Cher impersonator Steven Andrade stars in the long-running Resorts revue show 'Believe - Divas in a Man's World.'
Location: Resorts Atlantic City, 13th Floor
Dateline: 12.17.11
This past Saturday night I celebrated my 55th birthday with another’s success. I joined Steven Andrade, the co-producer and creative director of Believe – Divas in a Man’s World backstage at Resorts prior to a performance of their holiday show.
Steven has been working as a female impersonator for 14 years. He has performed many diverse venues ranging from corporate retreats to night clubs, casino showrooms and television. Through the years he has raised over $300,000 for various charities, and continues working toward more.
I first met Steven when Believe opened Resort’s 13th floor theater across from the gay nightclub Prohibition in April.
Funny thing to keep in mind, while 99 percent of the female impersonators in the long-running show are gay, 99 percent of the audience is straight – many seeing their first female impersonator show.
All leave smiling, and some make their way across the hall to stop into their first gay bar for a drink before continuing their night downstairs at the tables. Turns out, Believe is a bridge of understanding and acceptance too — between worlds that might otherwise not meet.
Saturday, I spoke with Steven before the show in the dressing room he shares with Gary Dee, the Joan Rivers impersonator who also hosts the show.
Gary brings a great routine and a spontaneous and quick-witted barrage of jokes that engages the audience making it interactive the moment he opens. Gary announced my birthday, let out a few lines that left the audience in stitches — asking me not to print them. (Quite honestly, I’m not sure I could!)
Gary is so good, Joan Rivers has hired him several times.
In the dressing room, Steven was applying his make-up, and explaining his costumes. They are designed and painstakingly made by him to resemble Bob Mackie’s costumes, which are every bit a part of Cher.
Believe is different from other revue shows. It’s not a series of one-song stints by performer after performer. It’s a total evening of longer performances by actors who become the people they portray.
It’s also the first time the top impersonators from across the nation have been assembled into one continuously running casino show.
It is the goal of each actor to capture the look, feel, and essence of his diva. Steven isn’t there to be Steven playing Cher. He’s there to be Cher. To leave you convinced you have just seen her perform, and leave you full with that memory, and he does.
When the curtain opens, Cher descends on a stage lift, and has you singing and moving your body with her. Visually, you are on a journey inside your mind, seeing Cher before you, exactly like every time you’ve seen her before.
A highlight in Steven’s life, he tells me, was meeting Cher, who was full of accolades for his performances. They say the best form of flattery is imitation. It’s hard to tell where reality stops and imitation starts.
Vicky, a 70-year-old usher at the theater told me after the show: “It’s like I’m alive again. I’ve lost 50 pounds, feel younger and better than I did 20 years ago, and it’s all because of the positive energy coming from that stage and these guys every night. I’ve never had a job like this. I love it.”
A woman visiting from Westchester, N.Y., told me: “They’re better than the real thing. I’ve seen all these stars perform.”
And she meant it. She sat there totally entertained, clapping her hands to the music, smiling ear to ear, totally captured by the performances. This was my third time seeing the show, each time with different friends seeing it for the first time, and each time more entertained than the time before.
I look forward to seeing it again with new friends. (It is slated to run at Resorts through Jan. 1, 2012)
Other Diva’s include:
Jason Cozmo as Dolly Parton, capturing her in Christmas red and true to life. My female friend queried, “Darn, where’d she get those parts?”
Video, photos and more from Saturday's Miss'd America Pageant.
Female impersonators are nothing new in the Atlantic City landscape. Bally’s hosted An Evening at La Cage for 11 years and the town has hosted the Miss’d America Pageant, a spoof of the Miss America Pageant featuring cross-dressing gentlemen. However, the town has never hosted a show as enticing and hilarious as 'Believe - Divas In A Man’s World.'
Entertainment will become a real drag at Resorts Atlantic City beginning May 5. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. That’s when the born-again First Game in Town will debut the gender-bender production show 'Believe: Divas In A Man’s World' for an extended run.
There’s something magical that happens when Atlantic City businessmen start thinking about pageants — and marketing — at the same time. Beloved and cherished traditions that last for decades can be born.
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When Steve Andrade created his female impersonator show Believe. Divas in a Man’s World for Resorts, he hoped that it would be popular enough to be extended beyond the initial contract. He really did “believe.” The show just celebrated its one year anniversary at Resorts with no reason to think it is leaving any time soon.
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1. Anonymous said... on Dec 21, 2011 at 09:43AM
“we LOVE your columns Geoff! Kep up the great work in all that you cover for acweekly - a fine Web site that I check out at least 3 times per wk!”
2. Anonymous said... on Jan 2, 2012 at 03:11PM
“Wonderful article for a very deserving cast! I was so excited, but not too surprised when I heard Believe Divas In A Man's World had been extended until 2013! It is exciting,fun and you do feel you are in the presence of stars! The whole cast are so humble and appreciative of their success and the many compliments they receive. I have seen the show so many times I have lost count and will be sure to see it at least once a month to be "swept away" and dream about the day I hear it is extended to 2014! Thank you Geoff for a great article. I believe!”
3. Nancy said... on Sep 13, 2012 at 03:14PM
“I have seen Believe 7 or more times ( I lost track ) It was an amazing show & Steven was my favorite, he was so personable , his performance out of this world. I returned to Resorts in Aug. to see the show again only to find NO STEVEN. Do you know why he was let go ? I was told by some he moved on but I also was told he was fired. Do you know the truth ? And now the name of the show is Divas do AC ( to jump on the DO AC bandwagon ) I would like to know the true story & I know you will get it THANKS”