Panti
Panti is a drag queen character performed by Rory O'Neill (born 1968), originally from Ballinrobe, County Mayo, Ireland.[1][2]
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[edit] Biography
Since 1996 Panti has been the hostess of the annual Alternative Miss Ireland pageant. Panti spent several years in Tokyo, (performing as part of double act called CANDIPANTI), she returned to Ireland in 1995.[3] Her alter-ego Rory O'Neill co-created (together with Niall Sweeney, Tonie Walsh and Trish Brennan) several popular transgressive performance based club nights - GAG, POWDERBUBBLE and H.A.M., in turn spawning sister clubs such as GRISTLE. Panti was the main host of these club nights.
Panti regularly hosts the annual Dublin Pride celebrations.[4][5]
For a number of years Panti hosted a weekly karaoke show, The Casting Couch, at The Front Lounge pub, Dublin. She occasionally appears at Shirley Temple Bar's weekly drag queen Bingo show in Dublin's best known gay bar, The George.
On November 30, 2007, she opened her own self-titled 'Pantibar', for the gay community in Dublin.[6]
[edit] Performance style
Panti's style of performance has evolved over time. Historically she would lip-synch songs by her heroines like, Jolene by Dolly Parton or And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going by Jennifer Holliday but also lip-synching to instrumental songs like, Popcorn (instrumental) or operatic numbers, such as Der Hölle Rache by Mozart.[7] In recent years, Panti began to lip-synch reenactments of excerpts from British TV soap operas, such as Eastenders and Coronation Street or classic films, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (film). Her comic style and on-stage banter is a mix of self-deprecation and self-admiration, while teasing her audience with ongoing commentary on anything from their appearance to their sexuality.[8] Recent highlights for native audiences have included lip-synching of Adele King's (Twink) infamous phone message to her to ex-husband and a parody version of the song 'He Drinks Tequila' by Crystal Swing.
[edit] Theatre
Panti played the role of 'Madame' in Spurt! Sister! Spurt! a play based on Jean Genet's, The Maids.[9] (2005)
In These Shoes? written and performed by Panti [10] (2007)
All Dolled Up written and performed by Panti[11] (2007)
A Woman In Progress written and performed by Panti [12] (2009)[13]
[edit] Television
Panti appeared on the Maury Povich talk show in the US. (1999)[4]
Panti played a fictional drag queen character called 'Dusty Mulberry' in episode 10, season six of the Irish medical drama series The Clinic (TV series)(2008)
Played herself as the hostess/owner of gay bar in episode four of Irish drama series Raw (television series)(2008)
[edit] Trivia
'Panti' is an abbreviation of 'Pandora Panti Bliss'
Panti danced on stage in Japan with Cyndi Lauper during her 1994 Twelve Deadly Cyns Tour [14]
[edit] Radio
On New Year's Day, 2011, Panti co-presented Ireland's Karaoke Klassics (alongside Arveene) on Ireland's national pop music station, 2FM.
[edit] References
- ^ "Welcome to the Gaybourhood". The Dubliner. November 19, 2007. http://www.thedubliner.ie/the_dubliner_magazine/2007/11/welcome-to-the-.html. Retrieved 2010-09-05.
- ^ [1] Irish Independent retrieved September 8, 2009
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xtwbeyOw00&feature=channel_page
- ^ a b Panti on the Maury Povich show: Pt 2 on YouTube
- ^ Dublin Gay Pride 2007 - Panti's Welcome Speech on YouTube
- ^ Barry Egan (September 6, 2009). "Glamour queen is not amused". Irish Independent. http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/glamour-queen-is-not-amused-1879486.html. Retrieved 2010-09-05.
- ^ [2] "YouTube" retrieved September 27, 2009
- ^ [3] "YouTube" retrieved September 27, 2009
- ^ [4] "Irish Theatre Magazine" retrieved March 6, 2009
- ^ [5] "Dublin Gay Theatre Festival" retrieved March 6, 2009
- ^ [6] "Irish Theatre Magazine. Retrieved October 17, 2007
- ^ [7] "Irish Theatre Magazine. Retrieved September 27, 2009
- ^ 'A Woman in Progress' in Fintan Walsh, ed., Queer Notions: New Plays and Performances from Ireland (Cork: Cork University Press, 2009).
- ^ Cyndi Lauper#Tours
