Giving a presentation for a fashion-merchandising class is one thing. Putting on a full-fledged fashion show at KARMA is quite another. And the eight fashion-major students, who stepped outside their Nassau Community College classrooms to create last Friday’s show, couldn’t fall back on any “the dog ate my fashion display” excuses.
Every Sunday for six weeks, the show’s 25 models rehearsed their choreography. Designer Mario Ramo made a dress for a drag-queen wedding number. Music for the show was selected and recorded onto a single tape—enough sound to fill six segments with names like “India,” “Glam,” “Club,” “Caffeine/Bug Girl” and “Gothic.”
At the first dress rehearsal on Thursday, they had three hours on location to iron out the lineup, the lighting and the sound. As the models rehearsed dance numbers offstage, one coordinator hurried past them, clutching a legal pad. “One more time,” she shouted. “We have to do it from the beginning.” That sent a blonde in funky silver jeans back to the top of a dance number. Coordinator Fauzhy Sliba tried giving out the official lineup, but not everyone was there yet. One student raced in after work with only 15 minutes to spare. He said he hadn’t yet tried on his outfit and hoped it would fit.
But another student, Anthony Barone, already had on his show-stopping red velvet pants. He was also ready for his second number, as drag queen Ingenue. “If they suck, I’ll work ’em with a mean attitude,” he said about the audience. “I can be a bitch if I want to be.” Appearing onstage is becoming second-nature to the amateur illusionist. Last year he was a contestant in the Miss Fire Island Contest and he’s also done his schtick countless times at the Tunnel in Manhattan. But he wasn’t taking any chances with this show. With the rehearsal just about over, he crossed himself, smiled and said, “By the grace of God, we shall do it.”
Karma 39-42 Long Beach Rd, Island Park, 516-432-3115.