Meet Lord-lovin’ lounge singers Trent & Trudy Lee.
By Brandon Voss
Wayne Newton! Siegfried & Roy! Charo! Celine Dion! While these headliners have become virtually synonymous with the swingin’ showrooms and blinding marquees on the Las Vegas strip, you might not be as familiar with Trent & Trudy Lee, a couple of kooky Christian crooners hot off their 12-and-a-half year stint at the San Remo Hotel’s “world famous” Bonne Chance Lounge.
Ex-Barbizon model Trudy Lee and reformed homosexual Trent, both now proud spokespersons for Focus on the Family, celebrate their “15-year, non-consummated, monogamous, Christian-based love” with A Touch of Vegas, a hilarious multimedia evening of dishy showbiz stories and magical pop medleys. Following the advice of mentors Pia Zadora and Phyllis Diller, Trent & Trudy Lee (alter-egos of co-creators Genna Yaitanes and Kyle Barisich) have brought their act from Sin City to the Big Apple for an open-ended run at the Dominion NY Theater.
After an especially emotional show, I caught up with this pair of aces in the adjacent lounge over a few hi-balls.
HX: Thanks for taking the time to speak with me, you guys! As this is a gay entertainment magazine, I’m sure our readers would love to get to know you better.
Trudy Lee: Trent and I make a point to only surround ourselves with gay people.
Trent: Who wants an unhappy person draining the life out of a party? Not us!
TL: I, for one, love that your magazine is dedicated to happiness! Here, here! [toasts]
I understand that you’ve both suffered through Trent’s un-Christian urges in the past. Is it easy staying on the wagon, Trent?
T: There is temptation everywhere you go in life. However, this city does present us with some “unique” tests of our dedication to Christ. For instance, there’s a certain area of town I just can’t walk through without the irrepressible urge for a Cher CD and a nice Pinot Grigio.
TL: I have temptation, too! Sometimes I crave a visit to the Never-Ending Taco Bar at El Torito, but you don’t see me eating there all the time. You can want something, but it’s a real man...
T …and lover of Christ...
T & TL: ...that doesn’t give in.
Well, back to A Touch of Vegas, what are some of your favorite musical moments in the show?
T: Music is such a special language...
TL: I speak it fluently!
T: Of course, I am touched every night during our tribute to celebrity friends who have passed away this year.
TL: It is so meaningful to hear the lyrics to “I Can See Clearly Now” while thinking of our dear friend Ray Charles.
How does the Dominion compare to the Bonne Chance Lounge?
T: Let’s just say there’s a little less glitz at Dominion. Do you catch my drift?
TL: The Bonne Chance Lounge was the hub of class and sophistication.
T: Also, there’s no Keno at Dominion.
TL: But we plan to change that.
Tell me about your living situation while you’re here in New York.
T: Well, we are staying with our dear, close personal friend Jade.
TL: He is an amazing dancer and he teaches salsa and merengue at the American Ballet Theatre at Lincoln Center. He could show you a thing or two about the Lambada!
T: As far as sleeping arrangements go, I make sure to stay with Jade in the bedroom.
TL: And I stay out on the futon in the living room, because it doesn’t look right for a non-married couple like us to share a bed.
How do you spend your downtime?
TL: Trent and I are taking pottery classes.
T: I just love that scene in Ghost. Patrick Swayze. Mmmm. He’s like the wind, I’ll tell you that much!
TL: You’re telling me. We also do a lot of Jazzercising.
I know you still keep in touch with your old pals from the Strip. Hey, how’s Roy doing?
T: Who cares?
TL: Trent! Roy is recovering just amazingly. He’ll be happy you asked.
T: Roy is an act-stealing pansy with a bad dye job and he is a sorry excuse for a magician. Guess he won’t be making much magic now that he’s an invalid!
TL: I’m very sorry about Trent — please excuse him. It’s just that there was flat-out too much testosterone when those two would get together!
T: Could I have another drink, please?
I admire your commitment to abstinence, but it must be hard.
T: Not hard at all. Never gets hard. Ever.
TL: It is hard for me. But I just remember that there are three people in our bedroom: Trent, Trudy Lee, and Jesus Christ. And it wouldn’t be very fair to ignore the big guy.
I’m sorry, I wasn’t listening — you just look so familiar, Trent... wait, didn’t I see you at the Black Party?
T: No, that wasn’t me. I was at a “boys only” Christian retreat in upstate that weekend. You must be confusing me with someone else. [smiles sheepishly]
By the way, Trent, you should come to some HX functions and meet some friends of mine. Would you mind, Trudy Lee?
TL: Trent is the kind of man that women just flock to, so of course I’m gonna get a little jealous when he’s out on the town. But I trust Trent with all my heart and soul. And like you said, HX is a gay magazine, and there is not a gayer man than Trent. He is just full of sunshine and happiness.
T: They don’t get much gayer than me!
TL: And if you come home late, Trent, I’ll have Jade keep the backdoor open for you.
T: Trudy Lee, I am so blessed to have found you.
TL: Well, same to you, sir, same to you.
HX, April 2005.