Similar to Eva Papaya, Izzy Xtra's actual birthday is in December. But the nature of the holiday period means it's more prudent to hold all December birthday events in either November or January. And we all got to celebrate her last night at O Bar.
Izzy has a wide range of talents, but it's easiest to associate her with Broadway numbers. There will always be particular queens who really love musicals and incorporate that into their drag repertoire. And since we also love musicals, we quickly fell in love with Izzy shortly after she started performing at O Bar. And while many already associate her with her various performances of numbers of Wicked, I love it when she taps into relatively more obscure stuff like "My Days" from The Notebook, and recently "So Much Better" from Legally Blonde.
Her birthday show last year was very Wicked-centric, and I wondered if we'd get something similar this year with Wicked For Good still in theaters. And while we did get some Wicked numbers as a culmination of the first set, I appreciated that the show also celebrated Izzy's abilities as a dancer - something she's really been honing in recent months. Thus, we got a lot of new numbers in this birthday show, more than a "greatest hits" sort of thing, which I really appreciate. It was a great showcase of who she is as a performer while not falling back on established staples that she's quite good at.
Given how often Tobie and I go to O Bar, I concede that we're harder to "surprise" in terms of the performances that are staged. We don't expect new things every time that we go, but it's nice when something genuinely surprises us. More than entirely new numbers, I most appreciate seeing a number evolve and get refined over time. Izzy definitely works hard on her craft despite having a daytime job and other obligations. When she brings something new to the stage, it's not a one-and-done deal. The next time we see her perform the same number, there will be subtle tweaks or a new take on what outfit to wear, or just a tighter lip sync. She's one of the inspirations of my recent Mic Stand Ballad post. She's all this and so much more.
So we're done with the birthday shows for this calendar year. Up next - the 20th anniversary event!
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