Wayne Rogers
Dear Ann,
A few years ago I had the privilege of attending a concert held in a huge hall where the star performer was Wayne Rogers. I had not heard of him prior to the concert, but when I did I was enamoured by his performance, as were the other hundreds of people who attended.
Wayne is a hairdresser, singer & drag queen. He is well known in Newcastle & Sydney & has performed on television in a show called ‘The Voice’ where he received a lot of accolades from both the judges & the audience.
The outfits he wears are his own creations & they were not short of stunning. He also has a pair of beautiful legs that most women would die for! In addition to this he is a most popular person in his business also on & off the stage.
Just recently Cheryl was in touch to say we had the opportunity of visiting Wayne & his partner James in the privacy of their own home where we could see all through the house, enjoy some entertainment & end the afternoon with High Tea. All this for a mere $80, but only twenty guests could attend. Certainly Sandra, Cheryl & I were very keen as we had seen some photos of the home in the local paper.
So last Saturday the three of us arrived before the rest of the guests & the first thing we did was take a photo of the home itself, which was a very old building built in the nineteen twenties & older than I was! We had been told that Wayne had redecorated the home completely by himself & of course we were all eager to see what the interior was like.
Dawn & Wayne Rogers at the greeting.
We all assembled outside the home, as we had been requested not to knock on the door. We gathered at the foot of the steps ready & waiting. We could hear something buzzing from inside the door & I suggested to my friends that they were doing a last vacuum of the floor!
Cheryl was more astute, stating that Wayne was no doubt putting finishing touches to his hairdo. I think she might have been right. The front door opened & wow! Wayne appeared with a fantastic hairdo (wig or not) & a beautiful very slim fitting cream lace dress just to the knees. Over this was a two tiered fur trimmed cape. He also stockings & also 3″ high heeled shoes.
He was holding a tray filled with champagne, orange juice with a strawberry, which followed with James holding the door open plus a camera. We were all invited to step up & make ourselves comfortable on the patio while being served with pre high tea nibblies & drinks.
What a lovely dramatic beginning on a sunny winter’s day that we all thoroughly enjoyed, as the conversation was quite informal & very friendly with all of us.
After two champagnes I had the courage to go over to where Wayne was chatting to some ladies with camera in hand to ask if it was permissible for photos to be taken. He smiled & said of course, go right ahead. So I said “in that case would you have your photo taken with me please?”
He did & my shoulder tucked into this tall slim person’s underarm. I felt a bit like Riley must have felt when with Dave. It wasn’t the only photo he had taken with me either because he really liked me & fell for me hard. I will tell you about that later.
I took heaps of photos inside the house as there was so much to photograph. All the beautiful memorabilia Wayne & James had collected, which was so tastefully placed. There was just so much that made that house a real home, with photos of the boys together also with parents. You could feel the love they had put into the place.
Main Bedroom showing the cornice detail
All the old fashioned cornice in each room had been artistically painted by Wayne himself & was a beautiful addition to the decor. I couldn’t explain to you all that was there, but the light fittings were absolutely magnificent. We loved every thoughtful detail the home held.
I could only liken it to one other home that I have seen which was similar, which belongs to your son, Les. That is a little different being full of film & movie memorabilia, which was the industry in which Les was engaged, but it also has stories to tell & is as amazing as Wayne & James’ home.
The elaborate toilet.
We were all invited to go look through the whole house being told particularly not to miss going to the toilet adjacent to the laundry!
When we saw the toilet we could only gasp at the artistic add-ons that made it a toilet like no other any of us had ever seen, without it being ostentatious! We then moved to every room in the house. It was truly like a life sized doll’s house, with two small sets of steps up to the top, then down to the bottom with all the living rooms in between.
We started off with the two bedrooms downstairs & it wasn’t just the decor, but the selected colours that made it stand out so much. I could not help myself, but every room deserved photos!
Upstairs, one room was a third bedroom that contained a real neat & special cot that a friend had given them with a toy monkey nestled inside. It seemed to be a part of the decor.
The other upstairs room contained a large number of Wayne’s outfits on display, but I feel sure there were more hidden in the closets!
After the tour upstairs we went down again, where there was another flight of stairs taking us to the entertainment section. Furry chairs decorated with wide pink ribbon awaited us & there were only twenty seats!
Wayne makes his entrance.
When we were all seated the door to the stairs was closed, James set the music going, the door opened & there appeared a beautiful lady with long blonde curly hair hanging around the eyes, a gorgeous blue sequinned lace fitting gown.
Wayne is no more than size 10 bordering on size 8 & is very tall with or without high heeled shoes, which he was wearing. Over his arm he had a very large darker blue boa that matched his eye makeup perfectly!
Of course there were a few additions like blue rings on his fingers & very large ones, which – me being me & loving jewelry – I thought were the finishing touches to a superb look. In all of this glory, when the door opened to admit his entrance, the steps to the auditorium glittered with multi coloured lights. We welcomed him with loud applause.
James had also turned the spot light on (which ruined all my photos as I am not at all professional), but it didn’t matter as Wayne just stood before us & talked & sang. He just spoke naturally tellling us how shy he was when he left school. He went to work in one of our major super markets in the fruit & veg section for two months. At that time he was so shy he didn’t talk to anyone in the place durmg that time.
I can believe that as he still has that shyness about him. He doesn’t carry the worldliness that might be expected. He told us how he wanted to be a hairdresser from the time he could remember. As a little boy would borrow his sister’s doll that had long hair & he would fiddle with it while his sister cried out “Mum he’s got my doll again!”
He also told us how he had to make a decision to continue a career as a singer & drag queen & how he was encouraged by professional people to continue. His audience is so glad he did.
In between chatting he sang some beautiful songs for us & that’s where his shyness went from him. He loves Shirley Bassey songs & indeed I think he loves Shirley Bassey as well as her songs. He sang a couple for us & also had two ladies get up with him while he encouraged us all to participate in ‘All that Jazz which was really great.
Chatting and entertaining.
In between telling us a little of his life he spoke of another very famous British born drag queen, Danny La Rue & what that man did for charity. I think too, that Wayne also will be remembered for the same thing.
My son, David, has told me his very favourite song of all time is ‘My Way.’ When Wayne sang that for us his voice was tremendous. There would have been more than one with tears at the back of their eyes. Wayne wears his heart on his sleeve when it comes to his singing & no wonder he is sought after for his expertise in more than one field.
Having enjoyed the show we then went upstairs for High Tea, which the dictionary says is where everyone sits around a table & eats a cooked dish, bread & butter & drink tea. Well we did all sit around three tables in the living area, but it was a little different to what the dictionary says.
I remember Max & I having High Tea in some very posh retail store in London: Harrods was the name. It was something to experience. No hot dish, but the little bite sized sandwiches & delicate cakes were to stay in one’s memory.
So it was at this High Tea with Wayne. High Teas always have three decker cake plates holding these delicacies & the ‘to die for’ sandwiches (no crusts at High Teas) simply disappeared within a few minutes while we were served tea (or coffee)!
Wayne had come upstairs wearing his gorgeous blue dress with the whole works, so I asked again if he would have his photo taken with me “cause I knew he liked me & would oblige,” Cheryl asked him to squat down beside where I was sitting & as he did so his high heel slipped on the floor & he fell over backwards!
Dawn and Wayne at High Tea.
We all laughed, including Wayne & we had our photo taken again. I told you he fell for me hard & I did tell everyone he didn’t have to let them all know just how hard!
That was how our afternoon came to a close. Before we left Wayne made a little speech indicating great thoughtfulness for other people in what he said which endorses my original impression of him being am extremely nice person, happy with his life & thankful for doing it as he said: “My Way.”
Hope you have enjoyed reading about Wayne & my thoughts & love go with you always. Dawn X O X O