Bravo! Brava!
by Jet Mykles, J.P. Bowie & Kimberly Gardner
A Review
Read the full review at
reviewsbyjessewave.blogspot.com
Rating 4 stars out of 5
This anthology consists of three novellas all along the theme of cross dressing. Those of you who know me will know that I like my gay men to be, well, manly, so theoretically, I should be turned off by stories about men dressing up as women. Let's just say, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed these stories.
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Overall, I enjoyed this anthology. The stories were all quite different from each other, despite all being on the theme of the theatre and cross dressing. So did it make me change my mind about my 'manly' men? Not really, but it did give me an insight into why men might choose to dress in women's clothing.
Reviewed by Jenre
A Review
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fallenangelreviews.com
Rating 4 Angels
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Bravo! Brava! takes a look at men in drag in show business. These three stories are completely different from each other, and in each one, the character who dresses in drag does it for a different reason. Shawn in About Something dresses in women's clothes out of rebellion. He wants to shock his fellow students and get a reaction out of his director. Kenny LaFontaine in Sometimes Life's a Drag dresses in drag because that is his business. Big wigs, high heels, and designer gowns have made him the prima donna he is today, and he finds that if he tries to ditch the dresses and act like a man, his audience is not interested. For Women's Weeds Kieran, dressing is women's clothes is a compulsion for him. He knows that if he wants someone in his life, that someone will have to accept him the way he is, because he cannot change.
These three stories make for a pleasant read. They are quite entertaining if not terribly deep, and I enjoyed the slightly nontraditional peeks at the entertainment industry that they offered.
Reviewed by Whitney
A Review
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rainbow-reviews.com
Rating 5 Stars
Bravo! Brava! is a wonderful new anthology about the exciting world of theatre. Each story shows us a different aspect of stage life and the men (and women) who live, work and play there. In a rather unique twist, the authors also approach the phenomenon of men who dress in women's clothes from three different, yet welcome, perspectives.
...The final installment, Woman's Weeds, is Kimberly Gardner's sensitive tale of a somewhat shy director who falls for one of his beautiful cross-dressing actors during the staging of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. There are many reasons why David should avoid getting involved with Kieran, but the latter's love of dressing in women's clothing isn't one of them. Their relationship is tested by David's sister's misgivings, a wealthy spoiled socialite and a fellow cast member with ill intentions.
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With three stellar authors at the helm, Bravo! Brava! is an anthology not to be missed. Whether you're a theater buff, drag show goer or Shakespeare fan, you'll enjoy these tales of love found among the bright lights.
Reviewed by marame
Read the full review at elisa-rolle.livejournal.com
The common theme of this anthology are men in drags, for different reason and at different level.
...Jet Mykles' story is light and enjoyable, there is not the usual angst of a college affair between a student and a teacher, Roscoe is not so worried to overstep his role, the real big problem for him seems to be that he doesn't want to awaken Shawn's desire for gay sex and then be dumped by the young imp. Shawn is a bit of a teaser, he is set to conquer his teacher and he really doesn't think on the future or on what it will happen if he manages to: he is focused on the moment and on the pleasure he can have; it's quite a typical behavior of a man so young.
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All three stories are of very high quality, probably all of them would live without problem as independent story, but put them together, and you have a really nice anthology.
Reviewed by elisa-rolle