unsuspecting local celebs a buzz in the wee hours of the boozy night. "Many entertainers perform to the audience, while I perform with them," sez Mz. West. "I shift the focus back to my listeners, making my show a shared experience."

Honey shares her talents in many ways, the most recent offering featuring her very own 18-track CD, Take Honey West Home. Already available at R.J.'s Video, Tower Records, Specialty Video in Andersonville and Dandy's, the disc represents a compilation of her most popular tunes, and comprises a fitting anthology of her career as Chicago's very own crooning blonde diva. "What a lot of folks don't know about the CD is that, unlike my usual live cabaret act, the disc is fully orchestrated. We chose a bunch of the material because they were club favorites, then we added a couple dance tracks, which is something I always wanted to do - The klub kid in me came out! - I also had the wonderful opportunity to record 'Love Just Passed Me By' for the soundtrack of the new movie Butch Camp."

A polished, professional recording ("It's not a coaster, baby!" sez Honey), such legendary jazz instrumentalists as Kurt Walker and Michael Levine participate. Many local talents also gave their time and skills, including Michael James, Freddy Allen, Urban Twist, Chuck Larken and Alexandra Billings. "I was extremely excited about bringing in local people, since I consider myself very much a part of our community. Scheduling conflicts prevented me from having folks like Gino Deluca and Dan Stetzel come on board, but there's always the possibility of a sequel: Honey West - The Morning After!"

The CD a tangible symbol of her success, Honey considers its release for the mass market an important token of progress for the entire community. "The crossing of boundaries isn't something I feel I have to do, but something that I want to do, something that will happen anyway. People can pick up the CD and be intrigued by it, see it as a man performing in drag, but my goal is simply to entertain, to make any kind of distinction basically irrelevant. I don't label myself as being 'gay' - That doesn't describe me as a person. Being gay is just one facet of who I am, as a person, as a person who entertains people. Singing queens are rare, and I'm extremely excited about the difference of my act. I have the utmost respect for artists who lipsynch, but what I do is unique. That's why the CD has been so important, since it explains what I do."

The art of drag one of glamour and emulation, Honey contends with the ongoing opportunity and confusion her role as a queen with her own set of pipes affords. "People have been known to come into the bar, see me singing next to a pianist, only to leave thinking that I was lipsynching the whole time. Managers will hire me after seeing my show, and when I ask for a piano for accompaniment, they'll wonder why I need one. 'A man in a dress lipsynchs,' is the typical rule. But I have a great package, a genuine Live Cabaret Vocal Act. The CD is my proof that here's a performer who has taken the time and energy to act professionally, to produce a professional, marketable product that happens to fall into its own distinct category. I take what I do very seriously, but I don't take myself that seriously."

Honey's easy-going personality and stage persona have characterized her act from the beginning. Raised in Indiana as a small-town kid, Don Auxier studied musical theatre at Indiana University in Bloomington, and graduated to singing on cruise ships docking along the East Coast. Moving to Chicago, Don starred in Puszh Studio's highly successful Dirty Dreams of a Clean Cut Kid during the 1990 season. Around the time of the show's final run, a friend dressed him up in drag for a New Years' Eve gala, to tremendous response. "With Dirty Dreams closing, I found an entertainment vehicle with this newly discovered drag personality, so I decided to see how far I could take the character. A Taste Of Honey ran very successfully as a cabaret-style performance piece, so I then took Honey out on the town, and she's been working for me ever since." As such, drag remains a way Don performs, not lives. "What I do is entertain. Drag isn't a lifestyle for me, and that's certainly not meant as a judgment call. People have trouble pegging me, and I sometimes feel like Laura Engels of Little House on the Prairie, you know, constantly being misunderstood. For most, familiarity is what's most comfortable. Since I don't fit the standard type of mold, even in an 'alternative' way, I have to try a whole lot harder to achieve that acceptability. But I look at that transition as my responsibility: It's become an important part of my act, to bridge the gap between expectation and understanding."

While many performers rely on wry humor or even insult to hold audience attention, Honey insists on geniality and friendliness. "My goal has always been to achieve a nice act that could still be entertaining. Win over the enemy camp, turn any bad feeling into good. One of my first jobs was as personal assistant and dresser at the Holiday Star Theatre, where I got to work alongside such celebrities as Barry Manilow, Wayne Newton and Liberace. There I learned that what honestly made a difference for me, standing there with a flashlight, at work, was feeling good. Often, certain celebs made me feel bad, or worse, didn't make me feel anything at all, turning the whole enterprise into just a job, just work. What I try to do is not just present a show, but create an experience. It might sound a bit schmaltzy, but I feel that if you have any recognition whatsoever, as a teacher, public official, whatever, that you have the responsibility to make a difference, an obligation to make people feel good about not only your act, but themselves."

Honey's strategy seems quite sound, especially given her popularity. Strolling into Gentry, Madrigal's, or any venue featuring her performance, the audience knows it can expect not only fine musical entertainment, but an opportunity to share laughter, talk to friends, and directly participate in the ongoing stream of one-liners, jokes and general merriment. "How people feel means a lot to me," confesses Mz. West, "my act is to interact. The highest compliment I can get is when they come and say: 'You make me so happy!' and I sense that they mean it. What else is there? Fame? Money? Those are fine, but I want to find them in the right way, from a position where I can enjoy them. The dedication on the CD sez it best, insisting on living life as a celebration. After all, there's nothing in this life you can do alone."

And Honey certainly has some company, what with the National Release of her CD on Aug. 1, another all-dance CD in the works, an anticipated tour, a stint on the Norwegian Cruise Line, and an upcoming role at the Bailiwick Theatre. "Right now, I've got so many irons in the fire it can seem almost overwhelming," sez Honey - But she can rest assured that, at this point, no one's gonna steal her stool.

To order her CD directly, you can call 1-800-TAKE-A-BOW ("There's an extra letter, but go ahead and dial that anyway!"); and for the latest drippings of Honey gossip and events, call (773) 478-7588.

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