community spotlight by lance perkins
A beam of shining light, Barbara Venezia IS the life of the party. If you have not
yet gotten to know her or her Friends of Dorothy, here’s the perfect opportunity.
With her tattoos, fiery red hair and growing up in Long Island New York in the
‘70s, Barbara definitely has a wild side. Barbara elaborates, “The ‘70s was my
era, Studio 54, Xenon’s and Crisco Disco… that whole deal. I was in Manhattan
working as a hairdresser when AIDS first reared its ugly head. I remember one
year when half of our hair salon died. They called it the gay cancer. I saw the bath-
houses, like Saint Marks close and the gay clubs all closing. I was in my twenties at
the time thinking, when I grow up, when I’m in my fifties; they’ll have found a cure
for this. I am 53 now and there’s still no cure.”
In 1982 Barbara moved to California and now lives in Newport Beach. In 2007
Barbara and her husband, Stan, were invited by former assembly woman Marilyn
Brewer to attend an AIDS Services Foundation advisory board meeting in Laguna
Beach. “ASF already had the huge support of the gay and lesbian community
and were looking to grow into a wider / broader base. The AIDS epidemic is no
longer just a gay disease and they wanted to attract a wider audience.” Barbara
had been hosting a TV cooking show, writing a social and political commentary
for local newspapers and a lot of name recognition from her run as a Newport
council candidate garnering a wide-broad based appeal within the gay, straight
and philanthropic communities. “Because of all my years with fundraising,
for Opera Pacific and the Islanders’ and children’s bureaus, I was always part of
different guilds. I listened in at the meeting and I noticed that ASF did not have
one.” Barbara continues, “So, I called some of my friends and people I’ve worked
with on other charity events and invited them to my house to discuss my ideas.
Barbara Venezia:
We decided we would start our own guild and call it The Friends of Dorothy!” The
name appealed to both the gay and straight communities. Barbara said, “People
ask me, ‘Why Dorothy?’ I always say, ‘Because she clicked her heels three times and
Over The rainbOw
made things happen!’ We make things happen for ASF!”
“Make things happen” they definitely have. Barbara joined forces with drag
queen, Dee W. Eye (Kevin Farrell) to do a Tupperware party and fundraiser at her
house, in the back bay of Newport Beach on July 12th 2007. Their first event raised
$17,000 for ASF. Barbara says, “Everyone was shocked, including me and Kevin!
We thought, ‘What do we do next?’” They came up with a Halloween costume
party / fundraiser and had it at a wine vineyard in Newport Beach. Barbara ex-
plains, “It was awesome and all spooky in the vineyard under the trees with smoke
machines and a wine cave!” They raised $45,000 at the event. Barbara adds, “After
that night, we knew this was serious!”
From then on, they continued the Tupperware parties and even started a
fashion show fundraiser. She explains, “I wanted to do something totally different
than regular runway shows. I wanted to be in the department store, on the floor…
the runway is the aisle. Everyone literally has a front row seat!”
Barbara invited Orange County’s gay men’s chorus, Men Alive, to sing. “From the
minute I met them in 2008 I fell in love and asked them if they would be our music
for our first fashion show at Bloomingdale’s. At first they didn’t get the concept
of playing in a department store but went along with it. They love it now and it
exposed Men Alive to a very broader base audience.”
Recently Barbara played the role of Dorothy in a Men Alive concert, “Wicked
To OZ.” Barbara exclaims, “It’s Dorothy! Hello! I just wanted to do it. I said to the
director Rich Cook, ‘Can I do this?’ He said, ‘Well, you’re going to need to audition.’ I
did and I got the part! I had the best time.”
Friends of Dorothy has continued to do many fundraising events, raising a
whopping $245,500 to date! The next Friends of Dorothy’s event is Haunted Hal-
loween at The Village Green in Newport Beach on Oct. 24.
For more info visit
ocasf.org/dorothy.htm or e-mail Barbara Venezia at
bvontv@earthlink.net.
8 RAGE monthly | August 2009
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