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While the original, ill-fated touring productions featured such starlets as Carol Channing, Joan Collins, Linda Evans, and Mary Martin as aging rivals parading around in furs, the PETA-friendly revival will feature Whoopi Goldberg and drag legends Charles Busch and Lypsinka in some pretty spectacular faux furs. Hmm—the productions that used real fur never made it to New York, but the fur-free production has … weren't we just talking about curses?

How, you may ask, did this production get to be so animal-friendly? As PETA Senior Vice President Dan Mathews explains, "When Lypsinka heard about all the mink that was going to be used in the show, she asked PETA to help make sure that the fur was as fake as the leading ladies." Dan introduced the producers of Legends! to Donna Salyers' Fabulous-Furs, and the rest is fabulous costuming history.

This one-night-only revival of Legends! opens and closes tonight in New York's Town Hall, and the proceeds will benefit Friends in Deed, a crisis center for people with life-threatening illnesses. If you happen to be in the New York area and want to help out a good cause—and see some truly ravishing leading "ladies"—tickets may still be available through the organization's Web site.

Posted by Amanda Schinke

Norfolk’s annual Doo Dah Parade invites local organizations and business owners to march the streets in ludicrous outfits so that the citizens of this fine city can laugh at them. I’ve never quite figured out why this goes on, but it’s certainly a whole lot of fun. Tragically, I didn’t make it this year, but a lot of my colleagues did — all dolled up in dresses and wigs to show that “Fur Is a Drag” — so let’s take this opportunity to laugh at them now:

Steve, Matt, Thomas, and Tim "Danger" Hogarth


Joel S. Bartlett


Thomas and Joel


Mike


Travis

A gaggle of grim reapers made an appearance at Milan Fashion Week Thursday. The dramatic demonstration reminded attendees of the reality of real fur—it’s dead.

Great job PETA Europe!

Not all of Oscar De La Hoya's fans were as happy about the pics of the world-famous boxer prancing around in fishnets and a mini skirt as we were here at PETA. But as soon as we saw the photos—which have been dutifully circulating the celebrity blog circuit this week after the good folks at x17 broke the story—we thought he'd be just perfect for our Fur Is a Drag campaign. You can read PETA's letter to Oscar below. We just can’t figure out why his management is so upset about the whole thing—men as diverse as Rudy Giuliani, Tom Hanks, Robin Williams, and Jamie Foxx have donned a dress without any adverse effect to their careers. Don't you think Oscar would be a knockout on the catwalk?

Dear Oscar,

The controversy surrounding the cross-dressing photos of you could be turned around to do some good. One of PETA’s most amusing ongoing campaigns is called Fur Is a Drag, which has involved parodies of fur fashion shows, featuring cross-dressing models sporting donated furs which are spattered with paint and accessorized with cruel leghold traps. We’re planning our next Fur is Drag runway parody for this December in New York, to be hosted by drag sensation Lady Bunny, founder of the Wigstock festival. Might you consider walking the catwalk? You’d be a real knockout. Maybe we can help turn this scandal from a sow’s ear into a silk purse—with matching pumps.

Sincerely,

Dan Mathews
Vice President
PETA

I just got back from the “Doo Dah parade” in Norfolk, where local businesses and charities march up and down the street in the silliest outfits they can think of for the benefit of an adoring public. And nothing looks quite so foolish as a fur coat—which is where we come in. I’m not entirely sure what terrible thing I did to incur this punishment from PETA’s upper management, but I hope at least that I have now paid my debt in full. Actually, the truth is that the parade was a blast, and I would be doing the world a real disservice by not sharing the pictures. I’m the one looking fabulous in pink. P.S. You can check out video from last year’s Doo-Dah parade here.