Tampa is known for its horrible public transportation, but did you know there are alternatives to the horrendous scheduling of the Hartline public busline on Friday or Saturday Nights? I'm talking about things like the Mulligan Shuttle. From Channelside I hopped a ride on an electricly powered golf cart to Ybor City run by The Mulligan Shuttle Corporation. I am giving them a mention in this article because they were awesome. My driver Leonard gave me the whole history of The Mulligan Shuttle business on our short ride from Channelside to Ybor.
Once upon a time Tampa was overflowing with superfluos alternative rides around the nightlife districts. But under a lawsuite paid for by a united front of all the local cab companies all but one was put out of business. The Mulligan Shuttle was the only one to survive. Even now they are having a hard time, but are fighting hard against all the odds. The very personalized enjoyable open air ride was a great alternative to the typical cab ride most of us think of first if we need a quick ride after or to a night of partying. I heartily recommend calling for The Mulligan Shuttle before any of the cab companies. Its also cheaper than the typical cab, so you'll be saving money too.
The Mulligan Shuttle ride was the beginning of a very enjoyable evening, one with an intended goal of attending the 2011 HEART show at Czar in Ybor City. The Heart Show was billed as..."Hair + Art = Heart. The 5th Annual Heart Show benefits the Tribeca Memorial Scholarship Fund administered by the Hillsborough Educational Foundation which gives an opportunity for a graduating high school student to attend cosmetology school."
So while I was aware that Czar is in the Gaybor District, and I expected something possibly a little off the wall, what I found was something way off the wall. But totally fun! The Czar is a big place if you've never been there before. Three large rooms, two with a stage and The Heart Show occupied all the rooms with art, music and out of the normal fashion. The official show began with a few quasi-drag-karaoke shows. The crowd was attentive and participatory. The crowd was largely the young and alternative, gay and straight mingling in a manner I wish all of society would.
The night progressed and while the general feel of the show was a bit chaotic and disorganized, the audience was treated to a variety of shows from burlesque to dance and song routines. The crowd was peppered with event participants serving as eye candy in the manner of young and beautiful guys and gals parading around in risque outfits or entertaining costumes. My particular favorites were a group of young women called The Swans led by Jen Alford. They were dressed in ballerina costumes with makeup heavy and their hair wildly coiffed. The Swans were eye candy for the crowd parading around, dancing, talking and providing fun to the atmosphere.
There were other event participants dressed in zombie and sugar skull costumes, all sexily adorned in their respective ghoulish fashion. Think about that for a second, sexy girls in zombie costumes dancing to the throbbing club music...yum! While there wasn't as much "hair art" as I was expecting, there were a few people who took it to the extreme adding lights and props to their hair in fun exaggerated fashions.
The event coordinator Brandon Wagner was the maestro of the show, adorned in a ring masters outfit. While previous Heart shows tended towards a more tamer atmosphere to draw in a wider audience, Brandon said this year he decided to gear the show more to an adult audience relying on kink, art and the risque to draw in the crowds. Intending to raise $50,000 for the scholarship fund, $35,000 was all they had at the time of the show.
While the crowd was attentive, lively and happy, Czar was still a lot less than packed. I do hope they raise the $50,000 for the scholarship fund, but judging from eye alone, I kinda doubt they were able to. While a little more organization and hair art might've helped the show's festivities, there's no doubt the 2011 Heart Show was a success in providing an array of entertainment far out of the ordinary.
