“Don’t Tell Gretta” is a weekly live piano cabaret with Gretta Goodbottom. Credit: donttellgretta.com (permission from Gretta Goodbottom)
With the weekend coming to an end, Sundays can be a drag in more ways than one.
“Don’t Tell Gretta” is Ohio’s only piano-cabaret drag show and features drag queen Gretta Goodbottom every Sunday at 6 p.m. at Columbus LGBTQ+ nightclub District West, located at 145 N. 5th St. “Don’t Tell Gretta” began roughly two years ago, Que Jones, the creator of the show and who performs as Gretta Goodbottom, said. The conceptual idea for “Don’t Tell Gretta” stemmed from his training in classical piano and love of musical theater, Jones said.
“I said, ‘I’ve been wanting to do a cabaret, we have so many awesome local theater people here,’” Jones said. “‘I play piano, what if we did a cabaret show.’ That’s where it was born.”
Luke Bovenizer, an actor with Columbus theater groups the Contemporary American Theatre Company and Short North Stage, said he was first introduced to Jones as the costume designer for CATCO’s virtual production of “When Pigs Fly” in 2020.
Two years later, Bovenizer said he and other cast members of CATCO’s “Head Over Heels,” for which Jones served as the music director, were asked to perform in “Don’t Tell Gretta.” Bovenizer said he encourages anyone who gets the chance to see “Don’t Tell Gretta,” citing the show’s positive atmosphere.
“It’s just like this joyous night of celebration, and it’s never too stressful. That’s why I like to do ‘Gretta,’” Bovenizer said. “It doesn’t matter if you mess up a lyric, or if you forget what song you’re singing next because she’s such a comedian, and she’s so quick-witted. It’s almost like playing tennis with her.”
Jones said his journey in the Columbus drag scene started during his time as a graduate student at Ohio State and a frequent audience member of “Wednesdays are a Drag,” hosted by drag queen Virginia West, District West’s current show director.
Jones said West approached him after a performance, noticing how much he attended the shows. This exchange is what started Jones’ career as a drag queen, he said.
“She was like, ‘Oh, do you want to do drag? You’re here all the time.’ I was like, ‘I don’t know, I thought about it. I’m a theater kid.’ And she was like, ‘Cool, you’re going to do it next week,’” Jones said. “I was terrible, but it was super fun, and so it was kind of born out of that.”
In a time before “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” Jones said there were not the same resources accessible to the drag community as there are today. Becoming a better drag queen had to come from experience and taking failures as learning opportunities.
“You couldn’t get on YouTube and look up like a makeup tutorial and couldn’t go onto Amazon and order a sequined outfit,” Jones said. “I remember I was going to all the Goodwills in town trying to find anything sparkly.”
After 10 years of performing, Jones said it can be a challenge performing a weekly show that stays fresh to audiences.
“Don’t tell Gretta” consists of Goodbottom behind the keyboard, equipped with a microphone and quick wit. There are several musical numbers, sung by both Goodbottom and her guests, as well as gameshow-esque elements.
“While it is a different show every week, in my head it is kind of formulaic,” Jones said. “Opening monologue, opening bit, special guest, game, there’s a flow to it that I have found over the past two years that keeps the audience engaged for the full show.”
Each week, “Don’t Tell Gretta” features two or three special guests that are involved with the Columbus performing arts community.
Sermontee Brown, who has been heavily involved in the Columbus theater scene as an actress, singer and producer for a few years, performed for her second time as a guest on “Don’t Tell Gretta” Feb. 19. Brown said both Goodbottom and the audience made her most recent experience one to remember.
“Even the people who I didn’t know, they were still giving me good energy,” Brown said. “I love to volley back and forth with Gretta, it’s always a good time to be onstage just talking, chatting, singing songs, having a good time.”
Before each performance, the featured guests will email Jones a list of songs they would like to perform at that week’s show. Jones said he accepts almost all of what is suggested by the guests, allowing them to really take the lead in the creation of that week’s show.
“I want you to create your art that you feel good creating,” Jones said. “I don’t tell people what to sing or what to do, but I do pick my material, and I put them in order based on what they are singing or doing.”
Brown said one of her favorite moments from her performances with Goodbottom was when she took the stage to sing “Strange Fruit” by Billie Holiday. Brown said this song is physically and emotionally challenging, and she was lost for words from Goodbottom’s and the audience’s support during the piece.
“[Gretta] made it very clear and wanted it to be known like, ‘This moment right now is a somber, real moment. Jokes aside, this is real,’” Brown said. “She wanted to give me the stage and give me that grace, and that was really beautiful to see. It was just great to feel the love and the encouragement.”
Bovenizer said it is Goodbottom’s charisma and chemistry with the guests that makes the show shine.
“A favorite moment each performance is the bantering, the fun bickering, between Gretta and I, and the laughter that comes from that, the music that comes from that friendship that we have built over the past three years,” Bovenizer said. “It’s always fun to be reminded of that.”
