Dancing Lesson

Jim Tidwell is not only the President and CEO of WEDGE Group. He’s also the largest individual fundraiser for the BP MS 150 Houston-Austin bike event (which is itself the largest Bike MS event in the US.

So – start with that. Contribute money to MS. At the same time, you’ll join the huge community of friends and colleagues which applauds Tidwell’s over-the-top antics for this good cause.

Once a year, every year, Tidwell makes a spectacle of himself…for fundraising. One year, he shaved his head for MS – and he’s kept it that way every since. He’s constantly trying to top the previous year’s clowning around.

Graphic designer Kay Krenek aids and abets this behavior by creating Tidwell’s annual flyer and – as you may note – this year they’re “Dancing with the Stars.” That’s Tidwell on the left. KTRK Channel 13 personality Dave Ward contributes to the star turn.

What I learned (again) from this year’s flyer is how critical attention to detail is to the concept. This could have been a hokey shot, played broadly…lotta laughs there. Instead, Krenek rounded up rather an impressive group, including photographer Mark Green and make-up artist Rebecca Stacy, to make Tidwell’s drag performance come off looking good.

The team shopped for Tidwell. Clothes. Shoes. (You’ve heard of Jimmy Choos? These are Jimmy’s Locomotives.) There were tryouts and fittings. Hours spent in the makeup chair. Until the new, remarkably classy Tidwell stood revealed as a terpsichorean eyeful. Tastefully done and just enough beyond a joke to make a bigger impact.

Coming to Houston – or starting from here – 18 April: the BP MS150. Get involved and do your part to keep Jim Tidwell off the dance floor. (No, Tidwell will NOT wear this outfit for biking.)

Krenek would want me to credit not only the photographer and the make-up artist, but also the retoucher (Ann Derby), the viedographer (Andrew Olson), the video editor (Shari Blakemore) and “the only place for ladies size 13 platform shoes” (Erotic Cabaret Boutique, Houston). Fun stuff.